Electrician in Brighton: air conditioning and period-home rewiring
Looking for an electrician in Brighton? Helcro Electrical (REC 35448) sends its own licensed electricians to every part of Brighton 3186, in the City of Bayside, and never subcontracts the work. Brighton is about 7 km north-west of our Cheltenham workshop, or about 9 km by road. We fit air conditioning in houses, townhouses and apartments, rewire and upgrade switchboards in older houses, check heritage controls before visible work, and take care of the repairs in between.
Call 1300 201 358 → Get a Quote →
Phones are answered 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. Use the quote form and we’ll call you back within 2 business hours.
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What our electricians charge
These are our own prices, all including GST. Anything bigger is quoted in writing after the site assessment.
| Job | Price |
|---|---|
| Site assessment for a quote | $50 |
| Service call (first 30 minutes, one electrician) | $165 |
| Split system, standard back-to-back install | from $1,618 (Haier 2.5 kW) |
| Home switchboard upgrade | typically $1,250 to $2,500 |
| Zappi EV charger, supplied and installed | $2,200 to $2,500 single-phase, $2,500 to $3,000 three-phase |
| Tesla Wall Connector EV charger, supplied and installed | about $2,400 |
| Home solar system, installed, STC discount taken off | about $6,000 (6.6 kW), about $12,000 (10 kW) |
| SigenStor 8 kWh battery, federal discount taken off | from $8,400 single-phase, from $10,900 three-phase (October 2026) |
All prices include GST. Prices, rules and figures on this page checked 30 October 2026 by Helcro Electrical (REC 35448).
Air conditioning, heating and cooling
One reverse cycle unit heats and cools a room: a Haier 2.5 kW split system on a standard back-to-back install is $1,618 including GST, with no rebate built into that price (split system prices).
For a larger or two-storey house, the options are ducted reverse cycle, which can be zoned, or a multi-split with one indoor unit per room. Expect about $10,000 to $11,000 installed, with no rebate, for a 12 kW multi-split running 3 to 4 indoor heads (Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu or Panasonic). Sizing comes from a load calculation at the site visit; our sizing calculator is only a guide.
Moving off gas heating? Under Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU), taking out a ducted gas heater and fitting ducted reverse cycle can be discounted by up to $5,530, and replacing a non-ducted gas room heater with an efficient reverse cycle system by up to $1,610. An accredited provider has to apply the discount before any work starts, so we put it in the written quote.
You still pay a minimum share including GST: $200 for a single-split under 10 kW, while every ducted system, and any multi-split of 10 kW or more, carries a $3,000 minimum VEU co-payment, raised on 30 September 2026 (VEU co-payments).
Brands we fit, with no favourite among them: Carrier, Daikin, Fujitsu, Haier, Midea, Panasonic, Rinnai, Mitsubishi Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Already bought a unit? As a rule we don't install customer-supplied air conditioners, because if something fails it's unclear who is responsible.
Along Beach Road and the Esplanade, salt wears outdoor units faster, so ask us if you want a specially protected model. On a Heritage Overlay property, the outdoor unit's position can decide whether you need a planning permit (see below). Air conditioning workmanship carries our 5-year warranty, on top of the manufacturer's.
Wiring and switchboards in period houses
Bayside's neighbourhood character review described the crescents around Middle Brighton as "Brighton's oldest residential area", and other Brighton streets as "pre World War II (WWII) dwellings, predominantly single storey Victorian and Federation styles". At the 2021 Census, 5,133 of Brighton's 8,981 occupied homes (57.2%, Victoria 73.4%) were separate houses.
In Victoria, new wiring has needed a safety switch (RCD) on power circuits since the early 1990s and on lighting circuits since 2001. A house wired before then can have no RCD at all unless it has been upgraded (when safety switches became compulsory).
Buying a pre-1980s house? Energy Safe Victoria calls it "imperative" to have the wiring checked before you move in, by a licensed electrical inspector or a registered electrical contractor. We can do that check and give you a rewiring price if it finds problems.
Ducted air conditioning, a car charger or an induction cooktop puts extra load on the switchboard (the fuse box, in older homes), so we look at the board first and price a switchboard upgrade alongside the work it supports (going all-electric). More in our guide to wiring an old house.
Heritage Overlay homes in Brighton
Bayside's Heritage Overlay schedule has more than 400 entries with a Brighton address, from single houses to whole precincts. On a property in the overlay, a planning permit is needed for an air conditioner, or for an EV charger, if it is visible from a street (other than a lane) or public park. Solar panels need one if they are visible in the same way and the schedule switches on solar energy system controls for that place, as it does for 407 of the Brighton entries.
Bayside's own heritage policy goes further. Its planning scheme says to "Site all ancillary services, including satellite dishes, air conditioning plants, solar heating systems, garbage facilities and the like, so they are concealed from the street."
Not sure if your house is in the overlay? A planning property report from VicPlan shows the zones and overlays for any address, and we check it before we quote.
Apartments, townhouses and rentals
Brighton has a higher share of flats and townhouses than Victoria overall: 1,777 flats or apartments at the 2021 Census (19.8% of homes; Victoria 12.1%) and 2,011 semi-detached, row, terrace or townhouse homes (22.4%; Victoria 13.9%). Church Street and Bay Street are both major activity centres in Bayside's planning scheme, and council policy encourages homes on the upper levels above their shops.
Under Consumer Affairs Victoria guidance, a lot owner needs the owners corporation's (body corporate's) express authority before altering common property. Whether we feed new work from the building's main switchboard or from your unit's sub-board depends on the building's wiring and on what the owners corporation, or the job specification, requires.
EV charging in a basement car park or garage. The plan of subdivision shows where your lot ends; if any part of the charger, the cable run or the supply crosses onto common property, the owners corporation has to approve it.
The job must be contracted by a registered electrical contractor; its licensed electrician fits and tests the charger, and you get a Certificate of Electrical Safety. A typical home install takes one day, and we register the charger with United Energy, Brighton's network, on its myEnergy portal (charger levels and brands).
Own a rental? Fewer Brighton homes are rented than the Victorian average (2,131, or 23.7%, against 28.5% at the 2021 Census), but each rental still needs a gas and electrical safety check every two years, arranged by the rental provider (landlord). We do the electrical check and leave a written report; a licensed or registered gasfitter covers any gas appliances (rental safety checks).
From 1 March 2027, when a rental's fixed heater or hot water system fails beyond repair, it must be replaced with an efficient electric one, such as reverse cycle heating in the main living area or a heat pump.
Everyday electrical work
The smaller jobs we do include finding why a safety switch keeps tripping, adding power points, LED downlights, garden and outdoor lighting, hard-wired smoke alarms and ceiling fans. We also connect ovens and cooktops: we supply and install induction cooktops, or install one you've already bought (residential electrical work).
For security systems our part is the electrical side only: power for intercoms, CCTV cameras, alarm panels, gate motors and security lighting. For a shop or office, see our commercial electrical work.
Solar, batteries and hot water
Clean Energy Regulator figures for postcode 3186 (to 30 September 2026) count 1,807 small-scale solar systems since 2001, and 296 home batteries since July 2025. We install solar panels from 5 kW to 30 kW, and for home batteries we are a SiGENERGY Certified Installer, a Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer and a Sonnen Certified Partner. Solar and battery work carries our 10-year workmanship warranty from the commissioning date on the Certificate of Electrical Safety.
On a battery, the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program normally takes around 30% off the price at the point of sale. The issue date of your Certificate of Electrical Safety sets your rate, which drops each 1 January and 1 July. Victoria offers no battery rebate of its own, and we confirm eligibility before quoting (battery rebate guide).
Gas hot water from 1 March 2027. When an existing home's mains gas water heater fails beyond repair, or is swapped out for any other reason, its replacement must be electric (some exemptions apply); a working one can stay, as can gas heating and cooktops (Victoria's gas rules).
Postcode 3186 already has 342 air-source heat pump water heaters on the regulator's records. For heat pump hot water we fit Emerald, Haier, iStore and Sanden; on a straight swap, an iStore 270L costs about $3,900 installed (GST included, before rebates), and the gas is capped by our licensed plumber, who also takes the old heater away.
We apply the VEU discount to our heat pump hot water installs: up to $560 on a gas-to-heat-pump swap. Eligible households may also claim Solar Victoria's hot water rebate, up to $1,000, or $1,400 on an eligible locally made product.
Our electricians and registrations
Usually it's Fedya or Rhys at your door, both our own electricians, and Helcro Electrical has been working in Melbourne South East since 2006. General electrical, security and EV charger work comes with a 12-month workmanship warranty from the day your certificate is issued. Sell the house and all our workmanship warranties go with it to the new owner. More about us.
- Registered Electrical Contractor REC 35448, registered with Energy Safe Victoria (search the ESV public register)
- VEU Accredited Provider A003039
- ARC Refrigerant Trading Authorisation AU50700
- Team members registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the VBA) for air conditioning work
- NETCC Approved Seller for solar and batteries
- Clean Energy Council member
Where we work in and around Brighton
Brighton, home to 23,252 people at the 2021 Census, is wholly in the City of Bayside. Its postcode, 3186, also covers Brighton North and Dendy. Our electricians cover the whole suburb, from Gardenvale, North Brighton, Middle Brighton and Brighton Beach stations to the Church Street, Bay Street and Martin Street shops. Brighton borders Brighton East, Hampton, Elsternwick, Gardenvale and Elwood, and we also work in Brighton East and Hampton. The full list of suburbs: service areas.
Getting a price, then getting it done
- Ring 1300 201 358 or send the quote form.
- Small jobs: we can often price them over the phone at no cost, more easily if you email a photo to team@helcro.com.au.
- Bigger work: a $50 site visit first, then a written quote.
- When it's finished: a Certificate of Electrical Safety wherever the work requires one.
Quick answers
Do you take emergency calls?
We are open Monday to Friday 8:00am–6:00pm and Saturday 8:00am–1:00pm. We do not advertise round-the-clock callouts. For an urgent electrical fault, call 1300 201 358 and we will confirm availability directly.
Am I in Brighton or Brighton East?
Brighton is postcode 3186 and runs down to the bay; Brighton East, its neighbour to the east, is 3187. We work in both, and Brighton East has its own page.
What is your hourly rate?
There isn’t a published rate. The $165 service call covers one electrician for the first 30 minutes, and we agree the price of anything more with you before doing it.
Who do I call when the power goes out?
Not us: the poles and wires belong to United Energy, the distributor for Brighton. Its faults line is 13 20 99.
Get a quote from an electrician
Whether it’s a split system upstairs, an old fuse box or a charger for the garage, send us the details and we’ll call you back within 2 business hours.
Helcro Electrical, 45/148 Chesterville Road, Cheltenham VIC 3192. Phone 1300 201 358.