Electrician in Caulfield: ducted heating, units and older homes
Need an electrician in Caulfield? Helcro Electrical (REC 35448), working across Melbourne’s South East since 2006, sends its own licensed electricians, never subcontractors, to Caulfield and Caulfield South (3162), Caulfield North (3161) and Caulfield East (3145). All four suburbs are in the City of Glen Eira, about 7 to 9 km north-north-west of our Cheltenham workshop. We replace gas heating with reverse cycle, wire units within owners corporation rules, upgrade switchboards in older houses, and find tripping power, faulty power points and lighting faults.
Call 1300 201 358 → Get a Quote →
Phones are answered 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday. Small jobs can often be priced on the phone, free of charge; bigger ones start with a $50 site visit and a written quote.
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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); on solar you already have, priced after the site assessment |
All prices include GST. Prices, rules and figures on this page checked 31 October 2026 by Helcro Electrical (REC 35448).
Heating and cooling: from ducted heating to one room
Reverse cycle heats and cools, so ducted reverse cycle can take over from gas ducted heating in the same rooms. Under Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU), taking out a ducted gas heater and installing efficient ducted reverse cycle can be discounted by up to $5,530 on the largest systems, and replacing a non-ducted gas space heater with efficient reverse cycle by up to $1,610. An accredited provider must apply the discount before any work starts, so it goes into our written quote.
Since 30 September 2026, every ducted system, and any multi-split of 10 kW or more, carries a $3,000 minimum VEU co-payment; a single-split under 10 kW keeps the $200 minimum (VEU discounts and co-payments).
Houses without ducts can run a multi-split, one outdoor unit with an indoor head in each room: a 12 kW Mitsubishi Electric, 12.5 kW Fujitsu or 10 kW Panasonic with 3 to 4 indoor heads is about $10,000 to $11,000 installed, including GST, with no rebate taken off.
For a bedroom or an apartment living room, one split system does the job: $1,618 including GST for a Haier 2.5 kW on a standard back-to-back install, with no rebate taken off (split system prices).
The Victorian Government's advice is to "Make sure installers visit your home to check what size is right for your property"; our air conditioner size calculator and ducted air conditioning cost calculator only give a starting figure. The government's Power Up Your Home guide adds that "Switchboard upgrades are more likely to be required in older homes", so we check the board on that visit.
We fit Mitsubishi Electric, Daikin, Haier, Rinnai, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Fujitsu, Carrier, Midea and Panasonic. We generally don't install air conditioners that customers have bought themselves, because it's unclear who is responsible if something goes wrong.
Houses, townhouses and apartments across Caulfield
- Caulfield North: 2,669 homes (39.4%) were flats or apartments at the 2021 Census, against 12.1% for Victoria.
- Caulfield South: 2,509 homes (54.6%, Victoria 73.4%) were separate houses at the 2021 Census, and 1,448 (31.5%, Victoria 13.9%) were semi-detached, row or terrace houses or townhouses.
Units and apartments. Consumer Affairs Victoria's guidance is that a lot owner must not alter common property unless the owners corporation (body corporate) has expressly authorised it. New circuits are fed either from the block's main switchboard or from your unit's own sub-board, depending on how the building is wired and on the owners corporation's (or the job specification's) requirements.
EV charging. In a shared car park, the plan of subdivision shows what is common property, and any charger, cable or supply that crosses it needs the owners corporation's approval. In Caulfield South, 1,995 homes (43.5%, Victoria 36.9%) had two registered motor vehicles at the 2021 Census, and a typical home EV charger installation in a house garage takes one day.
In Victoria a registered electrical contractor must do the job: its licensed electrician fits the charger and issues the Certificate of Electrical Safety, and on United Energy's network we register it on myEnergy (types of home charger).
Rentals. At the 2021 Census, 2,699 Caulfield North homes (39.8%) and 252 in Caulfield East (44.8%) were rented, against 28.5% across Victoria. The rental provider (landlord) must arrange a gas and electrical safety check every two years: our electricians cover the electrical half and write it up, while gas appliances need a licensed or registered gasfitter (rental safety checks).
Switchboards and wiring in Caulfield's older houses
A heritage review prepared for Glen Eira, the Caulfield North Heritage Review (2023, updated 2024), found that "by the 1930s, Caulfield North had transformed into a middle-class suburb characterised by freestanding houses designed in a mixture of Victorian, Federation and Interwar styles".
For the Neighbourhood Residential Zone streets, Glen Eira's neighbourhood character policy aims to keep an interwar dwelling base "that includes Spanish Mission style" in Caulfield between Bambra Road and the racecourse, and "the 1940's period dwelling base" in Caulfield South between Sussex and Bambra Roads.
Safety switches (RCDs) have been required on power circuits in new Victorian wiring since the early 1990s, and on lighting circuits since 2001. A switchboard older than those rules may still have no safety switch, unless it has been upgraded (safety switch dates).
Does a 1970s house need rewiring? Its age alone doesn't decide it. Energy Safe Victoria says: "When buying a home built before the 1980s it is imperative the wiring is checked by a licensed electrical inspector or registered electrical contractor prior to moving in." As a registered electrical contractor we can do that check, and any rewiring it turns up is quoted in writing (wiring an old house).
Ducted reverse cycle, a multi-split, a car charger and induction cooking all add load to an old board (the fuse box, to many owners), so we check it first and price any switchboard upgrade in the same quote as the work it supports (going all-electric).
Heritage Overlay streets in Caulfield
Parts of all four suburbs are in Glen Eira's Heritage Overlay, from single houses to precincts such as the Caulfield North Estate and Environs heritage precinct. On a property in the overlay, an air conditioner or an EV charger needs a planning permit if it is visible from a street (other than a lane) or public park. Glen Eira's schedule switches on solar energy system controls for every locally listed heritage place, so solar panels visible in the same way need a permit too.
The council's heritage policy also says: "Conceal satellite dishes, solar panels, water tanks, air conditioning units and other mechanical equipment or where this is not possible, install the equipment in a location that will not detract from the significance of the heritage place."
To see where your address stands, VicPlan shows its zones and overlays, and we look the property up before quoting outdoor equipment.
Electrical repairs and small installs
On the list of smaller jobs: power that keeps tripping, new power points, LED downlights, garden and security lights, ceiling fans, hard-wired smoke alarms, and ovens or cooktops to connect; we supply and install induction cooktops, or install one you've already bought. See residential electrical work.
With alarms, cameras and intercoms we handle only the electrical side, running power for security systems and intercoms. For a shop or office on Glen Huntly Road or Hawthorn Road, see our commercial electrical work.
Gas hot water, solar and home batteries
From 1 March 2027, a mains gas water heater in an existing home cannot be installed, or replaced with another one; apartments served by a centralised gas hot water system are among the exemptions. Existing gas appliances can continue to be used, maintained and repaired as usual; in a rental, though, a fixed heater that fails beyond repair from that date must be replaced with energy-efficient fixed electric heating in the main living area, unless an exemption applies (Victoria's gas rules).
Our heat pump hot water brands are iStore, Sanden, Emerald and Haier. Fitted as a straight swap, an iStore 270L is about $3,900 installed, including GST, before rebates, and our licensed plumber caps the gas and decommissions the old heater, which we take away. We apply the VEU discount on our heat pump hot water installations, up to $560 when a heat pump replaces gas (heat pump or gas hot water).
We install solar panels from 5 kW to 30 kW. On a shared roof, solar needs the owners corporation's approval first; once it approves, we can quote it. For home batteries we are a SiGENERGY Certified Installer, a Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer and a Sonnen Certified Partner.
Victoria has no battery rebate of its own. The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program aims at around a 30% discount on the upfront cost. You get the rate in force when your Certificate of Electrical Safety is issued; it steps down every 1 January and 1 July (battery rebate guide). We confirm your battery and set-up qualify before quoting.
Our own electricians, registrations and warranties
The electrician at your door is usually Fedya or Rhys, both on our own team (about us).
Workmanship warranties: 12 months on general electrical, EV charger and security electrical work, 5 years on air conditioning and heat pump hot water, 10 years on solar and batteries. Sell the property and they pass to the buyer, on the terms in our warranty conditions.
- Registered Electrical Contractor REC 35448, registered with Energy Safe Victoria (check 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
The Caulfield area, suburb by suburb
At the 2021 Census, Caulfield North had 16,903 people, Caulfield South 12,328, Caulfield 5,748 and Caulfield East 1,293. Caulfield East takes in Caulfield station, Caulfield Racecourse and Monash University's Caulfield campus, and Caulfield Park is in Caulfield North.
Neighbouring suburbs we service include Brighton East, Carnegie, Ormond, Elsternwick and Glen Huntly (all our service areas).
Caulfield and Caulfield South are on United Energy's network, and so is part of Caulfield North; the rest of Caulfield North is on CitiPower (your bill names your distributor). For a power outage, United Energy's faults line is 13 20 99 and CitiPower's is 13 12 80.
Phone price, site visit, written quote
- Get in touch: ring 1300 201 358 or send the quote form.
- Small jobs: we can often give a price on the phone, free of charge.
- Bigger jobs: a $50 site visit, then a written quote.
- Sign-off: a Certificate of Electrical Safety wherever the work requires one.
WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
Natalie F, Caulfield North (Oneflare, November 2023)
Caulfield electrician questions
What if it's urgent?
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.
Which Caulfield am I in?
Caulfield North is 3161 (with Caulfield Junction), Caulfield and Caulfield South share 3162 (with Hopetoun Gardens), and Caulfield East is 3145, shared with Malvern East. All four are in the City of Glen Eira.
Do you charge by the hour?
We don’t publish an hourly rate. The $165 service call covers one electrician for the first 30 minutes, and we agree the price of anything beyond that before we start.
Ask for a quote
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.