Electrician in Highett post-war houses, townhouses and new builds
Helcro Electrical’s electricians work across Highett, Victoria (3190), from power points, lighting and fault finding through to switchboards, air conditioning, solar, batteries, EV chargers and heat pump hot water. We service Highett from our Cheltenham workshop (Factory 45, 148 Chesterville Road), not from an address in the suburb.
Registered Electrical Contractor REC 35448, registered with Energy Safe Victoria · VEU Accredited Supplier A003039 · NETCC Approved Seller for solar, batteries and hot water · Open Saturday 8am to 1pm
Free site assessment, no obligation, and we will call you back within 2 business hours.
Philippe M, Highett, on Oneflare, February 2022: “the quote was great.”
Highett at a glance
- 2,575 Highett homes are separate houses (53.3%) and 2,213 are townhouses, flats or apartments (45.8%), at the 2021 Census.
- From 1 January 2027, a building permit for a new Highett townhouse or apartment cannot include a reticulated gas connection.
- 1,326 Highett homes are rented, and from 13 October 2026 the two-yearly electrical safety check covers every Victorian tenancy.
- The Midday Power Saver tariff needs a smart meter, not a roof.
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Electrical work in Highett
Most Highett calls start with an ordinary job. Our electricians chase dead circuits and tripping switches, add power points and extend circuits, fit LED downlights and ceiling fans, and connect ovens, cooktops and rangehoods, including induction circuits. They also install garden, outdoor and security lighting and smoke alarms, and carry out partial or full rewiring where the original wiring has reached the end of its life.
We issue a Certificate of Electrical Safety on completion where the work calls for one. Nothing is subcontracted, refrigerant work included, so whoever quotes your job is not handing it to another business. The full list is on our electrical services page.
Post-war houses, townhouses and the work between them
The 2021 Census counted 12,016 people in 4,830 occupied private dwellings in Highett. Of those, 2,575 (53.3%) are separate houses, 1,381 (28.6%) are semi-detached, row, terrace or townhouse dwellings, and 832 (17.2%) are flats or apartments, with other dwellings making up the last 0.8%. Add the middle two and 2,213 homes, 45.8%, are attached or in a block. Highett is a suburb of older detached houses with townhouses built behind and beside them, and the two want different electrical thinking.
The older half has a documented history. Kingston's local-history archive records approximately 260 buildings in the whole of Highett in 1931, "from Bluff Road to Chesterville Road". Bayside Council's heritage consultants, GJM Heritage, later named Highett among the suburbs whose subdivisions were dominated by the post-war "austere" house, "built of either timber or brick veneer", with an L-shaped plan under a tile-clad hipped roof, a form that changed little through the 1950s and 1960s. The same history puts the peak of suburban home ownership in the 1960s. That study was prepared for Bayside Council by its heritage consultants, so we cite it as their account of how Highett was built, not as a survey of every street.
Townhouses and units come with a different checklist. Work that touches common property needs the owners corporation's agreement before it starts. The building's supply, rather than your own board, can limit what you add. A new load has to be metered so it lands on your account and no one else's. And where the parking is shared or allocated, that decides where a charger can physically go.
Not sure which kind of problem you have? Call 1300 201 358 or send us your address for a free written quote.
Why Highett households call our electricians
Jobs are carried out by our own technicians, including Fedya and Rhys, not by subcontractors. What we can show you:
- Registered Electrical Contractor REC 35448, registered with Energy Safe Victoria, searchable on the ESV public register.
- VEU Accredited Supplier A003039, so the Victorian Energy Upgrades discount comes off your invoice and you never lodge the paperwork yourself.
- NETCC Approved Seller for solar, batteries and hot water, the approval that lets us handle those rebates on your behalf.
- Clean Energy Council member, a company membership, not an installer accreditation.
- Solar capability: our accredited designers and installers cover grid-connected solar, battery storage and stand-alone power systems.
- ARC licensed for refrigerant handling (AU50700) and VBA registered for air conditioning work.
- SiGENERGY Certified Installer, Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer, Sonnen Certified Partner and NatHERS accredited.
- Open 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm Saturday. We do not advertise round-the-clock callouts.
Keeping the switchboard, the solar array and the EV circuit under one contractor is as much about paperwork as pricing. One registered business signs off every circuit and answers for it afterwards. Split across three trades, each can point at another when something trips. Our whole-home electrification service is built around that.
Call 1300 201 358 or get a free written quote. If the job turns out not to be needed, we will say so.
Switchboards, safety switches and fuse boxes
A house wired in the 1950s or 1960s was wired decades before residual current protection became part of the domestic rules. RCD (safety switch) protection of power point circuits has been required for new domestic wiring since the 1991 edition of the Wiring Rules (AS 3000-1991), and the requirement was extended to lighting circuits with the 2007 edition (AS/NZS 3000:2007), which took effect in Victoria in 2008. Neither change was retrospective, so a home wired before those dates may still have no RCD protection unless it has been upgraded.
Boards of that era are frequently ceramic, with rewireable fuses. The fuse is not inert, since the element melts and opens the circuit under overload or a short. What it lacks is the speed, repeatability and defined trip characteristics of a modern circuit breaker, and instead of a reset someone has to rewire the fuse carrier by hand.
Adding load starts with three questions about the existing board: how much it can carry, what protection it has, and whether the supply is single-phase or three-phase. See our switchboard and electrical work page. The board assessment costs nothing when it comes with a solar quote, and a written quote is free for anything else.
Air conditioning in Highett
A 2.5 kW or 3.5 kW split system starts from $1,359 supply and installed, after the rebate. That starting price holds up to 3.5 kW; larger heads are priced once we have seen the property, and the final figure follows the site and the installation. We install Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Rinnai and Carrier.
Philippe M, who had a split system installed in Highett, wrote on Oneflare in February 2022 that "the quote was great" and described the result as a "great device and a great price."
From 30 September 2026 the minimum customer co-payment under Victorian Energy Upgrades is $3,000 including GST, but only for ducted systems and multi-splits of 10 kW or more. The Essential Services Commission's table has three tiers, and only one moved:
- $200: single-split non-ducted systems below 10 kW. Unchanged.
- $1,000: single-split non-ducted systems of 10 kW or above, and multi-splits below 10 kW. Unchanged.
- $3,000: ducted systems of any capacity, and multi-splits of 10 kW or more. This is the tier that rose.
A 2.5 kW or 3.5 kW split is a non-ducted single-split under 10 kW, so the $1,359 starting price sits in the tier that did not move. Residential multi-split incentives are capped at 20 kW; the cap does not apply to ducted. The ceiling on a reverse-cycle discount is an indicative $5,530, and only for a large ducted system replacing ducted gas; the figure moves with the product chosen, the installation and the day's certificate price. The program runs to 2045.
See air conditioning installation and the Victorian Energy Upgrades program. Call 1300 201 358 or request a free written quote and the quote will show the discount already taken off.
The Midday Power Saver tariff
From 1 October 2026, Victorian retailers with 1,000 customers or more must offer the Midday Power Saver: free electricity every day from 11am to 2pm, when solar generation across the state peaks. About 2.6 million households are eligible, and what it needs is a smart meter. No panels, no battery, no roof. In a suburb where 832 homes are flats or apartments, and roof access is often a question for an owners corporation rather than the resident, that matters.
Three limits apply. Use is capped at 24 kWh a day. Eligible does not mean enrolled: enrolment is opt-in, and your bill stays as it is until you ask for the tariff. And a retailer's obligation is not the same as an offer being live, so ring your retailer and ask when theirs goes live. The government estimates $149 to $428 a year for a household shifting 5% to 30% of its consumption into the window, and up to $674 more for a household charging an EV there. The tariff is for households and is not available to small business customers.
Whether you can use the window depends on equipment behind the meter, which is why the sections below keep coming back to it.
Solar panel installation
The honest starting point: the 832 Highett households in flats and apartments, about one in six, cannot put panels on a roof that is not theirs. The 2,575 separate houses are the straightforward case. Townhouses are a title and plan question: the Census records that a home is attached, not who owns the roof, so we look at each one rather than assume.
For owner-occupiers, Solar Victoria's rebate is up to $1,400, with a matching interest-free loan at $29.17 a month. Household income must be under $150,000, reduced from $210,000 on 1 July 2026; the property must be under $3 million; and the address must have had no solar panels in the past 10 years and no earlier Solar Homes rebate. Rental providers can claim up to $1,400 under separate renter-income rules. Details are on Solar Victoria; payback and inverter choice are on our solar installation page.
If your roof is not an option, the measures that still work are reverse-cycle heating and cooling, heat pump hot water, a charger where the parking allows, and the Midday Power Saver.
Solar batteries
There is no Victorian battery rebate. The federal discount is the only battery incentive, and it tapers in three bands: 100% on the first 14 kWh of usable capacity, 60% from above 14 kWh to 28 kWh, and 15% from above 28 kWh to 50 kWh. No discount applies above 50 kWh, so capacity past 14 kWh still earns something, at a falling rate.
The date to plan around is 1 January 2027, when the certificate factor falls from 6.8 to 5.7, taking the discount from around $250 to around $210 per usable kWh at current certificate prices. It steps down again to 5.2 on 1 July 2027, and the program ends on 31 December 2030.
Our primary battery is the SiGENERGY SigenStor, a modular LFP system that switches to backup in about 5 ms and is V2X ready where the vehicle and supporting equipment support it. A battery that charges in the Midday Power Saver window and discharges after dark earns its place on a tariff like that. We also install Tesla Powerwall and Sonnen. Our guide to what the federal battery discount is worth is worth reading before comparing quotes, and home battery storage covers the systems.
Comparing battery quotes? Call 1300 201 358 or request a free written quote.
Electric vehicle charger installation
In a street of townhouses the first EV question is parking, not the driveway. The Census records 2,314 Highett households running two or more vehicles, and where bays are shared or allocated, where a charger can go and who pays for the power decide the job.
Typically, a fixed Mode 3 charger beats a portable Mode 2 lead on speed, and it sits on its own circuit with its own protection. Many can be set to charge only inside the Midday Power Saver window. A fixed installation has to meet AS/NZS 3000 and Victorian electrical safety requirements. In shared parking the sequence is consent, supply, cable route and then the charger, often with load management and separate metering.
We install Zappi, Tesla Wall Connector, Wallbox, Fronius, Ocular, SiGENERGY, GoodWe and Schneider EVlink. Background on how EV charging works.
Heat pump hot water and the 2027 gas rules
From 1 March 2027, a reticulated gas hot water system in an existing home can no longer be replaced like for like when it fails beyond repair. Exemptions exist. The rule is not a forced disconnection: repairs are still allowed, gas cooking is not affected, and neither is gas heating in a home its owner lives in. Rentals sit under separate minimum standards, below.
Replacing gas hot water attracts a $560 Victorian Energy Upgrades discount. Solar Victoria then adds 50% of what remains, capped at $1,000 or $1,400 with the locally made cap, a combined maximum of $1,560 on a gas replacement ($1,960 with the locally made cap). Replacing an inefficient electric tank earns $630 instead. A heat pump can also be set to heat its tank during the Midday Power Saver window.
We install iStore and Sanden Eco Plus hot water heat pumps. An iStore 270L is listed in our shop at $2,950 before rebates; installation is quoted separately. See heat pump hot water and Victoria's gas rules.
Gas hot water near the end of its life? Call 1300 201 358 or request a free written quote.
Rental electrical safety checks in Highett
1,326 Highett homes are rented, 27.5%, more than one in four. If you own one, three sets of dates matter.
From 13 October 2026, the two-yearly electrical safety check applies to every Victorian tenancy, whenever the agreement started; before, it covered only agreements from 29 March 2021. The gas and electrical checks go together under Consumer Affairs Victoria, and the electrical one must be done by a licensed or registered electrician to AS/NZS 3019:2022 Section 4.
Since 29 March 2023, the rental minimum standard has required RCDs on power and lighting circuits, because the duty follows the tenancy agreement rather than the age of the house. Hard-wired circuits such as ovens and air conditioners are exempt.
From 1 March 2027, minimum standards extend to heating and hot water that fail beyond repair, and to ceiling insulation of R5.0, fitted by a qualified installer where none exists, when a new agreement starts or one becomes month-to-month. From 1 July 2027, draughtproofing applies to external doors, windows and unsealed wall vents, and a gas safety check under six months old is required where gas appliances are present. Current wording is on Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Own a Highett rental? Call 1300 201 358 or request a free written quote and we will work around the tenancy.
Building in Highett: all-electric from 1 January 2027
From 1 January 2027, a building surveyor cannot issue a building permit for a new home or most new commercial buildings that include a new reticulated gas connection. Classes 1 to 7, 9 and 10 are caught; Class 8 is not covered. What triggers it is the date the permit is issued, and renovations do not trigger it.
Highett already has a council-approved example of building without gas. On 27 October 2021, Bayside Council approved the development plan for the nine-hectare former CSIRO site on Graham Road and Middleton Street: over 40% public open space, "gas free", with electric vehicle charging stations. That is what the council approved and when; we are not claiming it is built or occupied, or that we supplied it. In any new townhouse or apartment, the switchboard and supply need to be sized for induction cooking, heat pump hot water, reverse-cycle air conditioning and a charger together. The council's approval notice has the detail.
Commercial electrical for Highett Village
Highett's main commercial strip is a neighbourhood shopping centre. Highett Village is part of the activity centre that Bayside's 2017 plan classed as a neighbourhood centre, with Highett Road as its retail core, and jobs for traders range from three-phase supply and commercial switchboards to commercial lighting and wiring, commercial Victorian Energy Upgrades projects and EV charging for business premises. The Midday Power Saver is residential, so a business cannot use it. See commercial electrical work, and security installations for alarms, CCTV and intercoms.
Highett, the station and the level crossings
Highett lies within both the Bayside and Kingston council areas. Bayside's 2017 Structure Plan Review describes the Highett Large Neighbourhood Activity Centre as straddling the two councils, including the Highett Village Shopping Centre and the former CSIRO site. Wickham Road, Worthing Road and Middleton Street are among its collector roads.
Kingston Council says the Highett Road and Wickham Road level crossings will soon be the last remaining on the Frankston line. Their replacement is planned as a rail bridge with a new Highett station. Sources disagree on timing, so we quote no year.
Separately, the Suburban Rail Loop's Cheltenham station is planned at Sir William Fry Reserve, a site Kingston Council describes as being in Highett.
Neighbouring suburbs we service
Our workshop is at Factory 45, 148 Chesterville Road, Cheltenham VIC 3192. Neighbouring suburbs we service include Cheltenham, Moorabbin, Sandringham and Hampton East. We also service Bentleigh and Bentleigh East. The full list is on our locations page.
How a Highett job runs
- Describe the job. Call 1300 201 358 or send the form with your address.
- We call you back within 2 business hours.
- We assess on site. Free, no obligation: the board, the supply, and for a townhouse or unit, who has to agree.
- A written quote follows, itemised, with the rebates we handle already taken off.
- We install, then hand over the paperwork, including a Certificate of Electrical Safety where the work needs one.
Frequently asked questions
What are your hours, and what should I do about an urgent fault in Highett?
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.
Is my 1960s Highett house likely to have a safety switch?
Not necessarily. Power point circuits have needed RCD protection in new wiring since the 1991 edition of the Wiring Rules and lighting circuits since the 2007 edition, and neither change was retrospective. We check the board; we do not guess from the street.
I am building or buying a new townhouse in Highett. What changes on 1 January 2027?
A new home with a building permit issued from that date cannot include a new reticulated gas connection, so heating, hot water and cooking are typically electric. The electrical side then has to be sized for all of them together.
What does the 13 October 2026 rental check mean for a Highett landlord?
From that date the two-yearly electrical safety check applies to every Victorian tenancy, whatever the agreement date, and a licensed or registered electrician must carry it out.
Where is the Highett level crossing project up to?
Kingston Council describes Highett Road and Wickham Road as soon to be the last remaining crossings on the Frankston line, with a rail bridge and a new Highett station planned. Published sources disagree on timing, so we quote none; Kingston Council has the current position.
How does the Victorian Energy Upgrades discount work on a split system?
As an accredited supplier (A003039), we deduct it from your invoice, so you never lodge anything. A single-split non-ducted system below 10 kW sits in the $200 tier, which did not change on 30 September 2026.
Get a free quote on electrical work in Highett
Call 1300 201 358 Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, or Saturday 8am to 1pm, or send a quote request and we will call you back within 2 business hours.
The site assessment is free and the written quote shows rebates already taken off. No obligation.