If your meter box still has ceramic fuses, a safety switch on one circuit or a burnt smell on a hot day, it's time. A switchboard upgrade puts safety switches on every circuit and leaves room for what you'll add next.
NSW electrical contractor Lic. 000000C (demo)
Sample review
Our board was still on ceramic fuses when we bought the place. New board with safety switches on every circuit, done in a day, and every breaker labelled before he left.
Sample review · Tallowood Electrical is a fictional business
What's involved
A lot of the houses we work in were wired for a kettle, a fridge and a radio. Now they run split systems, an induction cooktop, a pool pump and an EV. The switchboard is where that catches up with you.
Demo figures: most single-phase switchboard upgrades in Newcastle homes cost $1,500 to $3,000.
The board itself is a small part of the price. Labour, the number of circuits, whether the meter panel is asbestos, and whether your network needs to attend all move the number. We quote it line by line before we start, and the quote is free. Our electrician cost guide covers what other common jobs cost.
If your board is in good shape but missing protection, adding safety switches can be a smaller job than a full upgrade. We'll tell you which one you need.
A new board is the moment to leave space for a battery, a second solar inverter or an EV charger later. Planning those spaces now is cheaper than opening the board twice.
FAQ
Demo figures, for a fictional business: most single-phase switchboard upgrades we do in Newcastle homes come in between $1,500 and $3,000. Asbestos backing boards, a meter box that needs replacing, or moving to three-phase all add to it, and we price them separately so you can see why.
Ceramic fuses, a board with no safety switches or only one, breakers that trip for no clear reason, scorch marks, or a board too full to add a circuit. Any one of those is worth a look.
Usually one day. The power is off for part of it, and we tell you the window when we book so the fridge and the work-from-home day can be planned around it.
Yes. Many Newcastle homes built before the late 1980s have an asbestos backing board. It is handled and replaced to the safe-work rules, and we include it as its own line on the quote.
No, an old fuse board isn't illegal on its own. But ceramic fuses give no protection against electric shock, and any new circuit has to have a safety switch. So adding a split system, a cooktop or an EV charger often means upgrading the board first.
Often, yes. The inverter needs its own protected circuit and space on the board, and a battery needs more. If your board is full or still on fuses, we upgrade it first and leave room for what comes after.