Switchboard upgrades, Brunswick
Ceramic fuses out. Safety switches in.
Most Brunswick boards were sized for a house with a kettle and a television. If yours trips when the oven and the air conditioner run together, it is usually not faulty. It is out of date.
What an upgrade covers
What actually happens on the day.
Every board is different, so the quote follows an inspection rather than a price list. This is the shape of the job on a standard Brunswick house.
Ceramic and rewirable fuse carriers come out. They cannot be tested, and they do not disconnect anywhere near fast enough to protect a person.
One breaker per circuit, sized to the cable it is actually protecting rather than to whatever happened to be on the van.
RCD protection on power and lighting circuits. In Victorian rentals that is now the minimum standard, and we fit it the same way in owner-occupied houses.
Where one circuit is carrying the whole kitchen, it gets separated. Air conditioning and car charging get their own run back to the board.
Years of additions get sorted out inside the enclosure, so the next person who opens it can read what is in front of them.
Printed labels, not marker on tape. It matters at eleven at night when you are looking for the one breaker that dropped out.
Insulation resistance, earth continuity, polarity and RCD trip times. The numbers get written down, not eyeballed.
Issued where the work requires one. It is part of the job, not a line item added at the end.
Signs a board has had enough
You already know some of these.
People rarely ring about a switchboard. They ring about the symptom. Almost all of these turn out to be the same underlying problem, which is a board doing a job it was never sized for.
- Ceramic fuses, or fuse wire you have replaced yourself
- A safety switch that keeps tripping for no obvious reason
- Lights dipping when the kettle or the oven comes on
- Power points that have stopped working altogether
- A board that is full, with no room left for another circuit
- Scorch marks, a buzzing noise, or a warm smell at the board
- Renovating, extending, or converting the garage
- Adding an induction cooktop, a split system or a heat pump
- Putting in an EV charger
- Preparing a property to lease
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Rental safety checks
Required every two years in Victoria. We work through whole rent rolls rather than one property at a time.
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Emergency call-outs
No power, a hot smell, or a circuit that will not stay on. Ring us.
Brunswick boards
Old brick, old wiring, new appliances.
The suburb is mostly Victorian and Edwardian terraces, interwar brick, warehouse conversions and newer apartments. The switchboards have not kept pace with any of it.
What we open up most weeks in Brunswick is a board that has been added to rather than replaced. A rewirable fuse panel from the original build, a couple of breakers bolted on when the kitchen was done, a surface-mounted enclosure next to it holding whatever came later. Each addition made sense on its own. Together they are a board nobody can read and nothing can be tested against.
None of that is unusual, and none of it means the house is dangerous today. It does mean there is no margin left. The moment somebody adds a second oven, a split system or a car, the board is the thing that has to move first.
Old fuse box replacement
Replacing an old fuse box means fitting a modern enclosure, breakers on every circuit, safety switches, and clear labelling. Where the existing enclosure is sound and there is room to work, the upgrade goes into it. Where it is a rusted meter panel or an asbestos-backed board, the enclosure is replaced as part of the job.
Boards mounted on asbestos sheet are common in houses of this age. If we find one, we tell you before we touch it, and it gets handled properly rather than drilled into.
Safety switches, and what they actually do
A circuit breaker protects the wiring. A safety switch, or RCD, protects the person. It watches for current leaking to earth, through a damaged cord, a wet fitting, or someone touching a live part, and it cuts the power in well under a second.
A lot of older Brunswick homes have one RCD covering a couple of circuits and nothing on the rest. That is worth sorting, particularly where there are outdoor circuits, a bathroom, a shed, or kids in the house. If your existing safety switch trips regularly, the fault is usually an appliance or a damp circuit rather than the switch itself, and it is worth finding out which.
Boards in rental properties
Consumer Affairs Victoria states that rental providers who entered into a new agreement after 29 March 2021 must have all electrical installations and fittings checked by a licensed electrician at least once every two years. From 29 March 2023, all power outlets and lighting circuits in a rental property must be connected to a compliant switchboard circuit breaker and a compliant residual current device.
In practice, that is what turns a switchboard from a maintenance item into a compliance one. If you own or manage rental stock through Brunswick and the suburbs around it, see our rental electrical safety checks page, or send the addresses through and we will work out the run.
Before an EV charger goes in
A home charger is a continuous load for hours at a time, which is a different thing to an appliance that cycles. Before one goes in we check what capacity the supply and the board actually have, whether the existing protection is suitable, and whether there is room for a dedicated circuit.
On an older Brunswick board the honest answer is often that the switchboard work comes first. It is much better to know that before the charger is ordered than halfway through the install. More detail on our EV charger installation page.
Certificate of electrical safety
Energy Safe Victoria requires a certificate of electrical safety to record electrical work carried out by a registered electrical contractor or licensed electrician. Where the work requires one, you get one, and it goes to you rather than sitting in our files.
We are REC 35681. If you are getting quotes from a few places, it is worth asking each of them for their registration number and whether the certificate is included.
How it works
Four steps, no mystery.
A switchboard upgrade means the power is off for part of the day, so it is worth knowing how the job runs before you book it.
Send a photo
Open the board cover, take a picture and text it through. It tells us most of what we need before anyone drives anywhere.
Inspection and price
We check the existing board, the supply and the circuits, then give you the number before any work starts.
A booked power-off window
Most house upgrades are done inside a day. You know in advance roughly how long the power is off for, so you can plan around it.
Tested, labelled, certified
Everything tested and recorded, every circuit labelled, certificate of electrical safety issued, and the site left clean.
Reviews
Maz was excellent. He was punctual, confirming time and tools to bring. He was very friendly and professional. We will definitely be continuing to hire him for our future electrical needs.Pheobe, Melbourne
Absolutely wonderful job done by Mas, he was efficient, so neat and precise and you can see how much he cares about the work he completes.Gabriella, Fitzroy
Masaki is an extremely reliable electrician, with a very high standard of work, at a reasonable price. I would highly recommend Miki Electrical Group.Chloe, Mill Park
Masaki has a high work ethic and professionalism in his approach to his work and his clients.Darren, Viewbank
Common questions
Before you ring.
If yours is not here, ask on the phone. It is quicker than typing it out.
How much does a switchboard upgrade cost in Brunswick?
It depends on the existing board, how many circuits there are, the condition of the wiring behind it, and how much room there is to work. That is why we quote off an inspection or a photo rather than publishing a figure that would be wrong for half the houses in the suburb. You get the price before anything starts.
How long does it take?
Most residential upgrades are done inside a day. Older boards, tight meter cupboards, and properties where the existing wiring turns out to need attention can run longer, and we will tell you if we think yours is one of those before we book it.
Will the power be off?
Yes, for part of the day. We agree the window beforehand so you can plan around it. If you work from home or run a business from the property, say so when you book and we will work the timing around that.
Do I have to upgrade just because I have ceramic fuses?
Not automatically. Ceramic fuses are a strong sign the board is original, but the decision comes from what the inspection finds and what the house is being asked to run. A licensed electrician should tell you which of those you are dealing with rather than quoting a replacement on sight.
Why does my safety switch keep tripping?
Usually a faulty appliance, moisture in an outdoor or bathroom circuit, damaged cable, or a circuit carrying more than it should. A safety switch tripping is it doing its job. If it keeps happening, it is worth finding the cause rather than resetting it, and that is a fault-finding job before it is a board job.
Can you upgrade the board before an EV charger goes in?
Yes, and it is the usual order of work on an older property. We check the available capacity and the existing protection, then do the board work and the charger circuit together where that makes sense.
Do I get a certificate of electrical safety?
Where the work requires one, yes. It records the electrical work carried out by a registered electrical contractor or licensed electrician, and it is yours to keep.
Do you only do Brunswick?
No. We are based in Coburg and work across Melbourne's inner north and beyond. Brunswick is simply where a lot of this particular job comes from.
- Electrician Brunswick
- Electrician Coburg
- Electrician Preston
- Electrician Fitzroy
- Electrician Northcote
We do switchboard work through Brunswick East, Brunswick West, Coburg, Pascoe Vale, Carlton North, Princes Hill, Parkville, Fitzroy North, Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Moonee Ponds and Essendon.
Past the inner north we work across Melbourne's northern and eastern suburbs, and we take renovation and commercial work right across the metro area. Not sure whether you are in range? Ring and ask. We will tell you straight either way.
Get in touch
Send us a photo of your board.
Open the cover, take a picture, text it through. It is the fastest way to get a straight answer on whether yours needs work.
- Call or text
- 0492 949 017
- Based in
- Coburg VIC 3058
- Licence
- REC 35681