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What things cost in 2026, and which incentives actually apply
These are the long-form references, kept separate from the rest of the blog because they do a different job. Each one exists to answer a pricing or eligibility question properly: what an electrician charges per hour and why the quotes differ, what a switchboard upgrade costs and what pushes it from $800 to $3,500 or more, what an EV charger installation actually involves at $1,200 to $2,200, which solar and heat pump incentives you can stack in Victoria, and whether a battery pays back on your usage. They are updated as figures move, because most of the incentives are shrinking and a guide written for 2023 numbers is worse than no guide at all. Read the relevant one before you compare quotes, not after.
The short answer
The guides category collects the long-form cost and rebate references from Pivot Trade Services, covering electrician hourly rates of $90 to $160, switchboard upgrades at $800 to $3,500 or more, EV charger installation at $1,200 to $2,200, Victorian solar rebates, heat pump hot water incentives and home battery payback. Each guide carries current 2026 pricing, eligibility rules and the conditions that change the number, written for Melbourne homeowners comparing quotes.
Start here
Four separate programs support home energy upgrades in Victoria, run by two levels of government with four different sets of rules. This is which one applies to what, how they stack, and where the eligibility traps sit.
Open the rebate hubReplacing a ducted gas heater with reverse cycle is the upgrade Victorian Energy Upgrades supports most heavily. The discount comes straight off the invoice, but the amount is not a fixed number and it is not the same at every property.
The federal battery discount is the main support available on home storage in Victoria. It scales with usable capacity, it shrinks every year, and it only applies to batteries that can join a virtual power plant.
Victoria no longer sets a mandatory minimum feed-in tariff, and export value in the middle of the day has collapsed. That does not make solar a bad purchase, but it does change what a good system looks like.
Rebate value in Victoria trends downward over time, not upward. Here is why waiting usually costs you, what actually changes at a financial year boundary, and how to order a multi year upgrade plan.
Three separate incentives can apply to the same heat pump hot water system in Victoria, and stacked they commonly total $3,000 or more. Here is how each one works and what you actually pay.
Federal STCs, the Solar Homes rebate and the Cheaper Home Batteries Program all apply in Victoria in 2026. Here is what each is worth and what a quality system costs after them.
A like for like gas ducted replacement runs about $4,000 to $7,500 where the ductwork survives. Changing the same house over to ducted reverse cycle is roughly $9,000 to $16,000. Here is where the difference sits.
Ducted refrigerated air conditioning is priced by capacity, zone count and how hard your roof space is to work in. Here is what each of those is worth in dollars.
A split system installed in Melbourne runs $2,500 to $7,500 depending on capacity and how many indoor heads are involved. Here is what sits behind each end of that range.
Rewiring is priced by the number of points and how hard the cable is to get to them. Here is what full and partial rewires cost by house size and era, and what the plaster repair really adds.
Fitting a fan to an existing point is $150 to $350 in labour. Creating a new point where there is no wiring is $350 to $700. The fan itself is the variable on top.
Melbourne electricians charge $90 to $160 an hour, with $120 the common average and a $60 to $120 call-out on top. Here is what the usual jobs actually cost and what moves the price.
A single-phase 7kW home charger installed in Melbourne runs $1,200 to $2,200. Three-phase is $2,500 to $3,000 plus, and a switchboard upgrade can add $800 to $2,500 on top.
A switchboard upgrade in Melbourne runs from $800 for a basic single phase board up to $3,500 or more for a large, three phase or asbestos board. Most are completed within a day.
Four chargers cover most Australian homes. The right one depends on your solar, your switchboard and your car far more than on the badge on the front of it.
Evaporative cooling is cheaper to run and works beautifully on a dry northerly day. Refrigerated cooling works on every day. In Melbourne, that distinction decides it for most households.
The running cost gap matters, but the incentive gap matters more. Three programs apply to a heat pump and none of them apply to a gas replacement. Here is the full picture, including when gas still wins.
Reverse cycle wins on running cost and it is not close. Whether it wins for you depends on the state of your ductwork, the age of your furnace and what the changeover actually costs.
Tell us what you need and we will give you a written price, not a range that moves on the day.
