Gas vs electric: what a full switch actually costs

The bill you pay for owning a gas connection

Before a single flame lights, a gas connection costs you roughly a dollar a day in supply charges — hundreds a year, every year, just for the pipe. It's the quiet argument for going all the way: electrify most of the house and keep one gas cooktop, and you keep paying full freight for the connection. The last appliance off gas is the one that kills the standing charge — which changes the maths of every appliance before it.

The four swaps, and what each replaces

A full switch is four jobs. Heating: ducted gas out, reverse-cycle in — the biggest job and the biggest saving, because a modern heat pump delivers three-plus units of heat per unit of electricity while gas can't beat one. Hot water: gas unit out, heat pump cylinder in — up to 70% less energy for the same showers, and the swap most heavily supported by rebates. Cooking: gas cooktop out, induction in — the smallest job, mostly a circuit and a safe disconnection. And the foundation under all of it: a switchboard with the capacity to carry the new loads. That's why every plan starts at the board, not the appliances.

The order that saves money

Sequence matters more than speed. Board first — everything else lands on it. Hot water when the current unit is within a few years of dying (swap on your schedule, not the morning it fails). Heating before winter, cooking whenever the kitchen suits. Solar before or alongside the big loads so the new electric appliances run on your own generation. Batteries last, sized against real usage data from the electrified house. Doing it in one hit works too — but staging spreads the cost without buying anything twice, if the plan is written as one system from day one.

Staged or one hit, the trap is the same: five separate trades making five separate decisions about one electrical system.

What it costs — honestly

Every home is different enough that a number in an article would be a guess dressed up as advice — which is exactly what we tell people at the kitchen bench too. What we can say: the switchboard and heating are the two big-ticket items; hot water and induction are mid-range jobs with the strongest rebate support; and rebates across the whole project (federal STCs and battery discount, Solar Victoria, VEU) are worth thousands when they're sequenced properly. A written staged plan prices each stage fixed, so you always know what the next step costs before you commit to it.

What changes on the bills

Three things move at once: the gas bill goes to zero (usage and supply charge both), the electricity bill rises by less than the gas bill fell (because heat pumps multiply energy instead of burning it), and solar offsets a chunk of the new electric load — with export credits nibbling at the rest. The winter quarter is where the switch shows off: heating dominated the old gas bill, and it's exactly where reverse-cycle efficiency bites hardest. Our assessments model your specific bills before and after, so the decision is made on your numbers, not industry averages.