How to tell before you spend anything, what a load calculation actually tests, and when an upgrade is genuinely necessary rather than upsold.
Licensed NSW contractor · Network notification handled · Flat quote
Probably not, if your home was built after about 2000. Probably yes, if it is on 60A service with electric heat. But the honest answer is that nobody can tell you from the outside — it depends on a load calculation.
It adds up the demand your home is designed to carry: heating and cooling, water heater, range, dryer, general lighting and receptacles — then checks whether adding a 48A continuous load leaves you inside the service rating. The switchboard label is a starting point, not the answer.
A 80A switchboard already running a heat pump, electric range, electric water heater and dryer may genuinely have no room. A 150A switchboard in a gas-heated house often has plenty.
Before you agree to an upgrade, ask to see the load calculation. Any competent electrician will have done one. If they have not, they are guessing — in whichever direction suits them.
We will tell you which of these applies before recommending an upgrade. An upgrade is four times the price of an install — it should be genuinely needed.
Answer four questions and you get a real number, not a callback promise. Most quotes come back in under five minutes — including evenings and weekends.
No obligation · We pull the network notification · Licensed NSW contractor