Installing our induction stove
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The crew arrived at seven. By lunchtime there was no gas appliance left in our house.
It was one visit, which was the whole point of choosing O'Brien Electrical & Plumbing Rowville: electricians and plumbers from the same firm, on the same morning, so nobody was waiting on anybody else. Lucas ran the electrical side, Jackson the gas. They did a great job.
The gas went first. A manometer test on the line before anything was touched, the cooktop's supply capped, then tested again. That part legally needs a licensed gasfitter — you can't simply unbolt an old cooker and drag it out — which is why swapping an appliance was never as simple as it looked.
Then the old Smeg came out, and behind it we found over a decade of everything that had ever fallen down the back of a cooker.
It didn't go to a scrapyard. I'd listed it on Facebook Marketplace at $650, spent $10 promoting it, and had a dozen enquiries within days — in hindsight it would have gone for $850. I held it for Damien, the first buyer to offer full price, who left a $100 deposit expecting a quick turnaround.
Then the oven delivery dragged on for weeks, which held up the disconnection, which held up the Smeg. I kept apologising and offered his deposit back. He stuck it out, and collected it that same evening, the day it finally came off the gas.
I'll admit I was surprised anyone is still installing a gas stove in 2026. But his was replacing one that had failed — and having just paid a four-figure sum for the privilege of an induction circuit, I understand the hurdle completely.
Outside, the 25 metres of 10 mm² cable our electrician had specified went from the switchboard up into the roof cavity, along the length of the house, and down into the kitchen wall. A 40 amp breaker went into the board on the backed-up side of our Tesla Gateway, so the cooker keeps working in a blackout. With three Powerwalls we have around 16 kW available off-grid, comfortably more than a cooktop and an oven will ever ask for at once.
The isolation switch went where an unused power point had been, so no tiles needed cutting. That, plus selling the old cooker rather than having it carted away, was scope we could take out of the job — which is why the refreshed quote came in $311 below the original.
By midday the board was relabelled, the Westinghouse was standing in the gap, connected and tested, and a Certificate of Electrical Safety was on its way to the regulator.
Final cost: $2,255.92, gas capping included.
We have been electric for heating since February and for hot water since December 2025. As of a Monday lunchtime in July, we're all electric for cooking too. I closed the gas account that same afternoon — but that turned into a story of its own.
Coming up: a rebate worth about $200 that I'm not allowed to claim myself.
Related Posts
- What was already on the board before this circuit joined it Where does this circuit go? 26 Jul 2026
- What it cost, and the four other quotes Quotes to install an oven and induction cooktop 20 Jul 2026
- The oven itself — bought in March, arrived in July Oven bought in March, arrived in July 12 Jul 2026
- Earlier — getting gas out of our heating Goodbye gas — disconnecting the ducted heating 4 Feb 2026
- Earlier — the heat pump that replaced gas hot water Heat pump installation 3 Dec 2025
- The rebate for the swap Rebate for replacing our gas stove 28 Jul 2026
- And finally, off the gas Off the gas for good 30 Jul 2026
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Jif let it soak and use findlgers to spread to cover the marks leave 10mins and coarse or fine stainless steel wool won't scratch it.
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Still needs a plumber of course
Unless you get it abolished first and were using a counter top induction while you waited for the pieces to drop into place.
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I'm going to get a 32A 3ph line put, the oven already has a 16A single ph line. Worst case scenario we get a more powerful oven and swap in a 16A cooktop.
Sucks needing to do it again, had converted the last place to all electric properly. Sigh! This place has 3 separate breakers for all the lights, but only 2 for the power circuits.... And I figured out that some of the power circuits go out when the light circuit breakers are flipped. Cowboy shit done by whoever did this!
At least the original electrical work in the house is decent. 2007 built but has neutral wiring everywhere, easy to do smart switches etc. Whoever did changes along the way just butchered parts of it. Making house circuits safe is a big hidden cost to electrifying. Getting it all fixed, RCBOs put in, needs to be sorted.
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Second was in Perth and something similar to as you describe above.
Third was started by adding a Fronius smartmeter - asked a sparkie to come and help.
Three hours later more than $1000 just in switchgear!
My cooktop is on a 40A 3P circuit in new house as sparkie didn't know anything.
Of course with 180% overload from a standing start for 500 seconds for a typical breaker - I can just about launch satellites!
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Summer isn't an issue due curtailment of other renewables in the middle of the day and hopefully that's when the charging is done
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We have given up gas heater, next will be water heater and stove
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