Avondale Heights sits high above the Maribyrnong River, and the blocks reflect it: elevated, often sloping, with the kind of back yards and outdoor areas people actually use. Most of the housing dates from the 1960s and 70s, so the electrical picture looks a lot like neighbouring Keilor East — original boards, no safety switches — but the jobs are different. Here it is more often outdoor and alfresco power, lighting down a sloping block, garage and workshop supply, and swapping out tired halogen downlights for LEDs that do not cook the ceiling.
- Outdoor & alfresco power
- Garden & step lighting
- LED downlight conversions
- Switchboard & RCD upgrades
- Garage & workshop supply
- Fault finding & repairs
The slope is the thing that makes Avondale Heights different to work on. Split-level homes and terraced back yards mean longer cable runs, more thought about where a supply comes from, and lighting that has to deal with steps and changes in level — which is a safety issue as much as a look. Outdoor work here also has to be genuinely weatherproof, not just outdoor-rated in name: correct IP-rated fittings, proper glands and enclosures, and RCD protection on anything running outside.
Inside, the most common request is getting rid of old halogen downlights. A lot of homes around here had them installed in the 2000s, and they run hot, burn through globes and quietly cost a fortune to run. Converting to LED is straightforward, but it is worth doing properly — removing the redundant transformers rather than leaving them sitting in the ceiling, and using IC-rated fittings that can safely sit against insulation, which the originals almost never could.
More than most people expect, and it is worth planning before the builder pours anything. Outdoor areas need weatherproof fittings rated for genuine exposure, RCD protection on every circuit, and cable runs that are protected where they leave the house. Then there is the use case: an outdoor kitchen with a fridge and a cooktop needs its own capacity, while a deck with lights, a fan and a couple of points is much simpler. We work out the load first, run it as a properly sized circuit rather than spurring off the nearest indoor point, and set out switching so you are not walking inside in the dark to turn things off.
Yes, and on Avondale Heights blocks it is one of the more useful jobs we do. The priority is the level changes — steps and retaining walls are where people actually come unstuck in the dark, so those get lit first, usually with low-level step or wall lights rather than one glaring flood that leaves everything else in shadow. Beyond that it comes down to how you use the yard. We run the cable in conduit at the correct depth, use fittings rated for exposure, and put it on a switch or sensor arrangement that makes sense from wherever you actually come in and out.
Usually it means the circuit or the board is being asked to carry more than it was designed for, which is common in homes from this era where appliances have been added over decades to an unchanged board. It can also be a genuine fault — a failing appliance, a damaged cable, or moisture getting into an outdoor circuit — and the two look identical from the switchboard. We test rather than assume, because repeatedly resetting a breaker that is doing its job is how small problems turn into fires. In most cases the fix is redistributing circuits or upgrading the board, not just a bigger breaker.
Almost always, on both running cost and safety. Halogens draw many times the power of an equivalent LED for the same light, and they run hot enough to be a genuine fire risk where ceiling insulation has been pushed up against them over the years — which in 1960s and 70s homes that have had insulation topped up, it often has. When we convert, we remove the old transformers instead of leaving them sitting in the ceiling cavity, and use IC-rated LED fittings that are designed to sit safely in contact with insulation. We also check what is actually up there before starting.
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