Northcote's homes and power
Brick, then bungalows
Cheap land in the 1880s brought brick cottages built from local clay. The population nearly doubled in the decade after 1900 and doubled again in the 1920s.
Mixed housing
At the 2021 Census, 49.1% of homes were separate houses, 27.4% semi-detached or townhouses and 22.8% flats. 37.5% were rented.
Heritage rules
Darebin says changes to a house under a heritage overlay may need a permit. In precincts like Gladstone Avenue (HO298), its exemption for domestic services doesn't cover units that project above the roof or sit on a roof plane facing the street.
A busy substation
CitiPower's Northcote zone substation, which also supplies part of Thornbury, was forecast to reach 33.9 MVA in summer 2024/25, above its 31.9 MVA cyclic capacity. CitiPower lists a transformer replacement there in 2027 and a new switchboard in 2029.
Electrifying an older Northcote house
Swapping gas for heat pump hot water, reverse-cycle heating and an induction cooktop adds a lot of load to a house that may have a small board and single phase supply. An electrician should check the supply and the board first, then plan the new circuits.
If you need more capacity, a change to an existing CitiPower supply, such as single phase to three phase, is applied for by a Registered Electrical Contractor through the eConnect portal. EV charger applications on CitiPower's network go through its mySupply portal.
Outdoor units and solar panels on a street-facing roof are the parts heritage rules care about, so put them at the back where you can.
What we'd do in Northcote
Plan the whole electrification in one go. List everything you want to add, get the board and supply assessed against that list, then stage the work. Doing it piece by piece risks running out of board space halfway through.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.