Lighting, LED downlights and ceiling fans

Replacing old downlights with LED fittings, adding light points and installing outdoor lights are all jobs for a licensed electrician, even when the new fitting goes into the same hole. A published Melbourne cost guide puts LED downlights at $63 to $160 per light supplied and installed, so a room of six to eight lights is a modest job, and it is often worth combining with fans, outdoor lights or smoke alarms in one visit.

Why owners change their lighting

The usual triggers are older halogen downlights that run hot, blown transformers and lamps that keep failing, flicker on dimmers, dark rooms after a renovation, and outdoor areas that were never lit properly. Energy Safe Victoria lists flickering lights among the signs that household wiring may be faulty, so a light that flickers on every setting, or several lights dimming together, is a reason to have the circuit checked rather than just changing the globe. Its power outage safety advice adds that dull or flickering lights across the house, with low voltage or partial supply, should be reported to the electricity distributor straight away, without touching the switchboard.

Lighting options compared

Job	Melbourne range
LED downlight changeover	$63 to $160 per light
New light point	Quoted per job
Outdoor light	$160 to $525 per light
Ceiling fan	$160 to $420 per fan
Mains-powered smoke alarm	$105 to $260 per alarm

What each job involves:

• LED downlight changeover. Old fitting and transformer removed, LED fitting with its driver installed in the same opening. Good for living areas, kitchens and hallways.
• New light point. New cable run from the lighting circuit, switch and fitting. Good for walk-in robes, garages and extensions.
• Outdoor light. Weatherproof fitting, sensor or switch, cable through wall or eaves. Good for driveways, alfresco areas and side paths.
• Ceiling fan. Fan mounted to a ceiling joist or brace, wired to a wall control. Good for bedrooms, upstairs rooms and patios.
• Mains-powered smoke alarm. Alarm wired to 240 volt supply with battery backup, interconnected where several are fitted. Good for hallways outside bedrooms and each storey.

These bands come from the What’s The Damage? Melbourne electrician price table, verified in October 2026 and including GST. The cost guide for Carrum Downs explains how call-out fees and hourly rates sit on top of per-item prices.

What a provider will ask about

• How many fittings and where. A sketch of each room with the existing lights marked saves time.
• Ceiling access. Single-storey homes with a pitched roof are straightforward. Lights under an upper floor or a flat roof may need cutting and patching.
• Insulation. Ask whether the fittings proposed suit the insulation in your ceiling, and whether any batts will need trimming or guards.
• Dimmers and switching. Not every LED fitting works with every dimmer. Say which rooms you want dimmable, two-way switched or on sensors.
• Colour temperature. Warm white, cool white and switchable fittings all exist. Decide before the order is placed.

What the work involves

The electrician isolates the lighting circuit, removes the old fittings and any transformers, checks the condition of the cable at each point, installs the new fittings and drivers, and tests the circuit. For new points or outdoor lights there is also a cable run and, outside, a fitting with a weather rating to suit its exposure. Fans need a solid fixing to the ceiling structure, not just the plasterboard.

Smoke alarms while the ceiling is open

Hardwired smoke alarms are a natural add-on to a lighting job. The Building and Plumbing Commission’s smoke alarm guide says homes built after 1 August 1997 must have alarms connected to 240 volt mains power with a backup battery, that alarms must meet AS 3786, and that a hard-wired interconnected system should be installed by an electrician. It also passes on the fire services’ advice to fit alarms in every bedroom and living area as well as the required locations. Any Carrum Downs house built after August 1997 falls on the mains-powered side of that date.

Certificates and standards

Lights and fans are non-prescribed electrical work. No independent inspection is needed, but the electrician must still complete a Certificate of Electrical Safety and give you a copy within 30 days, as Energy Safe Victoria explains in its consumer guide. Work is done to AS/NZS 3000. You can confirm the business on Energy Safe Victoria’s register of electrical contractors.

What a careful provider will not do

• Push insulation back over a fitting that is not designed to be covered.
• Leave an old transformer in the ceiling powering an LED lamp it was not built for.
• Hang a fan from plasterboard alone.
• Treat a whole-house flicker as a globe problem.

Lighting around Carrum Downs

Carrum Downs family homes, mostly built from the 1980s onward with generous garden frontages, suit a combined job: indoor downlight changes plus patio, path and driveway lighting in one visit. In Patterson Lakes, lights for canal-side gardens need fittings rated for that exposure. If the board has no safety switch on the lighting circuit, the switchboard upgrade guide explains the options, and the Carrum Downs area page covers the housing in more detail. For flicker or tripping that has no obvious cause, read about electrical fault finding.

What to do next

Count the fittings room by room, note any dimmers, and ask for a lighting quote. An independent licensed electrician reviews the enquiry and, if they take it on, quotes and installs; the website itself is a referral service only.

Send a job enquiry