Going From Gas to Induction: Is Your Switchboard Ready for an Induction Cooktop?

Is your switchboard ready for an induction cooktop? If your home currently cooks with gas, probably not without some checking: induction adds one of the largest single electrical loads in the house, and it needs its own dedicated circuit from a board with the space and protection to take it. Newer homes usually cope. Older boards, and homes already juggling air conditioning and an EV charger, need a proper assessment first.

1. Why induction changes the electrical picture

Swapping a gas cooktop for induction moves the whole cooking load onto your electrical installation. Nothing else in the kitchen prepares the wiring for that: the gas cooktop only ever needed an ignition point. That is why an induction swap is an electrical project first and an appliance delivery second, and why quotes that ignore the switchboard often fall over on install day. If you're planning a broader shift away from gas rather than a single appliance swap, our guide to switchboard planning for an all-electric home covers the bigger sequencing question.

2. The dedicated circuit, sized properly

Every built in induction cooktop runs on its own circuit, sized to the appliance. Helpfully, AS/NZS 3000 recognises that you never run every cooking zone flat out at once, so the circuit is sized on an assessed demand rather than the sticker rating. In practice a cooktop up to 8 kW is assessed at 20 A and one up to 10 kW at 25 A, which is why cable and breaker choices differ between models. Your electrician confirms the sizing against the exact appliance, the run length and the installation method, the same logic our cable size calculator walkthrough explains for other circuits.

3. What your switchboard needs

Three things: a spare way for the new circuit, safety switch protection for it, and a board in a condition worth adding to. Altered and added circuits must be protected by a safety switch, so an induction swap on an old board usually pulls a switchboard upgrade into scope. If your board still runs ceramic fuses or has a suspect backing panel, read our guide to identifying old fuse boxes and asbestos panels before anyone starts drilling. Larger homes running a second board off the main switchboard should note the same spare-way and safety switch requirements apply there too, our explainer on what a sub-board is and does covers how the two boards relate.

4. Will your supply cope with the stack?

A 63 A single phase supply runs most Sydney homes comfortably, induction included. The pressure comes from stacking: induction now, an EV charger next year, ducted air conditioning after that. Each one alone fits; together they can exceed single phase headroom and trigger a power supply upgrade. This is exactly the decision our posts on load increases and the Notification of Service Work and EV ready provisioning help you make once rather than three times, and our explainer on spare capacity and maximum demand shows how we work out whether your existing supply has room before recommending an upgrade. Whether an upgrade involves Ausgrid or Endeavour Energy depends on where you live, and you can check your network area in seconds with our postcode checker.

5. Leaving gas behind in the right order

The gas side of the swap, capping and disconnecting the cooktop supply, belongs to a licensed gasfitter. The electrical side belongs to us, and sequencing matters: circuit and board work first, appliance installation second, gas capping last so the kitchen is never without a cooktop. If the induction swap is part of a bigger move away from gas, our comparison of heat pump, gas and solar hot water covers the other big appliance in that plan. Where the swap is happening alongside a kitchen renovation, doing the switchboard and circuit work while the wall is already open is one of the electrical decisions that are far cheaper during a build than retrofitting afterwards.

When it becomes Level 2 work

The cooktop circuit itself is standard electrical work. It becomes Level 2 ASP work the moment the fix involves your consumer mains, metering or a phase upgrade, because that side of the installation can only be touched by an accredited ASP. In practice this shows up as a small number of specific triggers: your existing consumer mains are too light for the added load, your meter needs to be upgraded or relocated to suit a new board layout, or your maximum demand calculation shows single phase supply is genuinely at its limit. None of these are common for a cooktop swap on its own, but they turn up more often once induction is added on top of an EV charger or ducted air conditioning that is already installed. Homes that need a single to three phase upgrade to carry their full electrification plan need both skill sets on one job.

How High Demand Electrical helps

We assess the whole picture in one visit: the cooktop circuit, the board condition, your maximum demand with everything you plan to add, and whether your supply needs work. Because we are Level 2 accredited, a job that grows from a kitchen circuit into consumer mains or metering work stays with one team, one quote and one set of paperwork. For appliance pricing, our induction cooktop installation cost guide has the current numbers.

Get the switchboard answer before you buy the cooktop

Tell us the model you are considering and we will confirm what your board and supply need. Get a switchboard upgrade quote or call 0402 559 777. Scope and pricing are confirmed after a site assessment.