Most Victorian homes that want to get off gas don’t do it in one go. They do it one appliance at a time, usually when something breaks. That’s fine, but the order you do things in makes a real difference to what you pay and how comfortable the house is at the end.
This is the order we’d suggest for a typical detached house in Melbourne with gas heating, gas hot water and a gas cooktop. Your house may be different, so treat it as a starting point rather than a rule.
1. Fix the building first
Before spending thousands on new appliances, spend a few hundred on the house itself. Draught-sealing doors and windows, blocking off old chimneys, sealing exhaust fans and topping up ceiling insulation cut the heating and cooling load. A smaller load means a smaller (cheaper) heat pump, lower running costs and a house that holds its temperature overnight.
It’s also the least exciting step, which is why people skip it. Don’t. We’ve covered the cheap jobs in more detail in our guide to draught-proofing and insulation.
2. Hot water is usually the first appliance to go
Hot water is typically the second-biggest energy user in a home after heating, and it’s the appliance most likely to be replaced in a hurry when it fails. From 1 March 2027, Victorian rules require a gas hot water system that has reached the end of its life to be replaced with an electric one, so it pays to plan this before the old tank starts leaking.
A heat pump hot water system is the usual choice. It moves heat from the air into the water rather than making heat directly, so it uses a fraction of the electricity of an old element tank. Rebates from the Victorian Energy Upgrades program and Solar Victoria can take a large chunk off the price. Our heat pump hot water guide goes through how they work and what to look for.
3. Heating and cooling
Space heating is the big one. In most Melbourne homes it uses more gas than everything else combined. Reverse-cycle air conditioning (split systems or ducted) heats far more efficiently than a gas heater, and it cools in summer as well.
There’s no rule forcing owner-occupiers to replace a working gas heater, so many people run the two side by side for a while: a split system in the living area does most of the work, and the gas ducted system only comes on during the coldest weeks. When the gas unit eventually fails, that’s the time to decide between ducted reverse-cycle, multiple splits, or something like hydronic heating with a heat pump. We compare the last two in hydronic vs reverse-cycle.
4. The cooktop
Cooking uses very little gas compared with heating and hot water, so swapping the cooktop rarely saves much on its own. The reason to do it is that it’s often the last thing keeping you on the gas network, and you keep paying a daily gas supply charge for as long as you’re connected. Induction is the obvious replacement. It’s fast, easy to clean and most people stop missing the flame within a few weeks. More in our induction swap guide.
5. Solar, and then maybe a battery
Solar makes sense at almost any point, but it’s worth more once your hot water and heating are electric, because you can run them in the middle of the day when the panels are producing. A heat pump on a timer that runs from 11am to 3pm is effectively a thermal battery: it stores your solar as hot water.
A home battery comes last for most households. It’s the most expensive item on this list per dollar saved, even with the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program discount, and it’s easiest to size properly once you know how much electricity your all-electric house actually uses. See how big should a home battery be.
6. Close the gas account
Once the last gas appliance is gone, you can stop paying the supply charge altogether. You have a choice between a disconnection at the meter and a full abolishment of the connection, and they cost different amounts. We explain both in getting off gas completely.
A note on timing
The cheapest time to replace an appliance is before it fails, because you get to choose the product, compare quotes and line up rebates. The most expensive time is a cold Sunday night with no hot water. A simple list on the fridge of each gas appliance, its age and what you’ll replace it with saves a lot of stress later.
For the official detail on Victoria’s rules and rebates, the Victorian Government’s energy site is the place to check. Rules and rebate amounts change, so confirm the current figures before you sign anything.
Figures and rules in this guide were checked in November 2026. Rebates change often, so confirm current amounts on the official sites linked above.