Port Douglas · Douglas Shire · Cairns Northern Beaches
Hot water electrician, usually out the same day you ring
Element gone, thermostat stuck, or the safety switch tripping at the same time every night. We have done 529 hot water jobs since 2020 across Port Douglas, Craiglie, Mossman and out to the Daintree.
- 5.0 on Google
- 24/7 emergency callout
- Licence 82270
Why does a hot water system trip the safety switch?
If you woke up to a cold shower and a tripped safety switch, the element is the first suspect. Electric hot water systems on a controlled tariff heat in the middle of the night, so a failing element only leaks to earth while it is drawing current. The board goes at 2am and you find out at 6am. You can reset it and it might hold for a day, but it will go again.
Those 529 jobs sit on top of 8,840 fault finding and tripping calls, so an element is familiar ground for us. Elements and thermostats are usually a one-visit repair, and we carry the common sizes on the ute.
Repair or change it over
The tank decides it, not the element. If the system is under about ten years old and the tank is sound, an element and thermostat is the sensible fix. If it is older, rusting at the seams, or it has already had one element in it, you are throwing good money at a tank that is on the way out. We test the element and check the tank first, then tell you which way we would go before anything gets replaced.
Why they fail faster up here
Salt air is the quiet one. On the coastal side of a Craiglie or Port Douglas house, the isolating switch and the weatherproof enclosure at the tank cop constant salt. We open one up and find green terminals and a corroded gland well before the tank itself is finished. Ants and geckos in outdoor enclosures cause their share too, which sounds like a joke until you have seen a nest built across live terminals. Out on the acreage blocks around Mossman and Julatten, tank and bore water is harder on elements than town supply, and it shows in how often they need replacing.
Heat pump changeovers
A heat pump takes heat out of the surrounding air, and the air up here is warm nearly all year. That is close to best-case conditions for one. Before you commit, three things matter: where the unit sits (they are not silent, so not under a bedroom window), whether your existing circuit and cable suit it, and how your tariff arrangement is set up with Ergon. We check all three at the quote stage rather than finding out on install day.
What the job involves
Isolate, test dead, check the circuit and the cable, do the tariff wiring, test it live, and hand over the paperwork. As the licensed electrical contractor we issue the Certificate of Testing and Compliance for the installation work. That is yours to keep for insurance, a sale or a letting agent. QLD Electrical Contractor Licence 82270, fully insured.
For a full changeover you generally need a plumber as well. We do the electrical side, they do the water connections and valves. We will work in with your plumber or organise one, and we book the two trades to line up so you are not sitting without hot water for a day and a half.
Resorts, letting pools and commercial
A lot of our work is accommodation. A resort with a guest checking in tomorrow cannot have a unit sitting cold until Thursday. Commercial customers get our Same Day Service Guarantee, so a call by 2pm on a business day is attended that day, and we run 24/7 emergency callout for the ones that cannot wait at all. If you manage holiday lets, tell us which units are occupied and we will work the order around that.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, issuing certificates of compliance.
What we install
We fit and repair Rheem, Rinnai, Dux, Aquamax and Sanden, and we keep the common elements and thermostats on the ute so most repairs get sorted in the one visit.
- Rheem
- Rinnai
- Dux
- Aquamax
- Sanden
Still working out what is wrong?
We have written up the fault that usually points to this work, and what it means:
Who we do it for
We do this work for homeowners, property managers, body corporates and resorts.
When there is no hot water
Element, thermostat, or the circuit feeding it
A hot water system that has stopped is usually an electrical fault rather than a dead unit, and the two cost very different amounts to fix.
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01Check the supply first
Off-peak systems run on a controlled circuit, and a fair share of no-hot-water calls are a tripped breaker or a failed contactor at the board rather than anything wrong with the unit.
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02Then the unit itself
Element and thermostat are testable and replaceable. Replacing those is a fraction of a new system, and we tell you which one you are looking at before you commit.
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03Back on, and safe
Tested at the tap and at the board, with the isolator where somebody can reach it.
Straight answers
Hot Water Systems: your questions
The safety switch trips every night at about the same time. Can I just keep resetting it?
You can reset it, but it will keep happening. A controlled tariff system heats overnight, so a failing element only leaks to earth when it is drawing current. That is why the trip lands at the same time each night and everything looks normal by morning. While it is out, the rest of that circuit is out too, so the fridge or the freezer can go with it. Ring us and we will test the element properly instead of guessing.
Is it worth putting a new element in a hot water system, or should I just replace the whole system?
It comes down to the tank. Under about ten years old with a sound tank, an element and thermostat is the sensible repair and you get years more out of it. Older than that, rusting, or already repaired once, and you are better off putting the money into a changeover. We test the element, look over the tank and the relief drain, then tell you which way we would go. We quote it before starting.
Can I change a hot water element myself?
No. Electrical work on a hot water system is licensed work in Queensland, and the testing that proves it is safe counts as energised electrical work. There is a plumbing side as well, since the tank has to be drained and refilled correctly. Beyond the legal side, the usual DIY result we get called to is a stripped tank thread or a brand new element sitting in a tank that was the real problem all along.
Do I need a plumber as well as an electrician for a hot water changeover?
For a full changeover, usually yes. We handle the electrical: isolation, the circuit, tariff wiring, testing and the Certificate of Testing and Compliance. The plumber handles the water connections, valves and drain. We will work in with your plumber or organise one for you, and we line the two visits up so nobody is standing around waiting and you are not without hot water all day.
Do heat pump hot water systems actually work well in the tropics?
They do. A heat pump pulls heat out of the surrounding air, and Far North Queensland air is warm most of the year, so it runs in good conditions rather than fighting a cold morning. The things to sort out first are placement (they make a bit of noise, so not right outside a bedroom), whether the existing circuit and cable suit the unit, and your tariff arrangement. We look at all three before we quote.
Where
We do this from Cape Tribulation down to Smithfield
Anywhere on our patch. Every area we cover has its own page with the access and the local conditions on it.
Need a licensed electrician who turns up?
Leave us a number and we will ring you back, or send the whole job through and we will quote it.