The order that works
List every gas appliance
Hot water, cooktop, oven, heaters, bayonets, a barbecue on the house line, a pool or spa heater. Each one needs a plan.
Plan the electric replacements
A heat pump for hot water, induction for cooking, reverse cycle air conditioning for heating. See swapping gas hot water for a heat pump.
Check the switchboard
An electrician can tell you whether your switchboard and supply can carry the new load.
Install the replacements
Keep the gas running until each electric appliance is in and working.
Disconnect and cap
A licensed gas fitter disconnects each gas appliance and caps the pipe safely.
Talk to your gas retailer
Ask what it involves to close the account and take the meter out, and whether you could reconnect later.
In Victoria, going all electric is your choice
For an owner-occupied home, nothing in the Victorian rules we've read makes you leave gas. From 1 March 2027, a gas hot water system that reaches the end of its life in an existing home must be replaced with an efficient electric one. Check current rules, and see Victoria's gas hot water rule.
Cooking and heating are a different story. The Government said in 2025 that there are no changes to gas cooking in existing homes, and none to heating for owner occupiers. So you can swap the hot water and keep a gas cooktop or heater, or go all electric now.
In the ACT
The ACT has blocked new gas network connections since 8 December 2023, and plans to stop using fossil fuel gas by 2045. There's no rule yet forcing gas appliances out: the Government consulted on possible rules from 5 August to 16 September 2026, with a draft regulation to follow.
Because new connections are blocked, ask your retailer before the meter goes whether you could ever reconnect.
What a gas fitter will do
A gas fitter will turn off the gas, disconnect each appliance and cap the pipe at each point with a fitting made for gas. Then they test the capped pipework to make sure nothing is escaping. If the meter is going too, your gas retailer can tell you how that's arranged.
What changes the job
How many appliances there are and where the pipes run. Whether everything is capped at once, or one appliance at a time as each is replaced. Access under floors and behind cabinets. And timing: the gas fitter's visit has to fit around the electric installs, so nobody is left without hot water or a way to cook.
Your jobs before the gas goes
You can
- List every gas appliance, including outdoor ones.
- Ask your gas retailer about closing the account and the meter.
- Book an electrician to check the switchboard early.
- Check rebates and discounts before you buy: see hot water rebates.
Leave to a licensed plumber
- Disconnecting and capping each gas appliance.
- Testing the capped pipework.
- Removing gas pipe that's no longer needed.
Licences
Disconnecting gas is licensed gas work, just like connecting it. In Western Australia you can check a gas fitter on the state's online licence search; for other states, see checking a licence.
Questions to ask the gas fitter
- Will you cap at each appliance, at the meter, or both?
- Will you test the capped pipes before you leave?
- Can the old gas pipe come out, or is it better left capped?
- What do I need to tell my gas retailer?
What we would do
Do it in order: electric appliances in and working first, gas capped last. Pulling the gas out before the heat pump arrives is how people end up with cold showers. In Victoria nothing forces you to go all at once, so changing each appliance as it wears out is a sensible plan too. When the time comes, book a licensed gas fitter who does disconnections.