Whether you’ve bought an older house, or you’ve been in the same property for many years, typically one of the most dated and out of fashion items in your home will be the light fixtures. This is because for most people it’s in the too-hard-basket to get them changed, or it’s in the too-expensive-basket!

So as you look around at your burnt orange ornate fittings that were so ‘groovy’ a few decades ago, you might wonder - how much does light fixture replacement cost? Or if I wait long enough will these be back in fashion!?

I don’t know about the second question, but I can answer the first, and offer a solution to this expensive problem.

When installing a light fixture in your ceiling there are 2 obvious costs and 1 less obvious cost.

The 2 obvious ones are the cost of the new fitting, and the cost of an electrician.

Light fittings range anywhere from $20 to $2000+ depending on your taste, but let’s assume a modest $150 pendant fitting.

For light fixture replacement the electrician cost typically includes a call out or service fee that covers the first 30 minutes, then an hourly rate charged in 15 minute intervals. Service fees range from about $80 to $120, and hourly rates range from about $80 to $110. These rates are typical in Melbourne, Sydney and most other capital cities.

So, to change and install a single pendant light expect it to take an electrician about an hour and cost from about $120 to $175.

So your total is around $300 so far for changing a single pendant.

Then there’s the 1 less obvious costs of light fixture replacement - your time.

In many Australian households all adults work full time. So to get an electrician to come and change a light fitting it’s going to cost you some annual leave while you wait around for them to show up “some time between 8am and 2pm”. So assuming a typical wage is $30/h, a day of your leave is worth about $230!

So suddenly our modest $150 pendant light is costing $530 to install! ($150 pendant + $150 electrician + $230 annual leave, for those playing at home)

And who gets just one pendant light? If you want 3 over the kitchen island benchtop - you’re spending over $1000!

But did you know - with Snap Lighting - Installation is FREE!

This is one of the many reasons Snap Lighting just makes so much sense.

Once you’ve got Snap Lighting Universal Sockets installed, you can forget the electricians and annual leave, it’s just the pendant and a few seconds to completely change the look of your home!

When you first install the Snap Lighting Universal Sockets you may need an electrician if you can’t plug them in yourself - but if you’re building or renovating you’re getting new lights put in anyway, so Snap Lighting is a complete no-brainer! It’s the obvious choice for smart renovators like you.