How to make extra money as an electrician

Even if you make a good living as an electrician, you may want to explore side hustles to increase your income. Whether you’re saving up or would like to hone your skills, there are many side gigs you can choose from. 

Here are ways to earn extra income with your electrical skills. 

Lighting installation

This is one in-demand and lucrative side job for electricians. Nowadays, homeowners like to renovate their homes and have new kitchens, bathrooms, or bedrooms built or rebuilt. Some homeowners also opt to make outdoor living spaces in their backyard or patio, so they’ll need an expert to install new lighting.

Smart home setup

More and more appliances are becoming “smart” and able to connect to the internet. And many homeowners want to synchronise their devices and shift to cost-efficient solutions.

To offer this service, you’ll need to know how to set up and integrate smart devices like smart thermostats, smart TVs, smart refrigerators, and smart LED lights. Smart home setups usually involve pairing these devices with apps like Google, Siri, or Alexa.

The Internet of Things is predicted to become the next big thing. So, there’s much potential for this electrical side work to become a lucrative career! 

Small appliance repair

Some homeowners can be nostalgic, frugal, want to avoid creating more electronic waste, or all three. That’s why there can be a demand for experts who can fix small appliances.

With this service, you can spare customers the hassle and cost of buying new electronics. With your working knowledge, fixing small appliances like toasters, fans, and mixers can be an easy side hustle.

Electrical supervisor

Another profitable (and not to mention interesting!) electrical gig is that of an electrical foreman. Note that you should have the requisite experience apart from your electrician’s certifications to get this job.

This is a supervisory job where you can be tasked to inspect and test light fixtures, circuit breakers, electrical wiring, fire alarms, smoke detectors and other vital electrical features in a home or commercial establishment. The job can also include scheduling tasks, advising workers, and ensuring that the project stays within budget and is on schedule.

Depending on the scope of the job, this can even be a part-time electrical side job you can do from home!    

Electrical maintenance technician 

As an electrician who does maintenance tasks part-time, you can hire out your services to property managers or owners of commercial buildings. This electrician side hustle entails routine maintenance checks of electrical wiring, maintenance, and repairing any damaged wiring or electrical components.  

Installing cables

You can do cable installation, whether it’s installing cables for a CCTV security system, cable TV and high-speed internet, hooking up sound and video for a home entertainment centre, or even setting up a home network. 

This can be a lucrative gig that won’t lack demand since most internet and cable companies outsource installation work to third parties. You can offer your services to install cables directly to homeowners or business owners. Or, apply to local internet companies as a third-party supplier to hook their subscribers up. 

You may find a gig like this easier since you’re already familiar with most of the safety standards for installing electrical wiring. 

DIY store partnership

Another profitable side gig for electricians is to partner with your neighbourhood DIY centre. These stores keep a list of independent contractors to help their customers with their DIY projects – you can be on that list and make extra income! 

Journeyman electrician 

As a journeyman electrician, you can work as an independent contractor that tackles various complex side jobs for electricians. While you work your way to the rank of master electrician, you can work on residential or commercial projects.

If you go the residential route, your side jobs can include repairing or replacing faulty wiring and electrical components and installing the wiring in home construction or renovation. 

For commercial work, you can be called in to install, repair and maintain electrical systems in buildings or other commercial/industrial structures like oil rigs, shipyards, mines, power plants or manufacturing facilities. 

Find electrical side hustles on Airtasker.

Finding clients is one of your biggest challenges as an electrician looking for profitable side gigs. But don’t sweat it; Airtasker can help! You can use our platform to connect with homeowners, property managers, or basically anyone else in need of your electrical services. Sign up on Airtasker now to start finding side hustles near you!