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Average Cost to Rewire a House

The average cost to rewire a house is $7,000, but you could spend as little as $1,100 or as much as $13,000, depending on the size of your home and the extent of the rewiring job.

Cost to Rewire a House Per Square Foot

Electrical wiring costs between $0.15 and $3.50 per linear foot, not including labour. While electrical wiring is priced by linear foot, you can still use the total square footage of your home to estimate the amount of wire you’ll need to complete the job at a 1:1 ratio.

For example, the average size home is 2,500 square feet. If you plan on rewiring your entire home, then you’ll need roughly 2,500 feet of wiring material.

Below, we’ve broken down several common home sizes to help you estimate the cost of your project.

Cost to Rewire a House Per Project

The type of rewiring project can impact the cost to rewire your home. If you need to upgrade your electrical panel, open walls to run wires, install new electrical outlets or switches, or wire a new home, you’ll see a difference in prices.

Upgrade Electrical Panel

If your electrical panel needs replacing, you might need to add a new panel to the total cost to rewire your home. Electrical panel replacement costs fall between $400 and $2,500. Most homeowners will pay somewhere in the middle of this price range for a 200-amp panel.

Opening Walls and Running Wires

If you need to open walls to run wires through your home, the cost to knock down walls falls between $0.40 and $6.40 per square foot. Load-bearing and stone walls cost the most to open, as they require more skill and costly replacement materials, while drywall is a fast and simpler material to open and replace.

Install Electrical Outlet or Switch

Electrical outlet installations cost between $125 and $175 per outlet. If you are replacing a GFCI outlet (also known as a ground-fault circuit interrupter), you could pay up to $500 per outlet. The higher the voltage, the higher the price of the outlet. If you’re upgrading outlets to a higher voltage, anticipate spending more on labour for your electrician to install a new circuit.

Wire New House

Wiring a new house may be cheaper than rewiring an old house. Newer homes typically have easier layouts for accessing wires and installing new ones into the wall. Additionally, older homes can come with many hidden surprises, as building regulations have changed over the decades to make it easier for electricians to access the walls.

Cost to Rewire a House Per Material

The type of cable or wire you choose to rewire your home also plays a role in the cost of your total project, with costs ranging between $0.15 and $0.60 per linear foot on the low end and between $1.50 and $3.50 per linear foot on the high end.

THHN or THWN Wire

As one of the more affordable types of wiring for a home, THHN or THWN wire costs between $0.15 and $1.50 per foot on average. Also called thermoplastic, high heat-resistant nylon-coated (THHN) wire and thermoplastic, heat-resistant, water-resistant nylon (THWN) wire, these materials contain a single conductor, insulation and a jacket to protect the wires. Their affordability makes them popular in many homes.

NM Cable

The average cost of non-metallic (NM) sheathed cables ranges from $0.50 to $3.50 per square foot. This cable falls in the middle of the price range and is also popular in homes and accessory dwelling units. Unlike THHN or THWN wires, NM wires have multiple THHN wire conductors, but they’re not designed for moist areas or high heat.

UF Cable

If you want a multi-conductor cable designed for moist, outdoor locations and high heat, then you’ll want to choose an underground feeder (UF) cable, which costs between $0.60 and $2 per square foot. This cable type typically goes underground and brings electricity from your home to your outdoor dwelling space.

Factors That Affect the Cost to Rewire a House

You can break down the cost to rewire your home by looking at three of the biggest cost factors, including the size and age of your home, labour, and home inspections as well as permits.

Size and Age of the House

The age of your house can determine how much of the property needs rewiring. Homes built before the ’70s or ’80s will likely need a full rewire, while newer homes may get by with just a partial job. Likewise, larger homes need more wire and take longer to rewire, leading to higher costs.

Labour

The average cost to hire an electrician falls between $50 and $150 an hour. Most rewiring projects take between three and seven days to complete, meaning your labour costs can range between $1,000 and $7,400 or $4,600 on average.

Home Inspection and Permits

Before your electrician can get started rewiring your house, they’ll first need to conduct an electrical home inspection and acquire a permit to proceed. The home inspection costs around $100 to $150 on average, while the permit costs somewhere between $25 and $400. The cost of your permit depends largely on the local cost of living and your municipality.

Signs You Need to Rewire a House

Knowing when it’s time to rewire a house can help prevent structural fires, electrocution, higher electric bills, and those little inconveniences that occur when your house really could use new wiring. Below are some of the biggest signs that it’s time to rewire your home:

• Your lights keep flickering.
• Your light switches or faceplates look discoloured or burnt.
• You feel electric shocks when touching switches.
• The circuit breakers or fuses keep tripping.
• You see sparks.
• You hear buzzing sounds.
• There’s a burning smell.
• You have an older home.

DIY House Rewiring vs. Hiring a Professional

Hiring an electrician to rewire your house costs between $50 and $150 an hour, so your project’s cost can increase anywhere from $1,000 to $7,400 or more. You also need to factor in the cost of an electrical home inspection and permit, which adds $125 to $550 to the cost of the project. If you decide to rewire your house yourself, you could save between $1,125 to $8,000.

However, as with any electrical work, rewiring a house can be a dangerous undertaking—especially if you don’t have experience working with electrical wiring. In some cases, attempting electrical work is illegal, so be sure to check with your local and state electrical regulations before attempting to rewire a home.

Your safest option is to hire a licensed electrician to rewire your house instead. An electrician near you has the experience to safely complete the job.

How to Save Money on House Rewiring

Rewiring a house is a major investment. Fortunately, there are ways to save on the cost of this project. Here are five tips on how to lower the cost of rewiring a home:

• Install New Circuit Breakers Instead of Rewiring Your Home: The cost to install a new circuit breaker is around $250 to $400, not including the new wiring in that part of the house. If your breaker box has room for the new breaker, and your home’s electrical wiring is in good shape, adding wiring only where it’s needed can save you big time.

• Choose Cost-Friendly Materials: THHN/THWN wires are some of the most budget-friendly materials on the market compared to other cables. Keep in mind that choosing high-quality materials may cost you more upfront but could help save money long-term. Still, it’s an economical choice for homeowners looking to save on upfront costs.

• Buy Cables in Bulk: The more cable you purchase, the lower the price. For instance, if you purchase 25 linear feet of cable, you’ll pay more per foot than you would if you purchased 100 linear feet.

• Limit Opening Walls: If possible, have your pro pull old wires through your crawlspace, attic, basement, or floor joists rather than through breaking down walls. Many electricians can fish wire through the walls of your home to avoid costly wall repair services. If you must access wires through the wall, try to have the project completed in one go to avoid having to re-open walls.

• DIY Non-Electrical Work: Remember, it’s safest to let an electrician handle the electrical work. But you can still repair walls yourself to help cut down on labour costs.

To arrive at the average costs in this article, editorial team members surveyed 16 different providers on national and local levels. All averaged figures were correct at the time of publication and may be subject to change.

Photo Credit: goteamup