- 1). Talk to a licensed electrical contractor about your family's electrical needs and what wiring may be required for your home. Be aware that any repairs to or replacement of electrical wiring may require an electrical inspection. Check with your local building code authority to find out if a permit is required.
- 2). Inspect the wiring in your house. The copper wiring that was the standard in many old homes is not necessarily a safety hazard, as long as it is still in good condition. However, any frayed or eroded wires should be changed. If you are doing a total rewire job, consider where switches and outlets would be most conveniently located. One problem common in older homes is too few outlets. To add more outlets, you may have to cut holes in walls and ceilings so that you can fish the wires. This will require that new wiring and a new circuit breaker be installed.
- 3). Turn off power to the source before you start. You should always turn off the power in the service panel before doing any electrical work, including removing receptacles or outlets. Use a circuit tester to make sure that the power really is turned off. Instruct other members in the household to stay away from the panel box while you are working.
- 4). Check the fuse board or circuit breaker panel. If the panel box is not large enough to allow a sufficient flow of air around the wiring, you may want to install a larger box. Make certain that the existing breaker panel is not already overloaded with circuits. The breaker box should have a label indicating the maximum number of circuits, which should be in the box. Do not replace a single-pole breaker with a tandem breaker. Because you are actually replacing a single circuit with two circuits in one slot, you can overload the box. If you feel that your current electrical box is too small for the number of circuits required, you can either add a sub panel or replace it with a larger box that can hold more circuits.
- 5). Examine all switches and receptacle outlets carefully. Test each one to make sure that it is working. Replace any switches or outlets that you find, which are not working. It only takes a few minutes to change a switch or receptacle outlet. When you disconnect old switches and receptacles, pay attention to how each switch or outlet is wired, so that you know how to connect the new receptacles when you replace them. Be sure to replace switches with those of the same type.
- 6). Properly ground all wiring in the home. The electrical system should not be grounded to a metal water pipe, which is often the case in older homes. Replace all two-prong receptacles with three-prong receptacle outlets, rewiring any outlets, which are not grounded.
- 7). Hire an experienced electrician if you run into trouble or do not feel qualified to complete the job yourself.
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