The wiring inside your home is one of those things that is easy to ignore until something goes wrong. But for older homes throughout Allentown and the Lehigh Valley area, outdated wiring is not just an inconvenience. It can be a genuine safety hazard. Kelley Electric handles whole house rewiring for residential properties across Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, from initial assessment through completed installation.
When Whole House Rewiring Makes Sense
Not every home needs a full rewire, but there are situations where it is the right call. Common reasons Allentown and Lehigh Valley homeowners reach out to us about rewiring include:
- Older homes with knob-and-tube or aluminum branch circuit wiring still in place
- Wiring that has deteriorated due to age, pests, or prior damage
- A home with a history of DIY electrical work that was not done correctly
- Frequent breaker trips, flickering lights, or other signs of an overloaded or failing system
- Preparing a home for sale and needing to bring the electrical system up to current standards
- A major renovation where walls are already open and rewiring makes sense to do at the same time
Knob-and-Tube and Aluminum Wiring
Many older homes in the Lehigh Valley area, particularly those built before the 1970s, were wired with knob-and-tube wiring. This system has no ground wire, was not designed for the electrical loads modern households put on it, and can become brittle and unsafe over time. Some insurance companies will not cover homes with active knob-and-tube wiring, or will charge significantly higher premiums. If you are unsure what type of wiring your home has, a code compliance assessment is a good place to start.
Aluminum branch circuit wiring, common in homes built during the 1960s and 1970s, has its own set of issues. It expands and contracts more than copper, which can loosen connections over time and create fire hazards at outlets and switches. Homes with aluminum wiring need to be handled carefully, either through full rewiring or through specific remediation methods at every connection point.
What Whole House Rewiring Involves
A full rewire is a significant project, and we will not sugarcoat that. It involves running new wiring throughout the home, which means working inside walls, attics, and crawl spaces. The scope depends on your home’s size, layout, and what is already in place. We will assess your home thoroughly before any work begins and give you a clear picture of what is involved, how long it will take, and what to expect during the process.
All rewiring work is permitted and inspected, and we handle the permitting process as part of the job. If your panel needs to be upgraded to support the new wiring, we handle panel work as well and can coordinate both projects together.
Partial Rewiring and Targeted Upgrades
Not every situation calls for a complete whole house rewire. Sometimes the right approach is rewiring a specific area of the home, upgrading wiring to support a new addition, or addressing problem circuits while leaving the rest of the system intact. We will give you an honest recommendation on the scope that actually makes sense for your home rather than pushing for more work than is needed.
Kelley Electric has been serving Allentown and the surrounding Lehigh Valley communities since 2008. We are locally operated, licensed, and insured, and we work exclusively on residential properties. Schedule service today or call us at (610) 395-2144.
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Whole House Wiring & Rewiring FAQS
Have questions about whole house rewiring in Allentown or the Lehigh Valley area? Here are answers to what we hear most often from local homeowners.
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Common signs include frequently tripping breakers, flickering or dimming lights, outlets that don't work, burning smells near outlets or switches, and visible deterioration of wiring in the attic or basement. If your home is more than 40 years old and has never been rewired, it's worth having a licensed electrician assess the system even if you haven't noticed obvious problems.
Knob-and-tube is an older wiring method used in homes built roughly before the 1950s. It uses separate hot and neutral wires run through ceramic knobs and tubes, and it has no ground wire. It wasn't designed for the electrical loads modern homes put on it, and it can become brittle and unsafe with age. Many insurance companies either won't cover homes with active knob-and-tube wiring or charge higher premiums for them.
Aluminum branch circuit wiring was common in homes built during the 1960s and 1970s. It expands and contracts more than copper wiring, which can loosen connections at outlets and switches over time. Loose connections create heat, and heat creates fire risk. Homes with aluminum wiring should be assessed by a licensed electrician to determine the best remediation approach for their specific situation.
It depends on the size and layout of your home and the complexity of the existing system. A typical single-family home rewire takes several days to complete. Larger homes or those with more complex layouts take longer. We'll give you a realistic timeline after assessing your home before any work begins.
In most cases yes, though the extent varies depending on your home's construction and how the wiring needs to be routed. Attic and crawl space access can reduce the amount of wall opening needed in some situations. We'll walk you through what to expect for your specific home during the assessment phase.
Yes. Whole house rewiring is a permitted project in Pennsylvania, and the work needs to be inspected upon completion. Kelley Electric handles all permitting as part of the job, so you don't have to navigate that process on your own.
It depends on the condition of the current wiring and your local market. Homes with knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring can be harder to sell and may cause issues during the buyer's inspection or with the buyer's insurance company. In some cases updating the wiring makes the home significantly easier to sell and may support a higher asking price. It's worth having an electrician assess what you're working with before making that decision.