In most cases, it’s recommended to rewire a house every 20-25 years. For kitchens, that can be sooner, as leaks, exposure to steam, and heavy use can result in faster damage. So, if you’re constantly hearing buzzing and crackling, your breakers keep flipping, or you want to install new high power electronics like a new electric hob and oven, rewiring may be the best call.
Rewiring a kitchen normally costs between £800 and £2,000 depending on the size of the kitchen and your location. However, the average cost is about £1,500 – which covers materials, labour, and notifying Building Control. Here, the cost of labour is typically around £50-£60 per hour, materials cost around £80-£800, and building control notification costs £170-£690.
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Why Rewire Your Kitchen?
There are plenty of reasons you might want to rewire your kitchen. If you’re just doing the kitchen and not the full house, it most likely relates to local damage or local installation of higher-power electronics.
Local Damage
If you’ve had leaks or an electrical issue in the kitchen, it might mean that your wiring is no longer safe. For example, if your boiler developed a leak and shorted out, it could have damaged the wiring in the kitchen, meaning that other electronics are more likely to short out.
New Electronics
Installing an electric stove can be a great way to modernise your home and reduce your CO2 emissions. However, your kitchen may not be wired to support that kind of power usage.
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The average electric hob pulls about 3,000 watts at max (when heating up) and most electric ovens pull about 2,000-5,000 watts. If you run both at once, that’s the equivalent of running 2-3 water cookers at once.
Many old kitchens have a single 16 Amp spur in place, which means you can draw a maximum of 2,990 watts before the fuse blows – or not enough to get your electric hob up and running.
Age
If you’re rewiring because of an age-related issue, it’s likely a good idea to simply rewire the whole house. Not only will it be faster to get everything over with at once, but you’ll also usually save money by doing so.
For example, the average cost of rewiring a kitchen in the UK is £1,500. However, the average cost of rewiring a full house is £4,500.
Rewiring should generally be completed about every 25 years. And, crackling, buzzing, and static noises are good indicators that you need a rewire.
How Much Does Kitchen Rewiring Cost?*
Rewiring a kitchen depends on two primary factors: the local cost of labour and the cost of materials. The latter will depend a lot on the size of the kitchen and what your rewire is for. For example, it’s a lot cheaper to replace your existing 13-amp spurs with 13-amp spurs than to add 20-amp spurs.
The following chart details costs for rewiring a standard-size kitchen of 13.5 square meters, with an electric hob and no new light installations.
| Costs | Action | Time | Total | |
| Hourly Rate | £45-£60 | £326- £665 | ||
| Removing Floorboards | 2 hours | £90-£120 | ||
| Running Wiring | 1-4 hours | £45-£2400 | ||
| Removing Lighting | 1-3 hours | £45-£180 | ||
| Replacing Sockets | 1 hour | £45-£60 | ||
| Testing System | 15-20 minutes | £11-£30 | ||
| Consultation/Visit Fee | £45-£85 | |||
| Building Regulation Approval for Notifiable Work | £170- £690 | |||
| Electrical Safety Report / Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) | £100- £280 | |||
| Materials | £80- £800 | |||
| £676- £2,555 | ||||
*Please note, these costs were based on average costs at the time of writing in April 2023. Costs are subject to change and may be different at the time of reading.
Kitchen Rewire Job Price Factors
The total cost of your kitchen rewire will depend on factors like the local cost of labour, the number of spurs, the size of the kitchen, and what kind of labour is involved.
Size of Kitchen
The larger your kitchen, the more work it is to rewire. That’s especially true if you have a large kitchen or have built an extension and would like to wire it.
Moving wiring to a kitchen island may be a significant amount of work. That’s also true if you want to add a socket or lights to a far corner of the kitchen with no existing wiring.
The average kitchen in the UK is about 13.5 square metres. However, if you have a long kitchen, it’s likely going to cost more to wire the opposite corner than if you have a square kitchen.
Cost of Materials
You need what might be, surprisingly, a lot of materials to do a rewiring job. For example:
- New sockets / double sockets
- Light fittings
- Wire
- Appliance outlets
- RCD consumer unit (to replace old fuse board)
- Tails upgrade
- Earthing upgrade
- 13-amp spurs (typically 4)
- 20-amp spurs (typically 1-2)
- Isolators
- Transformers
- Switches
- Ring circuit
All of that is also without considering that you might want your electrical rewiring to include the installation of new light fixtures such as integrated down spots, to include the installation of electric heaters, dishwashers, under cabinet lights, new double sockets, cookers, vents, etc.
Number of Spurs
The more sockets and electrical appliances you want, the more spurs you want. This means your electrician will have to connect more spurs to the main ring – which will take time.
On average, you can expect a total of about 1 hour per new spur and socket or new spur and appliance connection. In addition, if you want more sockets than you have outlets on your main ring, you’ll need a different main ring circuit.
Accessibility
The time to install wiring will depend a lot on how accessible that wiring is. For example, if your electrician has to remove all of the kitchen cabinets to access the wiring, it’s going to take a long time. If you have stone flooring in that you can’t lift easily and the wiring runs under the floor, it’s going to take a long time.
The idea is that you can access most of the electronics by taking out the existing sockets and then simply drawing the wires out and threading new ones back in. However, that won’t always be possible and you may end up with a significant amount of deconstruction in your home.
Local Cost of Labour
Most electricians in the UK charge between £45 and £60 per hour. This means that hourly rates are relatively predictable. However, for most, you’ll pay two fees.
If you’re calling someone for less than two hours of work, you’ll always pay a higher initial fee. This is an hour of work to £150 – and covers the cost of travel, the consultation, and the first hour of work. If you have a big job, you may also pay a separate consultation fee.
Afterwards, you’ll pay a flat hourly rate, per electrician on the job. However, you may also have a master electrician working with two journeymen to speed up the job. So, your total rate may look like:
Consultation fee: £150
£60 per hour for Master Electrician: 8 hours – £480
£30 per hour for each 2 Journeyman Electricians: 8 hours – £480
Total: £1,010
Rewiring a kitchen will normally take 1-2 days, with 2 being the most common.
Local Cost of Notifications
At any point where you replace the electrical wiring for your home, you’ll have to notify building control. That means submitting a City Council notification. Those costs depend on where you live. For example, across the UK, the lowest cost of notification is £170 and the highest is £690.
However, providing you hire an electrician certified under the Competent Persons scheme, they will handle notifications for you. In addition, notifications should be rolled into the price. At the same time, it’s always important to ask to ensure that’s the case.
In addition, all work will have to be completed under the Building Regulation Compliance Certificate/ Part P Certificate, which will normally cost about £100 for the safety inspection.
Finally, you won’t need planning permission to carry out the work. However, if you live in a listed building, it’s important to contact your local planning authority before moving forward with the work.
New Fixtures
If you want new fixtures, new sockets, to upgrade single sockets to double sockets, to install integrated spots, or to install other electronics in the walls or ceiling, it will take extra time.
Often, this means cutting out the drywall and having the electrician do the installations. You can always save some of this time by doing prep work yourself. However, it will always mean paying your electrician more than simply doing a rewire to the existing electrical outlets.
Signs Your Kitchen Needs A Rewire
In most cases, you’ll want to rewire your kitchen whenever the wiring is more than 25 years old and you use the electronics enough to cause problems. However, the following signs are good indicators that you’ll want to have the wiring replaced.
Age
If your kitchen wiring is over 25 years old, it will start to degrade. That increases the chances of blown fuses, shorts, and even electrical fires. However, it’s not absolutely necessary to replace wiring at this stage. It just means it’s a good idea.
Here, you can often hear buzzing, humming, or other noises coming from your electrical sockets or the walls. Your electrical system is also too old if you still have porcelain fuses.
Inconsistent Power
If your lights are flickering or dimming or you’re otherwise seeing inconsistent power availability, it may be a problem with the electronics. That may be explainable if you’ve done something like daisy chaining kitchen appliances to each other.
For example, connect your coffee maker to a power bar and connect that to a blender, to a refrigerator, or to a toaster. However, flickering and dimming lights often mean that your electrical wiring is degrading, which means you want to replace it before it starts to cause real issues.
Blowing Fuses/Tripping Breakers
If your fuses are blowing regularly or your breakers are regularly tripping, it means you have something going wrong in your kitchen. That may mean that you’re simply drawing too much power from the spur.
However, it may also mean that you have a wiring short, that the wiring has degraded, or that you have a break in the wire. In some cases, if you’ve done electrical work yourself, the problem could also be that something was installed backwards, crossing the electrical poles.
Not Enough Sockets
If you constantly end up using power bars and extension cords, it means you don’t have enough sockets. A rewire will fix the issue and ensure you can more safely use power in every part of your kitchen.
Power bars are safe to use, provided you don’t get them wet. Therefore, in kitchens, it’s almost always preferable to directly pull from a socket and not a bar.
Not Enough Power
If you’re installing a new electric oven or a hob, chances are, the existing 13A spurs are not enough. You’ll want to replace the spur to ensure you don’t overload it.
Of course, if you do have a 20A spur in place, you may be able to simply install an electric hob and be fine. If you want both an electric oven and a hob, it’s extremely likely you’ll have to upgrade the spur.
Typical Electrician Hourly And Daily Rates
Most electricians in the Uk charge £45- £60 per hour. This means you’ll pay an average of £400 per day, per person on the job. That often means that labour works out to £400- £800 total. Of course, if you have a more complex project, it will cost more.
In addition, you can almost always find someone cheaper. However, chances are you don’t want to.
An electrician registered with the Competent Persons Scheme will almost certainly charge these rates. And, you need someone registered with the Competent Persons Scheme to meet Part P compliance, which you’ll need for certification and for notifications.
Electrician Hiring Checklist
It’s important that you hire a qualified person to do the work for you. This will ensure that the work is completed safely, according to compliance, and is notified afterwards.
Without these steps, you might have a fire risk. You might also have issues with being able to sell your home.
- Are you insured? Do you have liability insurance? What about workers compensation? What about workmanship guarantees?
- Are you registered with the Competent Persons Scheme?
- Do you provide notifications to building control? If this project needs planning permission, do you help with that as well?
- Is the electrician Part P registered? If not, are they discounting the work for the cost of the Building Control inspector to inspect the installation?
- Are they associated with an electrical trade association such as the ECA, ELECSA, NICEIC, etc?
- Are they reviewed well online?
- Do their quotes compare favourably to your other options?
- Do their timelines compare well to yours?
Most electrical contractors will take 2-6 weeks to have time in their schedule for a full rewiring project. This means you should plan ahead, get quotes, and find someone who matches up well with your schedule and needs.
Electrical Rewiring Of Kitchen Process
Rewiring a kitchen is a relatively straightforward process so long as there are no surprises or unexpected complications.
- Strip back floorboards and wall panels to allow access to the wiring
- Turn off electricity from that breaker/fuse circuit
- Remove electrical appliances
- Remove light fixtures, switches, and wall sockets
- Detach the existing wiring from the circuits and remove it
- Check the expected load of the new wiring and run new wiring
- Install a new ring circuit, spurs, and any transformers/distributors as necessary
- Test the wiring
- Cut new holes for any new appliances or sockets and run wiring
- Connect hardwired appliances
- Reinstall sockets and switches
- Reinstall switches
- Test the system
- Complete safety inspection
- Replace floorboards/ panels
- Complete building control notification
That’s it. Of course, depending on the size of your kitchen, the state of the wiring, and what you have to replace, this process can take several days.
Next Steps
If you’re looking to replace the wiring in your kitchen, you can expect it to cost an average of £1,500. However, those costs can go up as high as £2,500 plus or drop as low as £800. Here, it’s important that you hire a Part P registered tradesman so they can self-inspect the work and ensure that your electrician is registered with the Competent Persons Scheme.
If you’d like to compare quotes for rewiring your kitchen, use the form at the top of your page to request quotes in your area.