Renovating Your Home in 2026? Electrical Upgrades to Consider Before the Walls Go Back Up

Home Renovation Electrical Upgrades

Major refurbishment is the best time to future-proof your home’s electrics. Once plastering is complete and kitchens are fitted, electrical changes become disruptive, messy and far more expensive.

If you’ve recently moved house in Milton Keynes and are planning renovation works, this is the stage where the right electrical decisions can save you significant time, cost and compromise later. In this blog post we will highlight key areas to consider when it comes to home renovation electrical upgrades.

Rewire or Adapt What’s Already There?

One of the biggest questions during renovation is whether to rewire or simply modify the existing installation.

The age of the wiring alone is not always the deciding factor. What matters just as much is how the installation has evolved over time. Many properties have been altered repeatedly - added sockets here, a lighting change there, maybe a new kitchen circuit at some point. Over time this can leave you with a mixture of old and new wiring, inconsistent protection and circuits that were never really designed for modern usage.

If you are significantly changing the layout of sockets, lighting and switching, it often makes more sense to start again rather than extending older circuits.

When walls and ceilings are already open, the cost difference between adapting existing circuits and doing a full rewire properly is often smaller than people expect.

The result is a clean, modern installation designed around how you actually live today, installed to current regulations and wiring standards.

Renovation is the least disruptive moment to do it properly.

The Consumer Unit – The Foundation of the Installation

Upgrading the fusebox is one of the most worthwhile improvements you can make during refurbishment.

Modern homes draw far more power than they did even fifteen years ago. EV chargers, battery storage, induction hobs, heat pumps and air conditioning all increase demand. An older consumer unit may not provide the level of protection or flexibility required. And nuisance tripping is a common complaint about older split load boards.

We install RCBO consumer units with surge protection as standard. This gives each circuit its own individual protection and reduces the inconvenience of multiple circuits tripping together. It also makes fault finding far easier in the future.

During renovation, it also makes sense to think ahead. Installing bidirectional RCBOs can prepare the property for future EV, solar PV or battery storage systems. Load monitoring can also be added if you want visibility of consumption across different circuits.

A well-designed consumer unit is not just about safety - it is about flexibility for the next ten or twenty years.

Should You Consider a 3 Phase Upgrade?

This is something most homeowners never think about, but major renovation is the right time to assess it.

If you are planning multiple EV chargers, battery storage, solar PV, an air source heat pump or air conditioning, you may eventually run into limitations with a single phase supply during peak usage.

Upgrading to a three phase supply increases your available capacity and can allow greater inverter capacity for renewable systems, as limits are applied per phase. In simple terms, three phase gives you significantly more headroom.

It is not necessary for every home, but if you are already investing heavily in refurbishment, it is worth having the conversation before finishes go back in.

EV Charger Provision – Even If It’s for the Future

Even if you do not currently own an electric vehicle, renovation is the ideal time to plan for one.

The most awkward part of EV charger installation is usually running the cabling. Once decoration is complete and driveways are finished, installation becomes more intrusive.

Running 5 core EV Ultra cable during renovation allows you to install a single phase charger now and upgrade to three phase charging later if required. It keeps options open and avoids having to disturb finished areas in the future.

It is one of the simplest forms of future-proofing you can build into a renovation project.

Battery Storage and Renewable Readiness

Battery storage systems are becoming increasingly popular across Milton Keynes and the wider UK. Whether paired with solar or used to optimise time-of-use tariffs, they require proper planning.

During renovation, you can allocate appropriate wall space, ensure adequate ventilation and plan clean cable routes to the consumer unit. Thinking ahead also allows space for additional battery modules in the future if your usage increases.

Integrating this infrastructure at the renovation stage is far simpler than retrofitting it later.

General Electrical Improvements That Make a Big Difference

Renovation is also the perfect opportunity to address smaller but important improvements.

Main earth bonding may need upgrading to meet current standards. You may find there are simply too few sockets for modern living, particularly in kitchens, bedrooms and home offices. Lighting layouts that once felt acceptable may no longer suit how you use the space.

Often, the decision to rewire is not purely about age. If you are making substantial changes to the layout of electrical points, starting fresh can be the most sensible route. It gives you confidence that your system has been professionally installed, fully tested and designed around your needs rather than adapted over time.

Final Thoughts

Major refurbishment gives you one clear opportunity to get your electrics right before everything is sealed back up.

Whether that means a full rewire, a consumer unit upgrade, EV charger preparation or battery storage installation, addressing these elements early avoids compromise and additional cost later.

If you are renovating in Milton Keynes and want to future-proof your home properly, the conversation about electrics should happen early in the project - not once the plasterboard is already on the walls. If you’re currently planning renovation works and would like clear, practical advice on upgrading or future-proofing your electrics, get in touch today, we’d be happy to help you design a system that works properly now and for years to come!