Stuck on whether to recommend full home rewires for efficiency

One side says rewiring older houses with new, efficient systems saves a ton of energy over time. The other side points out that producing all that new copper and plastic has a big environmental hit from mining and factory waste. I keep flipping on this during estimates. How do you guys handle it?

4 comments

4 Comments

vera1951mo ago

Right? I rewired a 1920s house last year and still feel guilty about the dumpster full of old cloth wire.

kim.nina15d ago

My last rewire saved about 30% on the electric bill, so the math won for me. I get what @taraross means about the waste, but that old cloth wire is a real fire risk. Sometimes you just have to pick the safer, long-term choice.

grant4781mo ago

Seriously, which side of that trade-off matters more to you?

taraross1mo agoTop Commenter

Feel that hard.