Project Spotlight: Full Rewire and 200-Amp Service Upgrade for a Two-Family Property
Luminous Electric LLC (NJ Lic. #17641) recently completed a full rewire and electrical service upgrade for a two-family property in our North Jersey service area — the kind of project that's worth walking through, since it touches almost everything a multi-family rewire involves.
The scope
The property needed to be wired from the ground up, following the architect's blueprint room by room, unit by unit. On top of the rewire, the job included:
- A new 200-amp electrical service, split into 125-amp rated subpanels for each of the two units
- New bonding and grounding systems throughout
- Outdoor main disconnects, with whole-home surge protection installed for each unit
- New circuits run from each subpanel to power the units' AC condensers
- All new recessed lighting, switches, breakers, and fixtures throughout both units
Why a job like this gets sequenced the way it does
A two-family rewire isn't just "run more wire." The sequence matters: service and subpanel sizing gets locked in first, since everything downstream — outlet counts, AC circuit gauge, lighting circuits — depends on how much capacity each unit actually has. Bonding and grounding come next, then the branch wiring for outlets, switches, and fixtures, and finally the AC disconnects once condenser locations are confirmed.
Splitting a single incoming service into properly sized subpanels per unit, rather than treating a two-family as one big panel, is what keeps each unit's electrical system independent — one unit's load doesn't affect the other's, and each has its own surge protection.
What this kind of project usually involves
- Full rewire following an architectural blueprint
- 200-amp service with per-unit subpanels
- New bonding and grounding systems
- Outdoor main disconnects and whole-home surge protection
- Dedicated AC condenser circuits
- All recessed lighting, switches, and breakers supplied and installed
Luminous Electric LLC is a licensed and insured NJ electrical contractor (Lic. #17641), 586 Valley Rd, Wayne, NJ 07470, (973) 777-9202, serving multi-family and single-family properties across Passaic, Bergen, Essex, and Morris Counties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why give each unit of a two-family home its own subpanel?
Separate subpanels keep each unit's electrical load and surge protection independent, so heavy use or a problem in one unit doesn't affect the other.
In what order does a full rewire and service upgrade happen?
On this project: service and subpanel sizing first, then the bonding and grounding systems, then the branch wiring, and finally the air-conditioning disconnects.
Does each unit need its own surge protection?
On this project each unit got whole-home surge protection at its own subpanel, so both units' appliances and electronics are protected independently.
Luminous Electric LLC
NJ Lic. #17641 — Licensed Electrical Contractor
Headquarters: 586 Valley Rd, Wayne, NJ 07470 | Phone: (973) 777-9202
Proudly serving homeowners and commercial properties across Passaic, Bergen, Essex, and Morris Counties.