One of the most expensive mistakes homeowners make during a renovation is thinking about electrical work too late. Here's the scenario I see more often than I'd like: the walls are back up, the tile is going in, and someone asks whether the outlets are in the right places. The answer is: we can add more now, but it's going to cost three times what it would have if we'd talked about this two weeks ago.
Electrical work is one area where the timing is everything. When walls are open, adding circuits, repositioning outlets, and upgrading capacity is relatively straightforward. Once walls are closed, it becomes an expensive, invasive process.
If you're planning a kitchen remodel, bathroom renovation, basement finish, or any significant home renovation in Shakopee, Eden Prairie, Prior Lake, or anywhere in the Twin Cities area, here's what to address electrically before - or at the very beginning of - your project.
First: Assess Your Electrical Panel
Before any room-by-room conversation, the first question is whether your electrical service is adequate for the demands of a modernized home. Many homes built before 1990 - which is a significant portion of the housing stock in established Twin Cities suburbs - have 100-amp service. For a home with a modern kitchen, home office equipment, EV chargers, and all the devices that characterize contemporary life, 100-amp service is often inadequate.
Signs your panel may need attention before or during a remodel:
- Breakers that trip frequently under normal use
- A 100-amp or smaller main breaker on your panel
- Federal Pacific or Zinsco brand panels (these have known safety issues and are often flagged by home inspectors)
- A fuse box rather than a circuit breaker panel
- Your panel is more than 30–40 years old and has no room to add circuits
- You're planning to add high-draw appliances (induction range, electric dryer upgrade, hot tub, EV charger)
A panel upgrade from 100-amp to 200-amp typically costs $1,500–$3,500 depending on your setup. If you're already doing a major remodel that will require an electrician, this is the right time to do it - the electrician is already involved, and you avoid paying a separate call for the panel work later.
Kitchen Electrical Upgrades
The kitchen is the most electrically demanding room in the house. Code requirements for kitchens have evolved significantly over the decades, and older kitchens are often woefully under-served by their electrical systems.
Dedicated Circuits for Major Appliances
Modern kitchen design assumes dedicated circuits for:
- Refrigerator - dedicated 20-amp circuit
- Dishwasher - dedicated 20-amp circuit
- Garbage disposal - dedicated 20-amp circuit (or shared with dishwasher in some configurations)
- Microwave / microwave drawer - dedicated 20-amp circuit
- Built-in oven(s) - dedicated 240V circuit
- Cooktop or range - dedicated 240V circuit (50 amp for most ranges)
- Hood/ventilation - dedicated circuit if a high-CFM professional-style hood
If you're upgrading to an induction cooktop (which many homeowners in our area are choosing for performance and safety reasons), confirm the amperage requirements - many induction ranges require a 50-amp circuit.
Counter Outlet Circuits
Code requires GFCI-protected outlets along kitchen counters, with no point on the counter more than 24 inches from an outlet. Modern kitchen design also increasingly incorporates under-cabinet outlets (these eliminate the cords that drape down from above-counter outlets) and pop-up outlets in islands.
If you're adding an island, electrical code requires outlets in the island if it's over a certain size - plan for this from the beginning.
Lighting Circuits
Kitchen lighting has become significantly more sophisticated. Plan for:
- Recessed lighting on at least one dimmer circuit
- Under-cabinet lighting on a separate switch or dimmer
- Island pendants on a separate dimmer
- Any toe-kick or interior cabinet lighting if planned
The goal is to be able to create different lighting moods - bright for cooking, warm and ambient for dining and conversation.
Bathroom Electrical Upgrades
Bathrooms have specific electrical code requirements because of the proximity of water. GFCI protection is required on all bathroom outlets, and there are regulations about outlet and fixture placement relative to water sources.
Upgrade the Exhaust Fan Circuit
If your bathroom exhaust fan is original or more than 10 years old, budget for a new, quality fan during your renovation. Quiet, high-CFM fans like the Panasonic WhisperCeiling series require their own properly wired circuit. While you're at it, make sure the exhaust actually vents to the outside - not into the attic, which is a moisture and mold problem I've seen in older homes throughout Burnsville and Apple Valley.
Heating Options
Consider these bathroom heating additions while walls are open:
- Electric in-floor radiant heat - very comfortable in Minnesota winters, relatively modest cost to install during renovation ($8–$15/sf for the heating mat, plus wiring and thermostat)
- Towel warmer - a small luxury that requires a dedicated circuit or a low-wattage plug-in unit
- Electric wall heater - for faster warmup in a bathroom that relies on central heat, a wall heater can be valuable
Lighting Planning
Proper bathroom lighting requires at minimum:
- Overhead ambient lighting (recessed or ceiling fixture on a dimmer)
- Vanity lighting at face level (sconces or a backlit mirror) - this is often missing in older bathrooms
- Separate switch control for shower lighting if you have a walk-in shower
If you're renovating a master bathroom, also consider a separate dimmer circuit for mood lighting - a small wall sconce on a dimmer makes a significant difference in the evening bathroom experience.
Basement Electrical Planning
If you're finishing a basement, electrical planning is one of the most important early decisions. The questions to answer:
How many separate circuits do you need? A large finished basement with a home theater, a bar, a gym area, and a home office needs multiple circuits - probably 4–8 or more depending on what's planned.
Where will the outlets be? Think through furniture placement and equipment needs. Standard outlet placement (every 12 feet along walls) is a minimum; for an entertainment area, you want outlets where your media equipment will actually live.
Do you want dedicated circuits for entertainment equipment? A home theater or high-end audio system benefits from dedicated circuits that aren't shared with other loads.
Lighting planning: Just like above-grade spaces, basements need thoughtful lighting planning. Recessed lights on multiple dimmer circuits, accent lighting, bar lighting - all of this should be planned with your electrician before framing is complete.
Whole-Home Upgrades Worth Considering
While a remodel is in progress, these whole-home electrical upgrades are worth considering:
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector Upgrade
Current Minnesota code requirements for smoke and CO detectors have evolved. If your detectors are more than 10 years old (which is when NFPA recommends replacement), or if they're battery-only units in locations that should be hardwired, updating them during a remodel is sensible.
Surge Protection
A whole-house surge protector installed at the panel protects all connected devices from voltage spikes - increasingly important as homes become more full of expensive electronics and smart home devices.
EV Charger Rough-In
If you don't have an EV now but think you might in the next 5–10 years, running a 240V circuit rough-in to the garage during a remodel is a very low-cost way to future-proof. Actually adding the charger later is straightforward when the rough-in is already there.
Smart Home Wiring
If you're interested in any kind of smart home features - lighting scenes, automated shades, whole-home audio - the wiring infrastructure for these systems is much easier to add during a remodel than after. Even if you don't implement the full system immediately, running the appropriate wires to key locations is worth doing.
Electrical and Your Renovation Timeline
One mistake I see homeowners make: treating electrical as a separate project from the renovation rather than as an integral part of it. Electrical rough-in needs to happen before drywall. Fixture selection needs to happen before rough-in. Panel capacity needs to be assessed before anything else.
This is why the pre-construction planning phase of a remodel is so important - and why a contractor who coordinates all the trades (rather than leaving you to schedule the electrician separately) saves you both money and stress.
We handle full-scope kitchen and bathroom remodels throughout Shakopee, Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Prior Lake, and the broader Twin Cities area. Contact us to start planning your project, and take a look at our kitchen remodeling page for more on what we do.
Getting the electrical right before the walls close is one of the best investments you can make in a remodel. Let's make sure your project includes it from the start.