Having done this myself...
Most wiring and plumbing supplies are built like Lego..
Everything is colour coded and made to snap together...
Pick up a couple of how-to books and away you go...
Check with your local building department to get a permit and some pointers.
When I moved into my nearly 100 year old house, a condition of the house insurance and mortgage was that the old knob-and-tube style wiring be replace and upgraded to modern standards.
The origional wiring for the house had a 30amp panel (Fuse box) and only 4 fuses. (Most electricians that I spoke to were suprised when I told them about the 30amp service. They had never heard of anything less than 60amp service....) {And one of the selling features of the house were the two window air conditioners that they were throwing into the deal!!!
}
The new panel is 100amps and has over a dozen 15 amp breakers. We don't have any heavy duty appliances...
Fridge on a seperate breaker. (only allowed to have a clock plugged in with a fridge or freezer.)
Upright freezer on a seperate breaker.
Workshop on a seperate breaker.
couple of split recepticles in the kitchen.
Washing machine on a seperate breaker.
No clothes dryer.
Gas Stove/oven doesn't need a seperate circuit, but an electric stove and/or clothes dryer needs special wiring and breakers.
Everything else is set up so that there are seperate "zones".
Basement
Upstairs front
Upstairs middle
Upstairs back
Outside
Halls and stairwell
Well, that's 14 breakers that I can count off the top of my head...
And each of those only have maximum 8 fixtures per circuit. Better safe than sorry....
BTW each "fixture" is a light fixture or wall outlet. Switches don't count as a "fixture".
Got a permit and did the work ourselves. Saved $$$$$. It all cost ~$500CAD for the whole house including the permit. Most of that on fancy light fixtures.
A contractor that I talked to said that was at least $5000CAD cheaper than what he would have charged...
Dad and I drilled holes, put in fixtures and pulled wires, while Ruby kept the Electrical Code book handy so we didn't overload a circuit box with too many wires.
Circuit boxes are measured in cubic inches and you are allowed so many wires per cubic inch. "Pig tails" which are short bits of wire for joining all the ground wires together and/or short bits that attach a fixture to the power wires don't count and ground wires are not counted in the number of wires allowed inside of a box. All of this should be explained in the code book and in how-to books.
15 amp circuits are usually standard unless you are running heavy duty appliances and tools. And there's usually a maximum number of fixtures per circuit. In Ontario the maximum is 12 fixtures, but in most cases you would have fewer.
You also need to put outlets every 6 feet along a wall in new construction and use GFI's in damp locations. There are also rules regarding where to put light switches...
The local electrical code will outline how many fixtures and of what type per circuit.
A permit should include a couple of inspections by the local electrical utility to make sure that things are safe, and the documentation to satisfy your home insurance and mortgage companies...
Small price for piece of mind and the comfort of knowing a job well done...
