Residential electricians · Central Ottawa · Since 2011

Electrical,
the careful way.

A family electrical practice for Ottawa’s older homes. Knob-and-tube, FPE panels, aluminum branch wiring — we know what’s behind your walls because we’ve been there before.

Take the home assessmentCall 613·355·3512
Wiring Ottawa’s older homes since 2011
Est. 2011
The Glebec. 1908
Featured inGlebe Report·Apt613·CBC Ottawa Morning·Ontario Heritage Trust·Old House Journal Canada·BBB A+ since 2014

Old-home assessment · two steps

Tell us about your house.

Pick the era and what’s on your mind. We’ll tell you what we’d recommend, what it usually costs, and why ELO is the right family for the work. No form, no email.

Step 1 · When was your house built?

Step 2 · What concerns you?

What we typically find · pre-1950

  • ·Knob-and-tube circuits live in attics & exterior walls
  • ·Undersized 60A service — capped, not fused right
  • ·Two-prong outlets, no ground path through the house
  • ·Original cloth-wrapped wiring brittle behind plaster

Recommended plan

Map and replace knob-and-tube room-by-room. Leave inert runs in dry attics where ESA permits.

Why ELO for this — We've mapped K&T in 200+ Glebe Edwardians. We open the smallest patch of plaster that gets the job done.

Typical cost range

$2,400 / circuit · phased over 2–3 visits

Honest pledge

In writing, before any work starts. What’s urgent, what can wait, what you don’t need.

Call 613·355·3512

Houses we know best

Four eras. Four kinds of trouble.

Ottawa was built in waves. Each era left its own electrical signature behind your walls. Here’s what we usually find — and the streets where we find it.

Edwardian1900–1920
GlebeSandy HillCentretown

Knob-and-tube circuits in attics, undersized 60A panels, push-button switches still operating in some closets.

Read the era guide →
Post-war bungalow1945–1965
Manor ParkRiversideCarlington

Aluminum branch wiring on '60s circuits, BX cable insulation degrading at terminations, original 60–100A panels.

Read the era guide →
70s–80s suburb1970–1989
Bel-AirBritanniaCarleton Heights

FPE Stab-Lok panels (safety-recalled), undersized for modern HVAC, two-prong outlets common throughout.

Read the era guide →
Modern infill2000–present
WestboroHintonburg core

Generally clean — usually outlet additions, smart-home retrofits, EV-charger prep.

Read the era guide →

Why old houses are different

A 1900 home isn’t wired the same as a 2010 home. Most electricians treat them the same anyway. We don’t.

Original conduit in a 1908 Edwardian is fragile. Pull it wrong and you crack plaster from one room into the next. We coordinate with the homeowner’s plasterer before we touch a junction box, and we map every circuit by room before any wire gets cut.

Knob-and-tube isn’t inherently dangerous — neglected K&T is. ESA permits us to leave inert runs in dry attics where nothing else has touched them. We’ve done this in 14-year-old projects and never had a callback. The wrong electrician will rip it all out and bill you for the privilege.

Glebe Edwardians, Manor Park post-war bungalows, and Carleton Heights '70s splits each have their own quirks. We know which streets had which builders, which years FPE panels were dropped in, and which neighbourhood’s service masts go through the soffit instead of the gable. That’s the difference fifteen years of central-Ottawa work makes.

Featured restoration · 1908 Glebe Edwardian

Full house rewire. Knob-and-tube to copper. ESA-passed first inspection.

Square D · QO 200A
est.1908The Glebe
Project file 0317Completed Aug 2024

The owners had inherited the original 1908 wiring from a 30-year-tenancy uncle. Knob-and-tube was running through every wall — original cloth-wrapped conductors still warm to the touch on the second floor. We mapped it room by room over a weekend before we touched a single wire.

Phased the rewire in four stages. Front parlour and dining first, then bedrooms upstairs, then kitchen and basement, finally the new 200A service. The owners stayed in the house the whole time. We never cut power for more than four hours in a single day.

Original 60A fuse panel went out in week three. Square D QO loadcentre in. Hydro coordination took 48 hours. ESA inspector signed off on the first walk-through with two minor notes — both already addressed in our scope. No re-inspection fee.

Old houses deserve old-house electricians. We do this work.

Project specs

  • Circuits replaced10
  • Outlets added12
  • Panel upgrade60A → 200A
  • Plaster patches8
  • Project duration4 weeks
  • ESA inspectionPassed first

Materials

  • Square D QO 200A loadcentre
  • Romex 14/2 + 12/2 copper
  • Cooper Wiring tamper-resistant outlets
  • Lutron Caséta dimmers (front rooms)
  • Kidde interlinked smoke + CO
  • AlumiConn (one '70s addition splice)
Discuss your house · 613·355·3512

Service expertise

Eight things we do well.

Outlet upgrades

Catches up with code without ripping plaster

2-prong → 3-prong + GFCI / AFCI

Ceiling fan install

Old plaster ceilings need patient hands

Brace through the joist, fan-rated box

Panel upgrades

FPE Stab-Lok → Square D / Eaton

100A → 200A, ESA-permitted, same-day

Knob-and-tube replacement

Mapped, scheduled, room by room

Phased over weeks. Plaster patched + primed

Aluminum wiring remediation

AlumiConn purple-tail or copper pigtail

Insurance-accepted, photo-documented

Pot light install

Old plaster, new look

LED retrofit, dimmer-rated, IC-rated

Smoke detector hardwire

Code-compliant interlinked alarms

Kidde / BRK · 10-yr lithium backup

Smart-home retrofit

Lutron Caséta in 1908 boxes — yes, it works

Caséta · Decora · Honeywell smart switches

We install

SQUARE D QO · EATON CH SERIES · LUTRON CASÉTA · DECORA OUTLETS · AFCI/GFCI BREAKERS · SCHLUTER DITRA · HONEYWELL SMART SWITCHES · ONLY COPPER ROMEX / BX

Our Honest Assessment Pledge

When we visit, we tell you what’s actually wrong.

What should be fixed now, for safety. What can wait, for convenience. And what you don’t need to spend on, full stop.

In writing, before any work starts. We’ll happily tell you a $4,200 panel upgrade is overkill. We’d rather earn your call again in five years than oversell you once.

— Eric Larsson, Master Electrician

Call 613·355·3512

The family

Three people. One workbench.

EL

Eric Larsson

ESA-Master Electrician · 24 yrs

Specialty — Heritage homes

“Most electricians refuse old-house jobs. We started ELO because we love them.”

OL

Olivia Larsson

ESA-Journeyman · 12 yrs

Specialty — Smart-home retrofits + lighting

“Eric is my dad. I'm the one who modernizes.”

TR

Tomás Reyes

Apprentice · 4 yrs

Specialty — Panel work

“Old-house electrical taught me more than 4 years of trade school.”

Q&A with the family

The questions we get most.

Q.

Do I have to rewire the whole house?

“Almost never. We've left knob-and-tube in dry attics for fourteen years and never had a callback. We replace what's actually dangerous, not everything in sight.”

— Eric

Q.

Can you put smart switches in my 1910 house?

“Yes — Lutron Caséta works in original boxes. We've done it in 60+ Glebe and Sandy Hill homes. Sometimes we add a neutral first, but the original switch plates can stay if you want them to.”

— Olivia

Q.

Will the work be messy?

“We open the smallest hole that gets the job done. Drop cloths, shoe covers, plaster patched and primed. Most clients have us back for a second job — the floors are the proof.”

— Eric

Q.

How long until you can come?

“Same week for emergencies. Two to three weeks for planned panel swaps. Knob-and-tube projects we usually start within the month, scheduled in phases around your life.”

— Tomás

The ELO Annual Walk-Through

A heritage-home tune-up.

Each spring, we come by and check every panel, GFCI, smoke detector, smart-home device, and outdoor outlet. Catch failing breakers before they fail. Replace 10-year smoke units before they chirp at 3 a.m. Tighten what’s loose.

Most of our annual-walk-through clients haven’t had an electrical surprise in years. That’s the point.

From

$89

/ year

Sign up · 613·355·3512

Service area

Central Ottawa. We don’t spread thin.

We know which streets had which builders. We know what’s behind your walls.

The GlebeSandy HillOld Ottawa SouthHintonburgWestboroManor ParkCentretownCivic HospitalThe CivicNew Edinburgh

Outside this list? Call 613·355·3512— we’ll let you know honestly if we’re the right fit. We’d rather refer you to a friend than drive 40 minutes and do a worse job.

Questions homeowners ask

Six honest answers.

Yes. We map every circuit before we quote. If we miss one, we come back at our cost — written into every contract.

Mon–Sat · 8 am – 6 pm · 142 Bank St, The Glebe

Old wiring? We’ve seen it all.

613 · 355 · 3512

Or drop into the shop — coffee’s usually on.