Pre-war apartments are those built before World War II, as the name implies, and in New York City they are highly sought after due to their antique look, spacious design, and artisanal details. However, their electrical installations are often very outdated and require updates to accommodate a modern lifestyle. Keep in mind that pre-war apartments were built more than 70 years ago, when residential energy consumption was much lower:
- Air conditioning systems became popular after World War II, which means that pre-war apartment electrical wiring was not designed for them.
- Computers and electronics are even newer, dating back to the 1980s. Although these devices don't consume much power, they tend to induce high-frequency currents called harmonics, which overheat the wiring.
- Heating was mainly done through fireplaces, which are part of the charm of pre-war apartments. However, this also means that these apartments are generally not equipped to handle a resistance-based space heater or water boiler.
In short, the electrical wiring in pre-war apartments was designed for a time when there were few loads other than lighting, radios, TVs, and kitchen appliances. You cannot expect to buy or rent one of these apartments and immediately install modern water heaters and air conditioning. However, upgrading your electrical system doesn’t have to be a complicated task; you just need proper guidance from a professional or engineering company.
Electrical Systems in Pre-War Apartments: Recommended Steps
The basic rule of thumb when upgrading a pre-war apartment's electrical system is this: If you can minimize the current required, your upgrade costs will be lower and you'll have fewer problems in the long run.
1) Implement Energy Efficiency
If you use energy-saving devices such as LED lamps and ENERGY STAR appliances, the installation load will not increase drastically compared to the conditions in which the apartment receives. This can be complemented with home automation; for example, you can use a smart thermostat to optimize your HVAC energy consumption.
2) Use 220 volt appliances whenever possible
One of the basic principles of electricity is that the power transmitted is equal to the product of voltage and current:
Power = Voltage x Current
However, wiring and circuit breakers are sized based on current, and greater capacity involves greater cost. The increased current capacity also means that the wiring must have a larger diameter, which complicates its installation and increases the associated labor cost. However, increasing the operating voltage reduces the current, and this can be proven mathematically by rearranging the previous formula:
Current = Power / Voltage
If you need to choose between 110V and 220V versions of the same appliance, using 220V reduces the current by 50%. To illustrate the concept, suppose you need a 3.3 kilowatt water heater available in both voltages:
- Current consumed with 110 V = 3,300 W / 110 V = 30 Amps
- Current consumed with 220 V = 3,300 W / 220 V = 15 Amps
With the 110V heater, you need a longer cable and the circuit will emit more heat. This can cause breakers to trip more frequently and can also damage other electrical components due to the age of the installation.
3) Update the installation accordingly
With energy-efficient appliances and using 220V devices whenever possible, the total current is significantly reduced. You can now ask your electrician to size the new installation accordingly. This reduces the required capacity of electrical panels, circuit breakers and circuits, saving you money up front.
Conventional lighting and HVAC will result in a more expensive renovation and higher operational cost. Additionally, you are more likely to experience electrical problems because an older installation will be subject to high currents and localized heating.
Key Challenges During an Energy Upgrade for a Pre-War Apartment
The construction features of pre-war apartments increase the difficulty of electrical upgrades compared to modern housing.
- Pre-war apartments typically had monolithic poured concrete floors with a wood pattern on top, making it impractical to incorporate conduits for new electrical wiring. In newer apartments, a thin layer of concrete is mounted on a steel structure, which results in plenty of empty space for electrical installations.
- Thick walls are another feature of pre-war apartments. They are typically constructed from layers of plaster and concrete, with an underlying wooden or wire lathe. Modern walls, on the other hand, typically use thin sheets of plaster in wooden or metal frames; and drilling into the wall to install new wiring or electrical components is relatively simple.
These construction features come from the engineering philosophy of the pre-war era, when labor was cheaper but materials were expensive; It made sense to use robust, durable materials, even if installing them was labor-intensive. Materials are now affordable, but the cost of labor has increased considerably, shifting the emphasis from robust construction to quick installation.
Due to the robustness of the walls and floors, in many pre-war apartments there was no choice but to use superficial electrical circuits. However, they can be hidden under specially designed decorative moldings to preserve the antique appearance.
Electrical Protection Systems
Fuse boxes in pre-war apartments typically belong to discontinued product lines, and in some cases the brand itself may no longer exist. For this reason, it is often necessary to completely replace them with a new panel and circuit breakers. Direct replacement of existing fuses is normally not possible because the existing bases do not match those of modern protection systems.
Keep in mind that in many buildings there is a main distribution board from which all apartments receive power. In these cases, it may also be necessary for the building owner to upgrade to a modern panel and breakers.
Transformers and Main Service Inputs
When several pre-war apartments in the same building are being renovated, their combined electrical load may become greater than the main transformer and service entrance were designed for. In these cases, it is necessary for the building owner or the cooperative board to carry out modernization.
When purchasing a pre-war apartment, get a professional opinion on the transformer and service entrance condition. Individual tenants can normally carry out upgrades up to their electrical panel, but any installations upstream of that point are the responsibility of the building owner. If you have an apartment with deficiencies in this area and the owner is not willing to modernize the transformer and service entrance, you will continue to have energy problems even after your individual installation is modernized.
Who bears the cost of electrical upgrades?
Most pre-war buildings in New York are managed as cooperatives: you don't actually buy the apartment, but rather buy shares in a company that, in turn, owns the apartment you will occupy. These cooperatives are managed by a board that manages the property and distributes common expenses among all shareholders.
If electrical upgrades are needed, the first question to answer is: Can they be traced to the needs of a specific apartment, or is there a problem that affects the entire building? This question can be answered with an electrical load survey by a professional or qualified engineering company.
Apartment-specific electrical problems
If electrical installations need to be updated because a specific neighbor has an energy-intensive lifestyle, he or she will usually have to bear the cost of the update. In these cases, a dedicated electrical installation is often installed to avoid modifications to the main service entrance, which is generally much more expensive.
An example of this would be when a shareholder purchases low-efficiency heating and cooling equipment and uses it for long hours. The electrical current consumed by that apartment is high and continuous, which overloads the entire installation and can cause voltage problems for everyone.
Electrical problems affecting the entire building
Sometimes the overall electrical installation is too old to meet the energy demands of modern lifestyles, and a building-wide upgrade may be necessary. In these cases, the cooperative board assumes the cost of the work. However, depending on the cooperative's rules, the cost may be divided among all shareholders in proportion to their shareholding.
An example of this would be a building where the main transformer has never been upgraded and is no longer suitable for managing modern loads, even though all stakeholders are concerned about energy.
Conclusions
If you are going to buy or rent a pre-war apartment, do not neglect the electrical installation. Expecting your existing installation to run smoothly would be unrealistic, but you also shouldn't assume an extremely high upgrade cost.
We recommend that you familiarize yourself with any applicable rules when interviewing the real estate agent or co-op board and obtain a brief electrical assessment of the apartment you will be purchasing or renting. Once you occupy your pre-war apartment, use energy-efficient appliances and be smart about managing your energy consumption; for example, do not use two high-powered devices at the same time unless necessary.
