Boat Rewire Cost

It is not an easy job to own a boat. There are many things you need to consider, starting with the documentation and permits, and ending with the maintenance of the boat.

Almost every boat owner is wondering how much would it cost to completely rewire a boat. In this article, we are presenting the costs related to this boat maintenance task.

How Much Does a Boat Rewire Cost?

The amount of money you are going to spend in order to rewire your boat will be influenced by the size of your boat and the quantity of the wire you will need to replace. However, the cost of a complete rewire of a normal boat would be around $85 per hour, depending on the type of the boat and the geographical location where you live.

You might also like our articles about the cost of boat upholstery repair, fiberglass boat repair, or boat dock construction.

Your final bill will depend on the amount of work needed to rewire the boat. For instance, a complete boat rewiring involves working on the distribution panels, breaker panels, cabin lighting, inverter chargers, engine gauges, battery wiring, bilge switches, battery switches plus the associated cables and the sailing instruments such as the echo sounders and the radar.

You can add many aids for navigation and electrical instruments to your vessel, depending on the type of the boat. Maintenance and rewiring are the best things you can do in order to navigate safely every time.

After searching on multiple specialized blogs and forums, we can give a final estimation of the cost of boat rewiring. Taking into consideration the fact that this job involves a lot of changes which may take more than 300 hours for the electrician and the average cost per hour we mentioned above, it will result in a cost of around $25,500.

How much does it cost to rewire a boat’s switch panel?

The boat switch is seen as the epicenter of the electric system of every boat. This can be purchased in many different versions and it all depends on the features you desire it to have.

Obviously, you can add many different things to the switch panel, but the most complex is the cable management.

Expect to pay much more for a switch panel that offers you the possibility to command stereo, ignition switches, USB ports and other things, compared to a simple switch panel.

You will have to pay anywhere between $220 and $880 in order to rewire a boat’s switch panel. This estimation is made taking into consideration an average work time of around 3 hours. However, the more complex types of switch panels will require more work and the cost will rise to more than $1,100.

How much does it cost to rewire a boat trailer?

In case you own an Airboat or a Bowrider Boat or any other type of boat which can be carried out with a boat trailer, then you will have to consider rewiring your boat trailer at some point.

The cost of rewiring a boat trailer will be influenced by some factors such as the labor cost that the specialist will require and the place where you are living. However, you should plan on spending anywhere between $55 and $220 in order to completely rewire your boat trailer.

How can I save money?

In case you have a limited sum of money allocated for rewiring your boat entirely, then there are some things you can do to save some money.

First of all, you can try to buy the materials online and look for deals and promotions.

Also, you can ask any close friends you have that are specialized in the electric field to help you with this process. When it comes to the boat’s electrical accessories, they need to be fitted by a professional. Otherwise, the installation may catch fire if the wires are not properly arranged. Moreover, the insulation must be complete and perfect, especially when taking into account the fact that a boat is a space full of moisture.

These actions may require some more effort, but will help you to save a lot of money in the future.

Conclusion

You should pay a lot of attention to the cost of boat rewiring as this is a complex job and may require much more money than you would expect. We hope that this article was helpful and you get an idea about the costs related to rewiring of a boat.