General electrical wiring replacement

[skulkin]

Hi
I know it sounds very grand but it really isn't - and, especially not seeing as there has been, and still is, no travel due to Covid for so long now - but I have a house in rural Italy I bought and have been doing up for 6 years now.
It's an old stone house and domestic electricity came after it was built so absolutely all the wiring, a radial system, is simply run around on the surface of the walls. I don't wish to change any circuitry but I do wish to chase all the wiring into the walls to hide it as it looks so ugly and messy everywhere.
The supply is 220V and 50Hz [and I believe my supply is 3Kw, from memory].
Compared to our wiring here in the UK the actual wiring itself looks very flimsy and lightweight [it would've been done as cheaply as possible] and looks a bit like the sort of two core wiring you'd find on an old lamp but with a flat strip running between the two cores through which it is intermittently nailed to the walls/ceilings.
Naturally I'd like to, and it would make sense to, upgrade it before hiding it, which I'm planning on doing when I hopefully get back out there, for a few weeks in June.
I know it's difficult as I have very little info to go on but I'd just like a clue or two as to what I should use as a replacement. Is there an ideal size or rating of cable perhaps based on the supply? Or maybe a formula to work out what cabling I should change to?
Any help is gratefully received.
I haven't been there for 18 months now so this is all from memory.
Any help and advice is gratefully received and much appreciated.
Cheers
Steve

 

[pc1966]

What is this cable used for? Lights, sockets, fixed items like cookers or immersion heaters?

There is a huge range of things you have to take in to account for (a) safe operation and (b) to meet the local electrical regulations. The most obvious is the cable size for a given load/over-current protection, but then you also have to consider if the cable might be punctured by a nail, etc, when buried in a wall and if it has RCD protection or not, as that would dictate if it needs physical protection and/or the use of earths shield/armour for a given job.

 

[skulkin]

Hi PC1966
The cables [thin wiring] that I'm talking about are used for lights and sockets.
The cooker is wired on it's own circuit and the water is provided by plug-in small capacity water heaters [one for the sink and one for the shower] which have dedicated sockets.
Whilst I realise there are, of course, local regulations I'm going to do this anyway as I can't stand the current [haha!] eyesore and imho any wiring upgrade will be an improvement but at the same time as I'd like to make it safe, I don't want to use something ridiculously massive that's unnecessary overkill.
I've tried to find what they look like and found the attached photo showing some of them as they are.
Thank you for your help

 

[Lucien Nunes]

You should install to local regulations, I think what you are looking for is CEI 64-8. There's no reason to assume that will result in a massive overspec. This is a UK forum, I don't know who we have here with a knowledge of Italian regs and practice. I know a bit but not enough to advise. It's hard to see in the pics but the cable looks and sounds like NYIF which was designed to be buried in plaster. I am not sure whether that is still allowed - some regs no longer accept it.