It is good practice from homeowners, to make sure their wiring in their home is working correctly as your home ages. If your appliances, lighting, electronics are working okay, that doesn’t essentially mean your wiring in your home is up to date. If your home is older than 30 years old, it may be time to high an electrician to check, and make sure everything in your home is working properly. Here is a list of questions you should think about when trying to determine if you need to upgrade the wiring in your home.
Why should I consider updating my wiring?
Making sure your wiring is up to date goes beyond making sure your home is safe. It also helps increase your homes overall functionality, reliability, and safety, with your home’s average power needs. This also includes wiring not only for your home, but also for your phone, cable, electronics, appliances and more.
Why is waiting a risk?
According to statistics, faulty wiring is the leading cause of residential fires nationally. Since these statistics are so high, organizations like The National Electric Code update their standards and electrical codes every 3 years in hopes to reduce the numbers of fires homeowners experience each year in the United States. Chances are your home’s wiring is not up to date, and you should probably have someone look at it to make sure your family is safe.
Older Wiring
If your home was built between the 30’s and 70’s you may have a variety of underlying problems you are not aware of right now, that could be harmful to your home. If your home falls in the category of 1930’s and earlier, the wiring done in these homes are well known safety hazards where homeowners experience loose connections and frayed wires which result from years of wear. If your home was built in the 40’s and 50’s knob and tube wiring tend to be an issue causing shortages. The aluminum wiring used in the 60’s and 70’s expands and contracts at a high rate which leads to lose connections. The connection between the aluminum and copper can cause all sorts of oxidation, resistance and heat issues which is the perfect combination for a house fire.
Underground Two-Pronged Outlets
Underground two-pronged outlets can prove to be a huge safety issue for your home. If you do not have them properly grounded you may be at risk because electrical surges have no where to go other than to your devices, even if you have a serge protector on your outlet or power strip. By updating the electrical in your home, you decrease the risk of loosing expensive devices, and appliances in your home.
Outlets that are not child proof
Outlets that you would like to make childproof require that you install equal pressure on all prongs simultaneously for electricity to flow. They are only slightly more expensive than traditional outlets and are normally required and newly built homes.
Are you receiving enough power to your home?
How many amps of power is your home receiving daily? While in order homes, 60 amps may have been enough to carry the home’s needs, newer homes are requiring 100 to 200 amps to successfully handle the large amount of technology advanced appliances and devices we use every day. Without an accurate power supply, you could end up damaging your electronics by accident which can be costly to replace.
Other items to watch for when trying to Identify if your home needs updated wiring:
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Flickering or dimming lights with the operation of neighboring appliances
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Rodent damage
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Popping, crackling, or buzzing
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Hot or scorch marked outlets
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Burning smells or smoke
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Tripped breakers
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Blown fuses
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Using extension cords or adapters to compensate for a lack of outlet
For all of your Electrical needs, let the professionals at Downtown Electric and Lighting help you update your homes wiring. Call us TODAY at (719)-428-8245 to schedule your appointment for your estimate.
