Home Wiring

Most modern homes have copper wiring although there are still a few left with the old aluminum variety. In the past, many homeowners were worried about the aluminum wiring as they thought it presented a fire threat. It turns out that this was not the case, but rather it was the receptacles and their connections to the copper wiring that caused some of the problems.  By tightening up the connections to these receptacles, in many instances the problem was solved.  All the wiring in your home runs through the walls and the type of insulation used to cover the wiring is determined by the codes in your municipality.

There are several tricks that home inspectors use to determine if a house has aluminum or copper wiring. To find out which kind of wiring a house has, a simple procedure is followed. First, the power is turned off at the main circuit breaker. Then the cover from a light switch is unscrewed and the two screws holding the switch to the wall box are removed.  By examining the naked wires going into the switch you can see if they are aluminum or copper. Silver color is aluminum and copper colored is copper.

Aluminum is not as good a conductor of electricity as copper but it costs about half as much. Therefore it was extensively used years ago. The problem with aluminum is that over time and usage, many joints outlets, switches, appliances and so forth, can become loose.  Loose fittings can cause arcing and this can lead to a fire.  It's important that the wiring in the house be sufficient to handle all your needs. You can easily tell when the wiring is insufficient by conducting a few simple tests.  For example, if you're reading under a lamp and someone turns on a dishwasher or other appliance downstairs and your lamp dims, there is an electrical issue.

Because this is such an important issue, you may want to ask the owner to sign off on a disclosure statement that no electrical problems exist.  Remember that rewiring involves cutting into walls as well as replacing drywall and doing carpentry and other electrical work.  Keep in mind that it should be one of the focuses of any inspection since it is such an expensive problem to correct.

One last thought.  It is also important to remember that most modern wiring will last for the life of the home itself and perhaps even longer. This is not the case with older homes and their wiring. As well make sure that your home inspector looks at the condition of the existing wiring wherever possible. Modern wiring is coated in a plastic that will last for years, but years ago wiring was covered in a kind of rubberized coating. When that coating got hot, it broke off and left the wires exposed underneath. It's important that you know the difference between old and new wiring.