Should You Rewire Your Home?
Does your home currently have old electrical wiring running through the walls, and you're wondering if you should make the upgrade to modern wiring? If so, it will help to ask yourself these questions.
Do You Have Knob And Tube Wiring?
There are different types of old wiring that you may want to have replaced. A common type of wiring is known as cloth wiring, which uses cloth insulation instead of plastic to protect the wire. However, there is also knob and tube wiring, which is much more dangerous to have. This type of wiring can be easily identified by seeing the wires run through porcelain tubes in your home, which are frequently run in an attic. The problem with knob and tube wiring is that it can be a fire hazard if you experience a voltage surge or fluctuation.
Are The Outlets Grounded?
It's possible that your old outlets are not properly grounded, even if it looks like it has the proper outlet that supports plugs with grounding connections. You can test the outlets in your home with a simple electrical tester that you plug into the outlet and it tells you if it's grounded. If not, it may be worth upgrading your electrical wiring. With so many expensive electronics needing to be grounded properly to protect them, you don't want to take the risk with what's plugged in within your home.
Are You Upgrading Your Electrical Panel?
If you are going through the process of upgrading your electrical panel, it is typically a great opportunity to rewire your home. That's because you can add more circuits to your electrical panel, and make the electrical loads light to certain parts of your home. This can be handy if every time someone uses a hair dryer it trips a circuit, because too many things are on it.
The reason that you need to rewire your home to add more circuits is because of how outlets and lights are connected. You often have a single wire running through a conduit to all of the outlets on a single circuit. The only way to break the circuits up is to run new wiring through the conduit.
Are Your Outlets Hot?
You may not have circuit breakers tripping, but notice that certain outlets or electrical cords feel very hot. This is a problem due to an overloaded circuit, which means too many electrical devices are plugged into the circuit. Reach out to an electrical contractor to learn more.