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The leading cause of electrical fires in homes is from the insulation around electrical wires—particularly older wiring. Because of the increased demand placed on wires in due to the larger electrical load of newer appliances, older wires can become too hot and cause the insulation to catch fire. These fires can quickly spread to building materials.
You may need to call an electrician in Nutley, NJ to extensively rewire your house to improve its safety. Below we’ve listed some of the ways to tell that you may need rewiring. Pay close attention, since a proper rewiring reduces significantly the chance of a house fire.
Have an electrician inspect the house
We’ll start with the shortcut to finding out if you need the house rewired. When you call a licensed electrician for an inspection, you’ll receive an expert answer about the condition of the wiring in your house and if it needs to be upgraded. Even if the wiring is still in good shape and not a significant danger, an inspection may still locate smaller problem areas in the wiring, outlets, etc. We recommend home wiring inspections every few years.
The age of the house
The simplest gauge of the condition of a house’s wiring is how long the house has been around. In general, a home that’s older than 50 years that’s never had any rewiring done is due for it. There are many homes of this vintage—and far older—in Northern Jersey. In fact, many homes still have antiquated knob-and-tube wiring. We’re a specialist in replacing this hazardous type of wiring.
The circuit breaker trips often
You shouldn’t have to make regular trips to the home’s electrical panel to reset tripped breakers. When this is a frequent problem, it warns that the wiring is struggling with the current electrical load. Even if your house doesn’t need to be rewired, have an electrician investigate the continually tripping breaker to find out if there is another repair need somewhere in the house.
The house has knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring
We’ve already mentioned knob-and-tube wiring, which is easy to visually identify because of the distinctive porcelain knobs use to hold up the wires. Aluminum wires were installed between 1965 and 1973, and because their connections can fail and start fires, they are considered hazards. If your home was constructed between those years, check to see if there is an “AL” on the wiring insulation—this means the wiring is aluminum.
Burning smells around the house
An acrid odor you can’t trace? Don’t ignore it! This electrical burning smell is warning that there are shorts in the electrical system. Check the outlets and light switches in the house to see if there is any discoloration along them, indicating an electrical fire behind the plate. If you don’t see anything, then the shorts may be happening in the walls. Either way, have an electrician into your house to examine the problem and see if you need rewiring.
You can trust us with this big, important job: we have more than 20 years of experience upgrading local homes to the highest safety levels.
Anderson Electric Corp. serves Northern Jersey. Call us for a free estimate. Safety–Dependability–Service.
