![]() After that, he recommends getting a quick follow-up inspection every five years.ĭon’t be alarmed if the inspection turns up code violations. “He’ll look at the insulation on the wires to see if it’s dried out and fraying, he’ll look for corrosion in the service panel, and he’ll look to see if a previous owner did anything unsafe,” Gallant says. If you’re buying a house (especially one that’s more than 50 years old), or if you’ve never had your wiring inspected, it’s a good idea to hire a licensed electrician to give your home a thorough going-over. But others can pose serious fire or electrocution hazards. Some wiring problems are just inconveniences. To fix it, the old circuit must be rewired. Once the insulation has been damaged, the danger remains even if the offending fuse is replaced with one that’s the proper amperage. That can cause the wires to overheat, damaging their protective insulation and increasing the risk of fire. Protecting the Fuse Boxįuse boxes, like the one above, are less common these days than circuit breaker panels, but they work just fine - unless someone installs fuses with a higher amperage than the wires can safely handle. The signs of strain may be obvious-a tangle of extension cords and power strips sprouting from a single outlet-or lurking unseen behind walls, ceilings, and cover plates. “The circuits in these older homes weren’t designed to power the many gadgets of modern life,” says electrician Allen Gallant, who has wired six This Old House TV project houses. ![]() The wiring inside many houses is also out of date, straining to supply our ever-growing collection of electricity-hungry appliances, lighting, and electronics. It’s not just the nation’s power grid that’s antiquated.
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