When your clothes dryer starts to deteriorate, it’s pretty obvious. Your clothes are not dried properly or the mechanism stops spinning. However, when your home wiring begins to deteriorate, it’s not immediately obvious. The wiring is hidden behind the walls for safety and convenience. It’s not easy to inspect or troubleshoot. Instead, homeowners can keep an eye for subtle clues that electrical wiring is in need of a repair.
One reason to upgrade electrical wiring is that the home’s power supply is too low. According to HouseLogic, homes used to be built for 60 amps. Now homeowners often need 200 amps to run all the electrical devices that now hog the outlets. Unfortunately, a home cannot tell you that it needs more juice, so homeowners should watch for these signs: breakers that trip or fuses that blow repeatedly, and flickering or dimming lights. When there is too much power draw to a single part of the house, breakers will trip, shutting down the system before it becomes hazardous. Continually tripping breakers indicates that the power draw is too high. Dimming lights also show that power is being drawn to other devices, leaving less for the lights to use. These signs indicate its time for an upgrade.
Another reason to upgrade wiring is simple convenience. Older homes often have two-pronged ungrounded outlets in inconvenient places. Modern computers and televisions need a three-pronged outlet. Some homeowners may not be able to upgrade their television until they upgrade their wiring. Also, re-wiring the home allows homeowners to specify where outlets should be located. More outlets can be added to accommodate a growing number of electrical devices in the home. Sparsely spaced, two-pronged outlets are an indication that a wiring upgrade may be warranted.
Although the other two reasons are valid, the final reason reason to upgrade your wiring is the most important. Deteriorating wiring is best reason to upgrade wiring. As wiring deteriorates, it becomes less safe and more prone to cause fires. Faulty wiring was still the chief cause of residential fires in 2009, according to the National Fire Prevention Association. Replacing old wiring becomes vital when safety is at stake. The house will provide clues when wiring is deteriorating. Outlets can become warm or discolored. They may even spark. A persistent burning smell can also be an indicator that it’s time to upgrade, now.
Upgrading home and business wiring can be an extensive process, but it’s often necessary for safety and convenience. Homeowners should look for signs that the wiring is need of repair and complete upgrades when they see key indicators like constantly tripping breakers, dimming lights and discolored outlets.
