Knob and Tube Wiring - House Rewire

Knob and Tube wiring

The electrical systems in many homes built before 1975 used aluminum wire instead of copper.  The US Consumer Products Safety Commission investigated and found that many home fires were caused by overheated connections involving aluminum wire. The weakness is not with the wire itself, but rather in the wiring junctions and connections between the aluminum wire and things like light fixtures, switches, and outlets.  While aluminum is an excellent conductor of electricity, it expands and contracts more than copper and is much more prone to corrosion at connection sites; this can cause increased resistance in connections, which, put simply, means more heat that can lead to fire.  The best way to determine if your house has aluminum wiring (and the condition of that wiring) is to hire an experienced electrician.  Oliver Electric can inspect your electrical panel, inspect plug and fixture connections, or find and inspect electrical junctions. These types of operations, especially when they involve potentially faulty aluminum wiring connections, carry a risk of electric shock, so they should be approached professionally and with extreme caution.  Call Oliver Electric today for your free evaluation and inspection.