News flash!
Ancient home wiring not worth the risk
by Roger Faris
No one with any brains or maturity would think of driving around in a worn out old vehicle if it was an obvious risk to life and limb. At the age of seventeen I was sometimes a living example of how a complete lack of sense could lead to an extreme public hazard. One occasion was a University District Seafair Parade. The vehicle was an antique fire engine with brakes that had almost no stopping power. I was thrilled to be the man at the wheel, until I realized that the route was slightly downhill. Using the curb to make an emergency stop was not an option, since there were a few thousand people sitting on it. My cargo of about thirty waving kids made the situation even worse. I was able to avoid making headline news by pushing on the brake pedal with all of my strength during the entire event. I was shaky for the rest of the day.
That is how you should feel if you are living with an antique home electrical system. Wiring problems were the third cause of Seattle's residential fires last year. Loose connections, overloaded outlets and improperly installed wires and extension cords were to blame for 354 house fires. A lot of people were killed or injured, and buildings and their contents were destroyed. Faulty systems also caused many serious electrical shocks and damage to appliances and electronic devices.
I don't mean to sound so alarming. The worst reaction to all of this would be to unplug everything and place a candle in each room. The little flame is too likely to grow into a big one. A better response is to make a careful evaluation of your house wiring and then start making improvements.
A simple place to begin is with a close look at each outlet. Any poor connection can cause a buildup of heat and an eventual fire. Sometimes an outlet is just dirty or worn out and needs replacement. Others may be overwhelmed by a tangle of wires and multiplier plugs. If this is the case, it's probably time to add more outlets, and perhaps more circuits to the house. Feel the plugs and wires to see if they are warm, and look for smoke residue on the plastic cover plates. These are signs of trouble. A good quality power strip may be an improvement, since these can provide tighter and more secure connections than cheap multipliers and flimsy extension cords.
Another way to avoid danger is to be sure that the fuses or circuit breakers are the appropriate size for the wire in each circuit. Fourteen gauge wire was standard in old houses, and must be protected by a 15 amp fuse or breaker which is designed to trip when it is asked to provide more than about 1,725 watts of power. Old knob and tube wiring is supposed to be suspended in the air between the porcelain knobs. This keeps the insulating jacket from getting hot and falling apart. Before burying this old style wire under a layer of attic insulation, we are now required to have it inspected by a licensed electrician. Once covered with fiberglass, cellulose, or some other material, it's best to keep the total connected load on these circuits to less than half of their maximum capacity. This requires an accurate mapping of which outlets and lights are controlled by each fuse or breaker in the service panel. Then simply add up the wattage of all of the electrical devices connected to each circuit. You'll soon see how some electric space heaters can use far more power than the old wire should be expected to provide.
An excellent reason for adding modern wiring to an old house is to avoid the danger of electrocution from your washing machine, refrigerator, or other device which needs a properly grounded three prong outlet. The third wire provides a connection between the frame of the appliance and the earth, so that if a hot wire somehow comes into contact with the metal frame, a surge of current through this "short-circuit" will cause the fuse to trip. A grounded outlet is also a requirement for computer and printer equipment. The darn things just don't work right unless they have that third copper pathway for dumping stray electrons back into mother earth.
Other safety improvement to an old system include the addition of GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets in damp areas such as the bathroom, kitchen, unfinished basements, garage, and outdoor locations. These devices shut off the power almost instantly when they detect even a tiny current leak. Also, be sure to add AC powered smoke detectors as part of the job. They are more reliable than the battery type detectors.
Quite often older houses need a complete electric service upgrade to make it possible to add the circuits needed for safety and convenience. Some houses will need a new weatherhead, conduit, meter socket, and main service panel. It's time consuming, but not a particularly difficult job to install this equipment. It does need to be done exactly the right way. To begin the planning process for this, contact your electric utility service representative. Most of the work in updating an electrical system involves putting parts together and tightening screws. The hardest part is drilling holes and fishing wire from one place to another. None of it compares in danger or difficulty to fighting house fires or to driving an old fire engine with no brakes.
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