A home should be a safe space for the family, but aluminum wiring can sabotage your safety, your comfort, and even your home’s efficiency. Since aluminum can corrode easily, it’s not the best choice for your home . Many homeowners don’t do anything about their aluminum wiring simply because they don’t realize they have it. An electrician serving San Jose will tell you that aluminum wiring is not the industry standard at this point in time, and there are other options when it comes to efficient electrical wiring. Continue reading and see if your home could be housing aluminum wiring.
Age of the Home
Your home is more likely to contain aluminum wiring if it was built during a specific time period. Homes that were built between the years of 1965 and 1973 may very well contain aluminum wiring, and people who had electrical rewiring done during that time could have it as well. This isn’t the only criteria though, as some electricians continued to use aluminum wiring to add or extend circuits after this period of time. If you know your home was built between those years, have your electrician find out if there are aluminum wires in your house.
Electrician Appraisal
The easiest way to find out if you have aluminum wiring in your house is to call an electrician and go through an inspection. Since your residential or commercial electrician knows what to look for, the process shouldn’t take long and it will leave you with a definitive answer. It can be dangerous for a homeowner to open up his or her electrical panel and look at the wires. Instead of risking your safety, as well as damaging your electrical systems, talk to your electrician and get the professionals involved.
Markings on Wires
Sometimes, you can find out if you have aluminum wires in your home by looking at the markings. Markings like KAISER and ALCAN, or even the word ALUMINUM, indicate that you have aluminum wiring. Look at your insulation wherever wiring is visible in your attic or basement to tell.