If you own a home in Glendale, AZ, you know how important its electrical system is to your daily life. Without it, your appliances wouldn’t work, your devices would all have dead batteries, and you’d be stuck sitting in the dark every night. However, your home’s electrical system won’t last forever. At some point, your home will need rewiring, either because its wiring is deteriorating or because it no longer meets your needs. Here are 10 reasons why you might consider rewiring your house.
1. Your Home’s Wiring Is Over 40 Years Old
Although there’s no set expiration date for residential wiring, it does have an average expected lifespan. In most homes, you can expect your wiring to last for approximately 40 years before it will need replacing. So, if your home is more than 40 years old and still has its original wiring, you should think about having it rewired. This will ensure the continued safe operation of your home’s electrical system. It will also bring your home’s wiring up to more modern standards.
2. Your Home Has Aluminum Wiring
If your home dates back to the 1960s or 1970s, there’s a chance that it has aluminum wiring. It was a popular option then because of copper shortages that plagued suppliers. However, aluminum wiring proved unsafe, and builders stopped using it in subsequent decades.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, homes with aluminum wiring are 55% more likely to develop wiring problems that pose a fire risk than those with copper wiring. This is because aluminum expands and contracts more than copper when it heats up. This can cause electrical connections to loosen, leading to short circuits. If you’re unsure if your home has aluminum wiring, a quick check by one of our master electricians is all it takes to find out.
3. Your Home Has Ungrounded Outlets
Another thing that might cause you to consider rewiring your home is the presence of older, ungrounded outlets. These are the two-pronged outlets that used to be common. Their presence likely means that your home’s wiring lacks ground wires. The problem is bigger than the inconvenience when you need to plug in a device with a three-pronged plug. It also represents a safety hazard and poses a risk to the devices you plug in.
The best way to correctly replace ungrounded outlets with grounded ones is to rewire your home to add grounding wires to every circuit. Replacing your old outlets with ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) may be acceptable in some situations. This type of outlet serves as a mini circuit breaker. However, replacing the wiring and adding a ground is the safest option.
4. You Notice Burning Smells
One of the challenges associated with assessing the condition of your home’s wiring is that most of it is hidden in your walls. There’s no way to visually inspect most of your home’s wiring, so you have to rely on other clues that indicate its condition. One of the clues to look out for is any burning smells you can’t readily locate the source of. It could be coming from some of your home’s wiring. It might result from degraded wire insulation somewhere inside a wall. Or, it could be coming from an overloaded outlet or circuit somewhere in your home. In any case, it’s a sign that you might need to have your home rewired.
5. You Hear Buzzing Sounds
Another thing that could tip you off to the need for new wiring is if you start hearing buzzing sounds from your home’s electrical panel. It could result from a faulty circuit breaker or a bigger problem in the connected circuit. In either case, it’s a problem that requires an electrician. Our experienced electricians can tell you if the buzzing you hear is because of a simple breaker issue or if your home’s wiring needs attention.
6. Constantly Tripping Breakers
The use of electric and electronic devices seems to be constantly growing. You might need to rewire your home if multiple breakers are tripping frequently. This is typically a sign that your electrical needs have already outgrown your home’s wiring. Rewiring your home would allow you to evaluate your electrical needs and install additional circuits and outlets to better meet them.
7. Flickering Lights
Flickering lights are another sign that you might need to rewire your home. It can indicate damage to some of the wiring in your walls. Or, it could indicate that you’re asking too much of one or more of your home’s circuits. Either way, the right solution could be to add additional circuits to meet your needs, which you could do as a part of a rewiring project.
8. Warm or Hot Outlets
If you ever notice an outlet in your home that is warm or hot to the touch, it could be a sign of an overtaxed electrical system. If you have multiple outlets in your home that have remained persistently warm for some time, it’s possible that your home’s wiring has already suffered damage that only rewiring can fix.
9. You Want a Lower Home Insurance Rate
Owners of homes with newer wiring tend to pay lower rates for homeowner’s insurance. This is because newer wiring is safer and lowers the risk of your home suffering an electrical fire. So, if your insurance rates are higher than you’d like them to be and your home’s wiring is relatively old, you might want to think about rewiring your home.
10. You Want to Increase Your Home’s Value
Lastly, you might want to consider having your home rewired to increase its value before selling it. Prospective buyers will want to know that they won’t have to do major renovations after their purchase. And if your home’s wiring is old or doesn’t meet current electrical standards, they may ask for a price cut to account for that. Plus, having new outlets installed throughout your home signals to potential buyers that you’ve taken the home’s maintenance seriously. It will also help guarantee that your home will pass inspection with flying colors, so nothing will derail your sale.
Glendale’s Home Rewiring Experts
If you’re considering having your Glendale home rewired, you should know it’s a big job. You don’t want to leave it to anyone but an experienced electrician. At Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical, our team of electricians has years of experience handling whole-home rewiring jobs. For some jobs, we can offer a range of financing options on approved credit.
We’ve served residents here since 1977! We also offer complete HVAC, plumbing, and a host of other electrical services. We’ve received the Best of Glendale award for several years and have hundreds of glowing customer reviews from homeowners like you. Plus, we’re Better Business Bureau accredited with an A+ rating.
If you need your home rewired here in Glendale, call our team at Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical today.
