Aluminum Wiring Can Be Hazardous, Here's What to do About ...

Aluminum Wiring. Fix the problem. Completely rewiring your home isn’t practical in most situations—it means tearing into walls and ceilings. But an electrician can make the connections safe by adding a short section of copper wire to the end of each aluminum wire.That way, copper rather than aluminum will be connected to each switch, outlet or other device.

Aluminum conductors in larger sizes were in common use by 1950. This use is still acceptable and commonplace today. The problems of aluminum wiring are associated mainly with small sizes for branch circuits and appliances. 1965: aluminum wiring becomes common for branch circuits: Aluminum wiring for branch circuits was rare before about 1965.

Most branch circuit wiring in homes is 14 gauge copper. The equivalent aluminum wire is 12 gauge. Remember, though: 12 gauge is larger than 14! The installation methods were exactly the same for aluminum as for copper. The Issues. Shortly after aluminum wiring became popular, some problems started to appear.

Aluminum Electrical Wiring Information for your website: for information on aluminum electrical wiring that can be copied to your website, see Aluminum Wiring Summary Page for Public Use. "Repairing Aluminum Wiring", US CPSC Publication 516, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Bethe3sda MD, website: www.cpsc.gov / www.SaferProducts.gov, updated June 2011, original source: .cpsc.gov ...

My house has aluminum wiring- Is it safe? There is no need to panic, as this is a very fixable problem. It is important to note that having aluminum wiring in a house is not banned or illegal. There are some common misconceptions that aluminum wiring is not allowed, ...

Problems began to surface where aluminum was used in branch circuit wiring. These are the smaller wires that bring electricity from the electrical panel to the plugs, switches and lighting fixtures. Testing revealed that aluminum wiring has some problematic characteristics that are not found with copper.

However, typical household wiring devices (GFCI, receptacle outlets, light switches, etc.) are not rated for aluminum wire. As a result, an aluminum wired house is more at risk to reach hazardous fire conditions at the outlet wiring connections rather than homes that are wired with copper wires.

Problems with Aluminum Wiring. ... The average 3 bedroom home will have 165-195 connections throughout the house and an average of 96 connections in the electrical panel. Every connection is a potential hot spot. 2. Connections are poorly made: Aluminum is a very soft metal.

If your house was built from 1965-1973, you may be one of the “lucky” folks with early aluminum wiring. Thanks to spiking copper prices in the 1960s, builders stared looking for less expensive materials to use for wiring houses and aluminum seemed to fit the bill.

It may become an issue when the house is being sold and an inspector looks inside the panel. Solution: Add a subpanel with a few extra slots ($250), or, if you’re planning major home improvements, replace the existing panel with a larger model ($500 to $800). 7. Aluminum Wiring