Before we bought our house, we hired an inspector to go through the house to look for any problems there might be. His report came back listing very few things, but there was one little footnote that he had saying that the wiring in the house might be old and it might be something you want to look at. At the time the words really didn’t mean much to my wife and I, but after time we got an understanding of the type of thing he was talking about.
These days, we have so many more things that we want to plug in. All those things require power, and yet many of us live in homes with not enough outlets and way too many power strips. Sometimes our power strips are attached to power strips, which creates a very unsafe environment. Here are three things you might want to look at to improve the electric viability of your home.
1. Take a look at the fuse box panel. Most older homes have fuse boxes that are only able to handle 100 amps of power. In today’s world, most people need at least 220 amps or power or more. By not having more power, what you end up with is blowing fuses at the wrong time (such as when you’re using the microwave) and every once in a while seeing things flicker. Just so you know, this isn’t necessarily a cheap upgrade but it’s something to consider.
2. Add more electrical outlets. More new homes have considered this, but it wouldn’t hurt to have more I’ll let in some of the older homes. Having more outlets gives electrician a better opportunity to plan how electricity will be used in the house. Better distribution of electricity is safer than overloading too few outlet with all those power strips. And what you’ll find is that for a qualified electrician to step literally takes very little effort at all. And while you’re at it, make sure your electrician checks outlets you already have to see if they have the grounding wire, which is something else that wasn’t common in the past.
3. Even with the new fuse box, your house might not be fully protected from electrical spikes and surges when the power goes off and on in the neighborhood. So you might want to ask your electrician about the possibility of installing something called a whole house surge arrester. An extra layer of protection is adding something called an arc fault circuit interrupter. What that does is protect your house by testing the wiring that electric power’s going through, and if it detects faulty wiring it blocks power from going there, thereby eliminating the threat of potential fires.
Mitch Mitchell is a consultant who writes and participates in many different fields, including real estate finance issues. 
Thanks for the information it was very useful safety precaution.
Very good information considering the fire hazard improper wiring can cause.
.-= Matt@Atlanta GA Real Estate´s last blog ..Act NOW if you are a FHA Buyer!! =-.
I never paid attention to the wiring in the house, but perhaps I should start paying attention to it! It’s a wise decision that you hired an inspector before you bought the house.
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The house before the one I’m in now was built in the 50s, and I heard something similar from my housing inspector. I didn’t think much of it.
When it came time for me to sell the house, the buyer who heard those words thought a great deal about it when her inspector told her to be careful. Half the outlets in the house weren’t even grounded. It ended up costing me a great deal.
So even if it’s not important to you, you never know how it might rank with the next buyer. This is good advice!
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Yep. Also be on the lookout for aluminum wiring. Another gotcha is the polybutylene pipe (PB) that some homes built in the 1970′s have. You can’t catch it all though, so invest in an experience home inspector before you sign on the dotted line!
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As a real estate agent put I a minus in the description for the house if the instalion is old and that also infect on the sale price in the end. Both as a future cost and as a safety risk.
My old house had an old fuse box. If I had a nickel for every time I had to reset the breaker when my girlfriend used her hair dryer….
@Portland Real Estate – I too know about resting the breaker because of hair drys and such! lol
There are numerous instances where poor and low quality wiring has done reckless trouble. I still wonder why people compromise on safety. This post is a must read for all those who decided to buy those cheap wiring stuff and neglect the potential risk behind it.
.-= Alan@Tulsa Real Estate´s last blog ..Can You Hear Us Now Obama =-.
When you have a new home built, have 20amp circuits run throughout. It costs very little extra and will save you headaches in the future. We just had a stone patio put in and the workers kept tripping the 15amp breaker that fed the outside outlet. We had to run an extension cord through the basement window – my husband finished the basement with 20amps throughout and they never had an issue.
Thanks for this article. I’ve definitely got too many appliances for the amount of plugs I have – I don’t think it’s unsafe yet but I wouldn’t want to overload it anymore.
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I guess not many people know about such things when they are moving into new home.
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Hi,
I think this is really an interesting thing here you have submitted because wiring of the home should be proper and some times it can be the cause of danger. I have seen so many fire cases in the houses. Anyways keep sharing and keep continue.
Thanks.
The older the house the more problems you’re likely to encounter. The electrical system is very important and having enough outlets and capacity is something you will need. An upgrade is expensive but if you’re going to stay in the house its worth it.
.-= Jeff @ Iron Patio Furniture´s last blog ..Iron Patio Furniture =-.
It is a good idea to try to fix by ourselves the easy electrical problems in our homes. But please always follow some security tips such us switching off the electricity power before working with the wires and if it is possible, use plastic globes.
I honestly couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read “These days, we have so many more things that we want to plug in. All those things require power, and yet many of us live in homes with not enough outlets and way too many power strips.” Just looking in the small office I’m sitting in, I can see two monitors hooked up to a desktop. A power strip that has a laptop plugged into it, along with a phone charger, printer, scanner, and other electronics that need juice. Then I stare at the other side of the room and there’s a TV, movie system, and sound system. I’ve concluded that there will never be enough outlets for me.
I’m looking to invest in a new property, and honestly, I think I would have overlooked the wiring in the home. This is going on my checklist of things to look for. Thanks for the article.
I like your advice. However, many times changing the whole wiring of a entire house causes more trouble than we expect. I tell you this because when I got my new house the whole electrical wiring was very old so to avoid any trouble my husband decided to change wiring. The problem was that it took more than we expected and we find out even more issues so I would preferred not doing the job.
Giving guidelines and great informations about these wiring thing is really a big help. It makes people to be more cautious about it because poor wiring installation can be very hazardous.
When it comes to wiring, you have to pay extra attention to it as even single mistakes might lead to a house fires. It can happen can happen right away or years down the road. So be careful about even the little thing that matter to you. Make sure about all the outlets that needed for your computer rooms, and to do check with the electrical and telephone wiring is done properly in each area of the home. It won’t take much time.
Wiring a home is a very hard and dangerous task. It need a knowledgeable electrician to the wiring. Don’t try the do-it-yourself approach because every single day unsuspecting members with the public are unwittingly discovering themselves occupying hospital beds or perhaps worse the morgue, right after trying to repair electrical problems.
Please do contact your licensed electrician to make the job much easier.
As an average homeowner, I totally agree that an upgrade is needed especially if your home is a bit older and has old wirings. This way helps increase the safety level of both dwellers and properties.
One thing i can add for extra safety is adding a GFCI(Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) or a Residual-Current Device (RCD) at home. Basically, what it does is that in the event of a ground fault, it will trip and quickly stop the flow of electricity to prevent serious accidents. hope this helps.