Should i use aluminum wiring
Even when you take precautions, accidents can happen. Home insurance is one way to protect your family against financial losses from accidents. Aluminum wiring. Topics What is aluminum wiring? How does it work? Repairing Maintaining Life expectancy Home insurance details Commonly asked questions. What is aluminum wiring? How does aluminum wiring work? Some of these qualities are: Higher electrical resistance: Aluminum has a high resistance to electrical current flow.
Therefore, given the same amperage, aluminum conductors need to have a larger diameter than copper conductors. Less ductile: Aluminum will wear and break down more readily when subjected to bending and other forms of abuse than copper, which is more pliable. Wear, over time, causes the wire to break down internally and will progressively resist electrical current, causing a build-up of excessive heat. Galvanic corrosion: In there is moisture present, aluminum in homes will experience galvanic corrosion when it makes contact with certain dissimilar metals.
Oxidation: The outer surface of the wire will deteriorate when exposed to oxygen. This is known as oxidation. Aluminum wire oxidizes more easily than copper wire, and the compound formed by oxidation — aluminum oxide — is less conductive than copper oxide. Over time, oxidation can deteriorate connections and present an increased fire hazard.
Greater malleability: Aluminum is soft and malleable, so it is extremely sensitive to compression. This can create a loose connection and increase electrical resistance in that spot. Greater thermal expansion and contraction: Aluminum expands and contracts with changes in temperature more than copper does.
As time passes, this will cause connections to degrade. Aluminum wiring is safer with screw-type connections, that is, where the electrical wire is wrapped around a screw and kept in place by the head of the screw instead of being pushed in through the back.
Excessive vibration: Electrical current causes vibrations when passing through wiring. The vibrating is greater in aluminum than it is in copper, and, over time, can cause connections to loosen. What should you do when something goes wrong? When should you call an electrician? Strange odors, or even worse, smoke or sparks around receptacles or switches. Occasional flickering of lights. Unexplained static on TV or radio. All of these things could indicate a potentially serious problem with the wiring.
International Association of Certified Home Inspectors advises that the US Consumer Products Safety Commission recommended the following corrections for aluminum wiring: Rewire the home with copper wire.
While this is the most effective method, rewiring is expensive and impractical, in most cases. Use copalum crimps. This created three opportunities for the wire to fail and cause a fire.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission , there are approximately two million homes and mobile homes constructed using aluminum wiring since If you are shopping for resale homes, and they were built between and , there is a good chance that you will end up looking at homes that have aluminum wiring.
If you have purchased a home or are considering buying a home with aluminum wiring you have a couple of options:. You may need to shop around a little to find an insurance company that will still insure homes with aluminum wiring.
The best course of action is to perform one of the approved repair methods and then obtain certifications that repairs have been completed for the insurance company.
If you are selling a home with aluminum wiring, it would be in your best interest to go ahead and have any potential repairs made prior to putting the home on the market. This way potential buyers will know the repairs have been made. If you supply them with a certification from a licensed electrician, you will make the process of obtaining home insurance easier for them.
Waiting until after the home inspection to deal with aluminum wiring can delay closing. Handling the problem before you put the home on the market eliminates a lot of potential problems. Older homes that were built in the 60's and 70's are great candidates for updating and remodeling because they now end up being located in pretty desirable neighborhoods. For over a half-century, copper wiring has been used in residential and commercial electrical systems.
With a higher tensile strength, copper wiring is less likely to break than aluminum wiring. This is important considering that electrical wiring is often installing by pulling it through ports and feeders.
If the wiring is weak or fragile, it may break during installation. Copper wiring has a high tensile strength to protect against breakage as well as other forms of physical damage. Copper wiring also has a lower thermal expansion coefficient than its aluminum counterpart. The temperature of electrical wiring increases as electricity flows through it. Aluminum wiring has a higher thermal expansion than copper wiring, resulting in greater expansion.
If the wiring expands too much, it may cause areas in which the wiring is spliced or joined to break. With that said, there are still advantages to using aluminum wiring.
Aluminum wiring almost always costs less than copper wiring. For a residential home, using aluminum wiring instead of copper wiring can save builders several hundred dollars.