Tag: rewiring

Does Your Home Need Rewiring?

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does your home need rewiring

According to a study by the National Fire Protection Association, local fire departments responded to an average of over 44,000 home fires involving electrical malfunction between 2012 and 2016. Electrical fires have resulted in civilian deaths, injuries and billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Issues with electrical panels or wiring around the home, can cause these types of fires. If your home is older, chances are you might have some worn-out, frayed wiring which can potentially be dangerous. If you’re not sure whether your home needs rewiring or not, don’t worry! The pros at Roman Electric will help you figure it out!

1. Does Your Circuit Breaker Trip Often?

The circuit breaker is a great component of your home’s electrical system. It is essentially a safety component, which can prevent potential electrical fires. Whenever electrical wiring has an excess of current flowing through it, the circuit breaker detects it and trips—which means it basically cuts the power. If your circuit breaker has a tendency to trip often though, you might be dealing with a greater problem. Your circuit breaker could be tripping because of the overheating of an electrical appliance, or a short circuit which is the result of improper wiring. Contact your local electricians to learn the source of this problem—it might be because your home needs rewiring!

2. Charred Outlets

If you notice several discolored or charred outlets around your home, you might be looking at the visible effects of a short circuit. Short circuit occurs when a hot wire touches another hot wire or another neutral wire. This creates more heat than the circuit can handle, causing it to shut off. As we mentioned above, short circuits and charred outlets can be the result of loose wiring, causing electrical arcing, which results in a quick spark.

3. Older Wiring

If your home is older, chances are you have old, frayed wiring. You might also have aluminum wiring if your home was built between 1965-1973. It is estimated that 2 million homes built in this time frame have aluminum wiring. This kind of wiring increases the likelihood of electrical fires and other safety concerns. Get in touch with your local electricians to discuss rewiring your home with a safer material!

Benefits of Rewiring Your Home

There are several benefits of rewiring your home:

  • Increased safety

You don’t have to worry about your circuit breaker tripping often or your outlets sparking suddenly. Rewiring your home and replacing any old, frayed wires decreases the chances of electrical fires.

  • Save Money

Believe or not, rewiring your home can save money in the long-run! Replacing faulty wiring with newer wiring can increase overall efficiency.

  • Increase Home Sale Value

By rewiring your home, you can increase your home sale value. Potential buyers could be put off by any issues with the wiring or electrical systems.

Rewire Your Home with Roman Electric

If you are looking for qualified and knowledgeable electricians to rewire your home, look no further than Roman Electric! Call us today at 414-369-3798 or schedule a service online!

 

 

Is My Home’s Wiring Safe?

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Given that we use the electricity in our home all day, every day, we don’t always take into account the state of the wiring that gives us power. For the most part, we assume that it’s functioning as intended. However, there’s a chance that underneath it all, your home’s wiring could be a hazard waiting to happen.

How can you tell? Instead of continuously using electricity and hoping that nothing will go wrong, keep an eye out for a few telltale signs that your wiring needs to be replaced. Some are easily observable, while others you wouldn’t notice unless you’ve got a keen knowledge of the history of your home. Let Roman Electric help you determine if you’re good to go or not, and give us a call if you think you’re at risk.

Home-Related Factors

This is one of those things we mentioned above that you wouldn’t be able to notice unless you know the information ahead of time, and you should. The wires that are installed in homes built more than 40 years ago have run their course. Eventually, they will break down and be more susceptible to sparks and fires, so we recommend having your home rewired if it fits that criteria.

Also, if you’ve recently had your home remodeled, it might be a good idea to have new wiring installed. For instance, if your home remodel included installing more heavy appliances or electrical additions, then your existing electrical grid might not be able to handle the extra strain.

What Type of Wiring?

Even if your home doesn’t fit one of those criteria, it might still be unsafe if you’ve got aluminum wiring. Homes were built with this type of wiring for a few years in the 1960s and 70s, but that was quickly abandoned once people realized that aluminum wiring oxidizes easily and can become exposed at connection points – which leads to fires.

If your home was constructed during that timeframe, it was likely outfitted with aluminum wiring. Although it probably isn’t an immediate danger, we still recommend having a rewiring job performed so you can put that concern to bed for good.

Everyday Visible Signs

Other reasons you’d need new wiring involve things you might encounter as you go about your day at home.

  • Arcing, or a visible current when you plug or unplug something from an outlet
  • Faulty lights, or ones that dim unexpectedly or flicker on and off without you doing anything
  • Frequently tripped breakers or blown fuses
  • A noticeable burning smell coming from electrical components

This isn’t a comprehensive list, so there are other things that would warrant a professional inspection. But these are particularly worrisome – should you notice them, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!

Roman Electric’s team of expert electricians can come up with the ideal rewiring solution for your home. We’ll work with you to figure out how to best support the electricity you need to power your appliances, and we’ll make sure it’s all safe.

Give us a call at 414-369-3798 for more information or to speak with one of our team members!

Electrical Wiring Tips: What is Hot, Neutral, and Ground

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Before you perform any project or home improvement on your electrical system, you must have some understanding of how it works. Wiring is how electricity is distributed throughout your home, arguably making it the most crucial part of your electrical system. But how does wiring manage to transport electricity?

The answer becomes clearer when we look at the three roles wiring must fulfill: hot, neutral, and ground. These three components work in tandem to distribute power throughout your home, as well as help maintain electrical safety. It is recommended you understand each component’s capabilities.

For Milwaukee homeowners seeking electrical wiring tips, Roman Electric has assembled a guide on hot, neutral, and ground wire. Follow our guide below to better understand your electrical system!

Hot Wire

Hot wire is used as the initial power feed to a circuit. It carries the current from the power source to the outlet. Acting as the first instance of a circuit, they are always carrying electricity, meaning it is dangerous to touch a hot wire while there is a power source feeding it.

Hot wire is identified by its black casing. This is the main color of hot wire for most homes. However, other hot wires can red, blue, or yellow, although these colors can indicate a different function besides powering an outlet. Regardless, all hot wire should be treated the same: do not touch hot wire unless there is no connected and operating power source.

Neutral Wire

Once hot wire has initialized the beginning of a circuit, there must be another wire to complete the circuit. This role is filled by neutral wire. Neutral wire carries the circuit back to the original power source. More specifically, neutral wire brings the circuit to a ground or busbar usually connected at the electrical panel. This gives currents circulation through your electrical system, which allows electricity to be fully utilized. Additionally, this prevents faulty or excess currents from residing in your outlet.

Neutral wires are identified by their white or gray casing. Although they may not always be circulating an electrical current, they should be handled with as much caution as hot wire.

Ground Wire

So, with hot and neutral already being used to make a circuit, what role is left? The answer is safety of course! Ground wire acts as defense against unstable electrical currents. Under normal circuit conditions, ground wire isn’t carrying any current. But when an electrical accident such as a short circuit occurs, the ground wire takes the unstable current away from your electrical system and sends it toward the ground.

Ground wire is easily identified by its green casing. But not all homes may have it. Although it is a requirement by the NEC for newly-built homes, older homes don’t always have a ground wire. To tell if your home has ground wire, check your outlets. If your outlets have three prongs, then your home has ground wire. If there are only two prongs, then ground wire may not be utilized. If the latter is the case, we recommend consulting with Roman Electric to help determine if your home can be retrofitted with new ground wire.

Check back at Roman Electric for more electrical wiring tips! And contact us for affordable and quality wiring and rewiring services. Give us a call at 414-369-3798 for Milwaukee’s leading electrical experts.

Related Links:

Electrical Grounding Made Simple – The Spruce

Upgrade a 2 Prong Outlet with a New GFCI – The Spruce

Why Rewiring an Old Electrical System is Necessary

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Rewiring an outdated electrical system should be a high priority for Wisconsin homeowners. There are many benefits from having an electrical update, but the safety of your household is at the top of this list. Older electrical systems are not compatible with the high-tech world of today, with smart phones, smart TVs, tablets and computers needing energy – along with common appliances and electronics.

If you rely on multiple power strips to feed your electrical needs, you should consider having an electrician look into your system. If you experience frequent power surges or outages – you should also have an expert offer an assessment. Outlets that are hot or contain burn marks are also signs that there is something wrong with your wiring – and these are the most critical of all. According to ESFI, electrical fires account for an estimated 51,000 residential fires each year.

Roman Electric is dedicated to keeping your electrical system both safe and efficient. Our experts have compiled a list of reasons to have yours inspected – and rewired if necessary.

Safety and Health Risks

  • Outdated electrical systems offer little in terms of safety, as old wiring can become frayed and even torn. The oldest type of wiring is called knob-and-tube (named for the insulating knobs and tubes that were used to run the wire). This wiring doesn’t have a ground for safety – among other problems associated with the design.
  • Two-prong outlets were common 30 years ago, but now present safety risks due to their lack of a ground wire.
  • GFCI outlets and AFCI breakers are common in modern builds – and essential for safety.
  • Rewiring your electrical system not only ensures higher efficiency, but also allows GFCIs and AFCIs to be installed.
  • Rewiring also gives the homeowner an opportunity to place outlets where they are more convenient for the household.

Adherence to Code

  • Compliance to local electrical code is necessary for both safety and efficiency.
  • The National Electric Code (NEC) requires GFCIs to be placed in every bathroom and kitchen, often a lacking feature in older electrical systems.
  • The NEC also states smoke detectors must be placed in and outside each bedroom, as well as each floor of a home.
  • Aluminum wiring used to be the norm back in the 70s, but most builder regulations require copper wiring as it’s a more suitable material for electrical systems.

Modern Electrical Usage

  • Simply put, older electrical systems are too weak for modern electricity usage.
  • Most major appliances, though more efficient, don’t receive enough power from older systems; leading to surges (which can cause flickering lights) and overloads.
  • Rewiring your electrical system will allow for the proper amount of wattage for all of your gadgets and smart appliances.

Added Energy Efficiency

  • By rewiring your electrical system, you are also strengthening its efficiency.
  • Rewiring your electrical system helps prevent short circuits, arc faults, and overloads, all of which fluctuate power and increase your utility bill.
  • Rewiring also distributes power more evenly by using selective wire made specifically for modern homes.
  • Thermostats with new wiring are more efficient in controlling your HVAC system, meaning you are distributing heating and cooling more efficiently.

If you your older home needs a new electrical system, call the professional technicians at Roman Electric today. Our licensed experts can assist with all rewiring services for older homes. Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to schedule an appointment to get stated!