Aluminum wiring

HISTORY

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Since the advent of powering our homes with electricity, wiring has traditionally been copper. In the mid &#;s, as the price of copper rose, aluminum was introduced as a more cost effective alternative. While not as effective in the conduction of electricity, with some adjustments to installation procedures aluminum wiring worked its way into our homes.

ADJUSTMENTS

Some modifications were made in an attempt to have the aluminum perform in a similar manner to copper. Metals tend to oxidize (rust) when in contact with oxygen. Each metal&#;s rust reacts differently, and aluminum tends to develop an oxide coating which does not effectively conduct electricity. This can cause overheating, which can develop into a fire concern. Modern aluminum wire installations are protected from oxidation by coating the exposed wire with a joint compound that helps to prevent oxidation. Aluminum expands and contracts more than copper does when it heats up from the flow of electricity. This can cause the connections (at switches, outlets, fixtures, breakers, etc.) to become loose, which can lead to overheating. Push-in connections at fixtures are typically not allowed with aluminum wiring, as the wires must be held in place by screw connections. Aluminum is softer than copper, and additional care must be taken during installation to not damage (crush, nick or cut) the wire. Since copper is a better conductor than aluminum, aluminum wiring is required to be larger than copper to safely conduct the same amount of electricity.

August 13,

During the late s and early s, copper was becoming increasingly difficult to come by. With the population booming, demand for homes was at an all-time high. Combined with a rapid increase in electronic technology and innovation, copper materials for wiring were becoming a hot commodity, and diminishing supplies of the most common electrical wire made prices skyrocket. This is when engineers came up with a solution: move on to the next best thing: aluminum. Aluminum was affordable, plentiful, and a reliable electrical conductor that could easily be extruded into wiring used to create electrical systems in homes. Thus, the era of aluminum wiring was born.

However, it didn&#;t last long. Less than a decade after aluminum wiring saw widespread adoption, it was quickly squashed when people began to discover that aluminum wiring had a lot of problems. In fact, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that homes with aluminum wiring were 55 times more likely to experience &#;hazard fire conditions&#; than homes with traditional copper wiring. Today, many home insurance companies won&#;t even cover properties that still use aluminum wiring because the risk is so much higher.

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The problem isn&#;t so much with the wiring itself, but rather the connections between wires and their various contacts. Aluminum oxidizes at a much faster rate than copper, and that means frayed or inconsistent connections, extremely high amounts of resistance, building heat, and potentially electrical fires.

However, many people may not even realize that their home still has aluminum wiring running through their walls. If your home was built between and , and you are either unsure or you have not had your electrical system inspected recently, then here are three potential signs that you might have aluminum wiring in your walls. If you do, you should call for help immediately.

Wiring In Your Electrical Panel is Aluminum

The easiest way to see if you have aluminum wiring is to look for exposed wiring. The easiest place to find it is in your electrical panel. Take a look at the main wire outputs leading off of each breaker or fuse and you should find an exposed length of wire. Copper is a distinct reddish-brown color, but aluminum is a characteristic shiny silver that looks a lot like steel. This should be a dead giveaway if your home is running on aluminum wire or not.

Wire Casing Is Labeled as Aluminum

A lot of aluminum wiring was sold and installed as Romex cable&#;a brand of composite wire that featured a hot, neutral, and ground all shielded within the same piece of plastic for ease of installation and wire management. Shielded wire needs to be labeled in order for electricians and servicemen to know exactly what a wire is used for and what its performance parameters are, and all of this information is printed on the plastic shielding. With Romex cable, the type of wire is typically labeled as &#;aluminum&#; or &#;AL&#; to indicate the material composition of the wire. Find a piece of Romex wire, typically in your attic. So long as you have a few feet you can observe, you should be able to find a printed label with this information. Should you find the aluminum label, the wire inside is aluminum.

Face Plates, Receptacles, or Switches Are Hot to the Touch

Finally, a tell-tale sign that something is wrong with your electrical system is unexplained heat on a particular component. The majority of problems with aluminum wiring happen at connection points, and the most common connection points are where these wires connect to your outlets, switches, sockets, and receptacles. If a light switch feels warm or even hot to the touch, an outlet seems to be emitting a high-pitched ringing noise, or a faceplate is starting to show signs of discoloration due to excessive heat, then you probably have an issue pertaining to aluminum wiring.