Electrical

When houses were built in the 1960’s, family needs were different than they are now.

Growing up in one of these, there was ONE telephone, hanging on the wall in the kitchen. That was later upgraded to one on the night stand in the parental units bedroom, probably to make dealing with late night teenage crisis easier. Then phones got common and phone jacks went in everywhere. Now we’re coming full circle and taking them all out except one.

Taking their place, though, are coax, CAT-9, and a variety of other wires to power and control a variety of electronic appliances that weren’t even contemplated a few years ago.

Our televisions talk to the computer, assuming they have wire. Computers talk to each other – and printers, iPads, telephones, etc – but they no longer have wire. Recipes are kept on devices rather than in card files, and need internet access in the kitchen, and of course “bathroom reading” no longer requires a rack on the wall to hold both “Better Homes and Gardens” and “Sports Illustrated”.

So wiring is a big issue. Just as important as the wires that carry information are those that carry electricity – which, unfortunately in this house, were originally installed during an ill considered time when aluminum was allowed by code. Aluminum carries about 60% of the power that copper does.

On top of that, the wires going from the curb into the house have a “100 Amp Service”.

Operating at 60% efficiency.

Which probably explains why flipping on a hair dryer in the bathroom causes the air conditioning to stop and the microwave to slow down.

All the little switches (i.e. “breakers”) in the box are operating way beyond whatever capacity they should be. They’re also old and worn from being flipped on and off so many times.

This means we get a nice shiny new box in the basement with new breakers for all of the new outlets that are being run to operate our toys.

And Duke Power will likely send us a nice Christmas card this year since we will be upgrading and likely adding another 200 amp service – with copper wiring this time.

“Little” electricity doesn’t bother me. I hate to get shocked, but 110 won’t kill you unless you’re really, really careless about it. There’s lots of electricity and wires in those breaker boxes, though, and it’s all “hot” since THERE’S NO CUTOFF FOR THE HOUSE (another little code faux pax from the 60’s). Again, this is why professional electricians have training and licenses. They’ll be addressing this.

They also aren’t as invested in the project, so there’s not as much frustration when the design, which is very much an “on the go” concept, changes and all the holes and outlets installed yesterday need to be removed and relocated to the other end of the room because the plan has changed and the desk now goes where the closet used to be.