{"id":1288,"date":"2013-08-27T21:55:57","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T21:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.napoleon.cc\/articles\/?p=1288"},"modified":"2021-02-01T12:22:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T12:22:09","slug":"electrical-system-always-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napoleon.cc\/tips\/electrical-system-always-simple\/","title":{"rendered":"The Electrical System: Not Always That Simple"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\t\t\t\t<b>The Electrical System: Not Always That Simple<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>The Electrical System: Not Always That Simple<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.napoleon.cc\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/improper-drip-loop.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.napoleon.cc\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/improper-drip-loop-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"improper drip loop\" class=\"wp-image-1291 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A&nbsp;home&#8217;s electrical system is complex, and a professional home inspector will always inspect the service connection &nbsp;before moving indoors to examine the main panel and other components of the system. &nbsp;Every overhead electrical service is required to have a drip loop in hot, neutral and ground wire.&nbsp; This prevents water from following wire down into mast head and eventually into your main panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many times I have come across homes which have a 100 amp panel and service on the Real Estate listing but upon investigation I have had to inform the home buyer that they only have a 60 amp or less service.&nbsp; Some sellers will install a 100 amp rated panel but it will either only have a 60 amp breaker or it is connected to a fused switch box which is 60 amps or less.&nbsp; This is an important item for a purchaser as most insurance companies will not insure a cottage, never mind a residential home with less than a 100 amp service.&nbsp; Older homes may not even have 100 amp service from the local hydro service.&nbsp; The home owner would be responsible for upgrading wires to mast and service connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.napoleon.cc\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/knob-tube-wiring.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.napoleon.cc\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/knob-tube-wiring.jpg\" alt=\"Live Knob and Tube Wiring\" class=\"wp-image-1289 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Older homes will often have knob and tube wiring as part of the homes electrical system.&nbsp; Once again insurance companies will often refuse to ensure a home with older knob and tube wiring installed.&nbsp; Unfortunately many home owners or electricians will only replace the easy to access knob and tube wiring and hope that what is remaining is not discovered.&nbsp; Recently I inspected a home in Georgiana Township which had the attic access from a dormer on the roof.&nbsp; The ceiling joists were older and under sized compared to today\u2019s standards but there was a barely visible knob and tube circuit on the other side of the attic.&nbsp; I slowly ventured across the ceiling joists which moved when my weight was applied and got close enough to test the knob and tube with my electrical tester\u2026and wow, what a surprise, there were two live knob and tube circuits and they had newer romex electrical cable being fed from them.&nbsp; So here we have a building where the electrical panel and lower wiring had all been updated but up in the attic out of sight someone made the decision to take a short cut!!&nbsp; Unless you look you just never know what you will find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basements are the scene of many \u201cdo it yourself\u201d renovations.&nbsp; In Ontario any electrical changes or improvements requires a permit and inspection by the Electrical Safety Authority or the work must be performed by a Master Electrician who carries the proper insurance.&nbsp; When you go into a basement and find your typical cluster of electrical mistakes you can immediately assume that the work was not done by an electrical tradesperson or was there a building permit issued for the renovation.&nbsp; Some of the typical errors found are:&nbsp; reversed polarity on outlets; missing electrical covers;&nbsp; un-secured electrical cables at boxes and running across walls and ceilings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most expensive electrical repairs could be when a home owner builds a basement using steel studs and fails to use the proper grommets for insulation purposes.&nbsp; When you find a section of steel stud wall where the romex cable was just pulled through the holes I think it would be safe to assume the whole basement had been wired the same way.&nbsp; The fix for this would entail removing all the drywall to install wiring properly and in accordance with the Electrical Code in force for your area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aluminum wiring is another situation where insurance companies maybe reluctant to insure a property which has aluminum wiring installed.&nbsp; There are a lot of homes and cottages where there may have been originally aluminum in main floor installed but a later renovation was all done in copper,&nbsp; your insurance company may require the aluminum to be upgraded to copper prior to insuring property.&nbsp; Some home owners will have all the accessible aluminum wiring replaced but my attempt to hide the remaining aluminum.&nbsp; This is often done by using junction boxes or even as simple a subterfuge as inserting cable fully into fuse or breaker to make identification difficult.&nbsp; Fortunately aluminum wiring also has aluminum ground and neutral so a quick look at the neutral bar and ground connections will quickly identify any aluminum circuits.&nbsp; This is one of the reasons that the <a href=\"http:\/\/napoleon.cc\/\">Barrie Home Inspector<\/a> removes the cover from the main electrical panel and checks some of the visible junction boxes.&nbsp; This is just too expensive a problem to take a chance on information supplied by the seller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a home buyer you can protect yourself when purchasing a home with some minor wiring deficiencies by requesting a inspection certificate from the Electrical Safety Authority in Ontario and the Authority Having Jurisdiction in your area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Electrical System: Not Always That Simple The Electrical System: Not Always That Simple A&nbsp;home&#8217;s electrical system is complex, and a professional home inspector will always inspect the service connection &nbsp;before moving indoors to examine the main panel and other components of the system. &nbsp;Every overhead electrical service is required to have a drip loop [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wpmdr_menu":2,"wpmdr_menu_extended":{"individualPostRemove":1,"individualPostRemoveDate":1,"individualPostRemoveAuthor":1,"individualPostYoastRemovePublished":1,"individualPostYoastRemoveModified":1},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-electrical","category-home-inspection"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Electrical System: Not Always That Simple<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Electrical System: Not Always That Simple. 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