Panel Upgrade Experts
Traditionally, homes built between the 1960’s and early 1970’s were wired with aluminum wiring. Then, around the mid-1970’s, aluminum wiring was labelled a fire hazard and was replaced with copper wiring. Today, only copper wiring is used in building construction.
It is estimated that there are over 450,000 homes in Canada that are wired entirely with aluminum wiring. Studies confirm that these homes are 55 times more likely to have a fire hazard condition present than homes wired with copper. Most of these homes were built in the 1960’s to late 1970’s. Problems began to surface where aluminum was used in branch circuit wiring. Over time aluminum tends to oxidize when exposed to air, resulting in overheating, and eventually failure at the termination points.
We will upgrade the electrical panel as we normally install more circuit than we remove.
Aluminum wiring remediation usually involves a ‘pig tail’. We use an AlumiConn to pig tail a copper link from the aluminum wire to the switch, plug or light.