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While you might love the idea of renovating an older home to bring it back to its former glory, what are some common electrical hazards to watch out for?
In an age where property prices have soared to never before seen heights, it’s no surprise that a growing number of people are purchasing budget friendly older dwellings as a cheaper entry point into the market.
Although undertaking a renovation can be an incredibly effective tool for nailing a healthy profit margin when the time comes to sell it, the downside to taking on a property with an old world charm is that they are often missing many modern safety measures – particularly when it comes to electricity.
Unfortunately, older buildings from a bygone era can present more than their fair share of electrical hazards, particularly for those tackling DIY renovations without the experience to know what signs to look for – so what are a handful of the more common ones?
Regardless of whether you’re dealing with an old Queenslander or an aging business complex, a wide range of electrical hazards are present in dwellings that were constructed decades ago. To bring these structures up to current safety guidelines, homeowners will often require the help of a licensed professional to get the property up to scratch.
Although the kind of electrical problems that are common in older buildings can fluctuate marginally depending on what the original purpose of the structure was, some of the most common age related electrical hazards often include the following.
Faulty Wiring And Cables – If your building is older than you are, there’s a high chance that the original wiring and cabling will start to degrade purely from their age. If the insulation around the wires is starting to deteriorate, a licensed electrician will need to replace the wires before they potentially hurt someone or cause an electrical fire.
Vintage Light Fixtures – Fluorescent light fittings manufactured before 1980 may contain a dangerous chemical called Polychlorinated Biphenyls or PCBs. In addition to using up extra power when compared to modern fixtures, old lightings can also have loose or damaged wires that may cause the connection to flicker.
Insufficient Electrical Loads – Thanks to new age appliances like televisions and computers, older properties simply aren’t equipped to handle our ferocious electricity consumption. Overburdened electrical circuits can cause serious problems, so any older building ought to be inspected by an electrician to see if the existing circuits need an upgrade or not.
No Safety Switch – Not many homeowners are aware that the safety switch fitted to a residential property to protect people from electric shock actually relies on the presence of an earth electrode connection to operate effectively. Unfortunately, both were only introduced after 1980, so an older property may not have either present.
Knob and Tube Wiring – Particularly prevalent in heritage homes and old buildings, knob and tube wiring is an old fashioned system that uses copper conductors, which run inside walls and ceilings, supported along their length with knob insulators. As this wiring is only single-insulated, it can become easily compromised or hazardous with age and fraying and should be replaced.
If you’re on the hunt for a decent sparky to help illuminate your property or to simply provide some honest advice, finding a reputable and local electrician to bring your vision to life or fix an electrical issue can feel a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. Thankfully, the team at Shield Electrical offer a solution.
Here at Shield Electrical, we are a Brisbane based electrical contracting company, and pride ourselves on being shockingly good at watt we do. For us, friendly and reliable customer service isn’t just a nice add on – it’s how we do business. Don’t take our word for it though, just ask our clients.
Established in 2015, Shield Electrical is lighting the way when it comes to providing electrical work with world class customer service. With our headquarters based in the central suburban pocket of Coorparoo, our team of qualified industry professionals are readily available to deliver quality workmanship, fast quotes, and affordable pricing.
Whether you’re on the hunt for an electrician for domestic services, residential, commercial and industrial construction, security systems or even just further energy saving tips, get in touch with us at Shield today to source practical solutions that don’t break the bank.
