It’s essential that the rewiring of a house is done safely, and you should employ an electrician registered with a competent scheme to carry out the work and install the electrical accessories.
Houses these days have so many more appliances that put demands on the electrical system; computers, kitchen accessories, televisions and home cinema systems to name a few, meaning that if the wiring in your house is very old and inadequate, you have an accident just waiting to happen.
Rewiring a house will include installing new circuit breakers and all new cabling, as well as completely new electrical accessories throughout the house.
Modern houses place a much higher demand on the electrical system than in years past, so if you have antiquated wiring it is an accident waiting to happen.
Safety should be your utmost priority where your house’s electrics are concerned, but even if you are tempted to neglect the problem, think about this: when it comes to selling your house, an inspection will quickly alert all parties to the problem, and no mortgage lender will agree to lend on a house that may burn down at some point in the future!
Whether or not your house needs rewiring isn’t a decision you should make by yourself. You should always ask a qualified electrician for their opinion if you have any suspicions, but some clues to look out for include black or coloured cables running into the consumer unit. Black rubber-coated wires may be as old as 40 years, and this is a sign that the wiring needs looking at. Electrical cables now are grey or white and have PVC insulation as opposed to the old-style rubber version, which perishes with age.
Once old rubber coating perishes to a certain stage, the conductors inside will meet, resulting in a blown fuse. If replaces the fuse will immediately blow again due to the electrical surge, and this can only be remedied by replacing the wiring.
Other signs which indicate you may need to rewire are an inadequate consumer unit, round pin plugs, and metal conductors running into the lights or sockets.
While preparing for rewiring, it’s a good idea to consider any alterations the house needs, such as extra sockets. Electrical accessories are often cheaper the more you buy, so work out whether, either now or in the future, you’ll need to make adaptations.
Start by making sketches of each room, and mark on where all of the sockets and lights are. This plan will help you or your electrician to see whether you can extend the room’s wiring system and add another socket, or whether you should install a new circuit.
Plan for the future of children’s bedrooms. They may not need that many sockets now, but just think of all the gadgets they’ll have when they are teenagers, and the sockets required for these.
Other ideas to consider include whether older household members might benefit from extra lighting for navigating around the house at night, or even phone sockets by their beds.
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