It’s hard to believe that mere 125 years ago, many houses lacked even a modest amount of electricity. These days, we feel cheated when we lose power for a few hours. When you get right down to it, electricity has been a major factor in changing how we live. Like everything else, it does have its downside. If installed improperly or extended beyond its capabilities, the results can be annoying at best, tragic at worst. So this section is designed to provide you with a basic understanding as to some of the components in the electrical distribution system, as well as many of the problems that we home inspectors run into regularly. Believe it or not, most of the improper workmanship that we find is not in the “big ticket” realm for correction. Nonetheless, ignoring these issues is never wise, as problems usually occur over time. In a nutshell, here are the goods on your electric system:
The service drop is the cable that exits the electric pole transformer and attaches to the house. Many of the drops we see on recently built houses are run underground, eliminating the need for the unsightly wire hanging in the air. Regarding above-ground service drops, you should never attempt to trim branches away from this cable. Leave that to the electric company, as the results of coming in contact with this cable can be deadly.
This is the cable that you see running down the side of the house if your house has above-ground service. Newer cables have a plastic sheathing on them, while the older ones are covered with a cloth jacket. These run through the meter pan, which is located outside on modern installations and may be found inside the basement or garage on older installations.
NOTE: Many of the older service cables are deteriorating, exposing the interior wire to the weather elements, not to mention, the neighborhood kids. Often this has occurred because some well meaning individual decided to paint the cable in the past. As the paint dries over the years, it peels away, taking some of the protective wrap with it. At that point, it’s due to be replaced. This cracking can often allow water entry into the main service panel, rusting out components and causing other dangerous conditions.
These are fairly typical for newer houses, built from around the mid-1980's. One of the most common issues we find with these is related to the mounting board. These are commonly plywood, which is prone to delamination and rot if not kept fully sealed. These boards are often in need of sealing around the edges to prevent water penetration. Also, if the cable was not provided with an expansion loop before it was backfilled, this may result in the box being pulled partially away from the wall as settlement occurs over the years. In these situations, an electrician needs to be brought in to remount the meter pan. At that time, the internal framing materials should be checked, as they may have suffered from moisture/insect damage.
This cable should have a “drip loop” where it enters the house. This is simply an area of “slack” in the cable that allows water to drip off the bottom, as opposed to run down the wire into the house (and maybe the electrical service panel). We do see a fair number of cables that are lacking this loop. It is critical that the entry point be sealed with duct-seal, and checked regularly to insure that water is not able to penetrate.
This cable should be strapped to the house with service cable straps every 30-36 inches. Homemade straps made from pieces of siding are not allowed.
This is the main control panel for the electricity running through the house. The service entry cable enters into this box, and is connected in such a way as to provide a means for
Modern houses are provided with 100 AMP, 150 AMP, or 200 AMP service. There are still a number of 60 AMP services remaining, although over the years, most of these have been updated. In most cases, if a fuse panel is still present, it would be wise to consider upgrading to a circuit breaker panel. A minimum of 100 AMPS is recommended.
The individual circuits within the panel have over-current protection by either circuit breakers or fuses. If these devices detect an electrical imbalance, they are designed to “trip”, cutting power to that circuit.
This is the wiring that runs from the main service panel through the house to the devices that are being powered, such as appliances, receptacles, lighting fixtures or switches. Modern wiring includes a separate ground wire, while the older wiring was designed without this added protection. NOTE: In cases where the ground wire is lacking throughout the house, upgrading the wiring in certain areas is advisable. These areas are:
When wires are attached together somewhere throughout the wiring run, they should be connected within a junction box. Often we see these uncovered during home inspections. Seeing as the covers are generally less than a dollar, this correction does not rise to the level of “walking away from the house”, although they should be installed to keep probing fingers in check.
As mentioned above, there should be a junction box where wires connect. On occasion, we find simply a splice hanging near the ceiling. This too, is typically an easy fix for an electrician, but should be taken care of ASAP. Disconnected Wiring – Wiring that is not in use is not really a problem, providing it is no longer connected at the service panel. We generally recommend having it removed.
Casual use of extension cords is found in many houses. Generally speaking, these cords usually go with the seller when they move. Our advice regarding these cords is this: if you’re utilizing an extension cord for permanent use, you need a receptacle installed, as these cords are not manufactured for full time use. The other, more serious, problem we find all too often is undersized lamp cord-type extensions powering equipment that draws well beyond the wiring capabilities. This overheats the wire and creates a fire hazard. Also this wiring is found under rugs, coiled and wrapped with tape and run alongside electric baseboard heaters. These issues are also potential fire hazards which should be eliminated. As a general rule, extension cords are manufactured for weed whackers, not freezers.
Houses built from the 1960’s and earlier may have ungrounded 2-Prone receptacles. While these are outdated, they are still not a major concern in living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, with the exception of where appliances, computers, TVs and such are being operated. If renovations are planned for these rooms, updating to grounded circuits would be a good idea. Houses built from the 1960’s through present should have all 3-Prone grounded receptacles. All receptacles located in "wet locations" should be GFCII protected. Wet locations are kitchen countertops, bathrooms, bar sinks, garages, exterior receptacles (which also should include weatherproof covers), and unfinished basements.
These are often found in older houses and were installed by well-meaning folks who felt it was more convenient for equipment with grounding lugs on their plugs. Unfortunately, this gives the false illusion of being grounded, which in turn can result in damage to equipment and possible injury to occupants if equipment utilizing these outlets is in need of a ground. Replacing these with GFCI receptacles is a common repair for this condition.
This is a situation where the hot wire and the neutral wire are attached to the wrong side of the outlet. This is a potential shock hazard, especially when appliances are in use, as the cover of the appliance may become energized. Luckily, this is an inexpensive correction by an electrician.
These are generally toggle-type devices. The older style “snapped” when operated. Some of the older ones had separate on and off buttons that were pushed in to operate. Modern switches are quiet. We feel it is a good investment to have the older switches replaced.
There are several different styles of dimmer switches. These are designed to allow you to tone down the amount of light coming from a fixture, similar to the ability to turn down the brightness of your dashboard lighting.
GFCI – (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) receptacles, as noted above, came about in the 1970’s and have since, been brought into several areas inside and outside houses. These devices have a built-in circuit breaker, and work by sensing slight over-currents in the circuit, and cutting power in 1/40 of a second. As these are cheap safety insurance, we feel them to be a well-worthwhile upgrade to houses where they are lacking. We recommend that they be installed:
GFCI’s should be tested monthly to insure that the mechanical operation remains serviceable.
AFCI – (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters). These operate similar to the GFCI’s, although they are designed to sense an arc in the circuit, as opposed to a ground fault. There are several malfunctions within a circuit that can cause an arc. The main point to remember is arc’s can cause fires. These are currently required in all bedrooms on new houses, but, we venture to guess, will probably be required throughout whole house at some point in the future.