8 Signs Your House May Need Rewiring

Electrical systems are prone to wear and tear, which can result in the degradation of wiring. As the wiring degrades, the risk of residential fires skyrockets. So, it’s important that you watch out for these 8 signs that are indicative of severely degraded wires and the urgent need for a home rewiring.

Discoloration of switches or outlets

If your switches or outlets appear charred or discolored, it’s likely to be a sign of faults in the wiring or a loose connection. Faulty wiring and/or lose connections can trigger sparks, which may result in small fires – and it’s these fires that are the cause of the discoloration. Apart from hiring the services of a residential electrician to repair the faults in the connections and wiring, you should also opt for switchboard upgrades to keep everything looking new.

Strange noises

Wires feature insulation but when electrical arcing occurs repeatedly, the insulation runs the risk of sudden ignition. Electrical arcing generates strange hissing and/or buzzing noises as well, and if you regularly hear such noises coming from a switch and/or an outlet, it’s a cause for concern.

Flickering lights

Circuit faults can often result in sudden surges and drastic drops in voltage levels. When these surges and drops keep happening, your house’s lights will start to flicker. Over time, your lights may be irreversibly damaged. To stop your lights from flickering, you may have to hire a licensed electrician to perform rewiring.

Fuses that blow frequently

If the majority of the fuses in your house are old-school (for example, porcelain fuses), they won’t be able to withstand modern-day appliances’ electrical loads. Eventually, the fuses will blow, and the more you overburden them with newer appliances, the frequency of blown fuses will only increase. In such a scenario, it would be a great idea to discard your old fuses and switch to modern fuses.

Faint burning smell

When electrical shorts happen, small fires are caused, which can generate faint burning smells. Sometimes, the source of the burning smells can be identified. But if they are coming from electrical shorts happening underneath the floors or behind the walls, you should immediately schedule electrical maintenance.

Frequently tripping circuit breakers

Circuit breakers are designed to trip when circuits can’t handle a power surge. A circuit breaker that trips from time to time isn’t indicative of something serious. However, if it trips multiple times within a short period, it might indicate a serious problem with your wiring.

Lights burning out in their sockets

We’ve already mentioned how voltage surges and drops can cause lights to dim or flicker. When the surges are too drastic for your lights to handle, they may simply burn out in their sockets. Excessively drastic electrical surges may occur when a wiring system has serious problems.

Shocks or tingling

If your wiring system is fine, you shouldn’t feel any tingling sensations or shocks when you use an outlet or a switch. But if it’s not, you may occasionally feel shocks when using outlets or switches. If you do, get in touch with reputed electrical services Dandenong immediately.