Signs that the house needs rewiring

 

An important part of maintaining a safe and habitable home is taking care of the electricity. To do this, you need to know when something is wrong with the electricity.

The wiring in your home has not been updated for decades

Electrical problems are at the root of nearly ten per cent of all residential fires. Many homes in the UK are at least 30 years old. As cables age, they can degrade or break, causing all kinds of problems.

Older cables also may not be able to cope with contemporary power demands. If your house is old, and you have never replaced your electrical system, it might be time to start thinking about it. You will be surprised at the difference modern wiring can make to the efficiency and safety of your home.

Sockets and switches appear discoloured

Discoloured sockets are usually due to loose connections or degraded wiring. Loose connections can allow electricity to escape into the open in the form of sparks. These sparks can create small fires that deform and crack sockets and switches. Of course, these sparks also pose a significant safety hazard.

Loose connections and degradation only get worse over time. The worse these problems get, the more sparks they produce. The bigger the sparks, the greater the risk of fires and shocks. Remember: 10% of residential fires start because of electrical problems. A discoloured switch could be the first sign that something is wrong.

There is a persistent burning smell without a source

If there are loose connections or faulty wiring near a socket, sparks burn the plastic of the socket. Sometimes, however, the loose connections or faulty wiring are in the walls, where you cannot see them.

Even if you cannot see the electrical burn, however, you can smell it. If you smell a persistent smell of burnt plastic in your house, you probably have wiring problems. A sparking wire is probably burning its plastic casing inside the wall. Sparking wires should always be removed as soon as possible. These sparks could easily ignite something other than the cable casing.

Lights often flicker

Before rewiring the entire house to repair flickering lights, ask yourself a couple of questions. Firstly, are all the bulbs screwed in tightly? If the bulbs are a bit loose, they may flicker from time to time.

When the wiring does not work properly, the electricity flowing through it does not always reach its destination. As a result, irregular connections and flickering light occur.

Circuit breaker often trips

A circuit breaker serves to interrupt electricity when a particular circuit exceeds the permitted number of amperes. When functioning properly, they prevent dangerous surges that cause electrical fires.

Call the Emergency Electrician in Southampton. After your call, we send in a short time, a professional technician to fix any electrical issue you might have.