Updating the electrical system in your Media, PA home is essential for supporting the modern devices and appliances you rely on. It’s also key for ensuring the safety of building residents and keeping your property protected. If you own an older home that still has knob and tube wiring, you should have replaced it immediately. Read on the difference between knob and tube wiring vs modern wiring and why it’s so problematic.
The History of Knob and Tube Wiring
At one time, knob and tube wiring was the standard for residential electrical systems. Introduced in the late 1880s and phased out in the 1940s, this wiring style was considered the safest and most cost-effective way to route power throughout homes. It gets its name from its primary features: ceramic knobs for supporting wires and rubber tubes for shielding them. In comparison, modern electric wiring is sheathed in insulating plastic and mounted with insulated metal fasteners and staples.
When newly installed, knob and tube wiring isn’t inherently dangerous. In fact, it even has an important advantage over modern wiring in that it uses a copper cabling that’s both larger in diameter and wider-gauged than the electrical cables currently used. The real issue with knob and tube wiring is that it’s incredibly dated. These wiring systems aren’t powerful or flexible enough to adapt to modern needs, and they’ve likely sustained considerable wear throughout the years.
The Benefits of Knob and Tube Wires
Many homeowners and electricians see knob and tube wires as hearkening back to a time when things were built to last. After all, the ceramic components on these wires have nearly unlimited lifespans. The copper wires in knob and tube systems have a higher maximum current than other wires of the same gauge. Knob and tube wires are also positioned away from structural framing which makes them unlikely to get punctured by staples, screws, or nails during building renovations or repairs. Unfortunately, although these and other attributes are worth revisiting in modern electrical system designs, they’re overshadowed by the inherent inadequacies of knob and tube wiring and by the extraordinary, age-related wear it’s often sustained.
Is Knob and Tube Wiring Code-Compliant?
By all standards, knob and tube wiring is both outdated and obsolete. If you live in an older property that has it, this means that your home’s electrical wiring hasn’t been changed in approximately 80 years. This far exceeds the average life expectancy of residential electrical wire which is just 20 to 25 years. It’s even far longer than the service lives of the latest and most innovative wiring solutions which tops out at 70 years.
Knob and tube wiring isn’t code-compliant. It’s also deemed by nearly all authorities as unsafe. It lacks important additions for supporting three-pronged devices and for meeting the increasingly high power demands of modern households. Moreover, not only are there concerns about the wear that knob and tube wiring has sustained, but there’s also a very high potential of having had problems introduced during repairs or modifications.
Most locations don’t have building codes that require the total removal of knob and tube wiring from all building areas. However, even if you aren’t subject to this requirement at the federal, state, or local level, you may find that having knob and tube wiring in your home disqualifies you from certain forms of insurance or increases your premiums. Given that know and tube wiring isn’t allowed in any new construction and hasn’t been so for quite some time, insurance companies recognize this wiring as both a code violation and a sign of excess risk.
Risk Factors for Modification-Related Problems
One of the major challenges of having knob and tube wiring is finding an electrician that can repair it. Installing knob and tube wiring is a far more complex endeavor than installing modern wiring. Even in its time, knob and tube wiring was only handled by electricians with special skills, training, and work experience.
The greater complexity of knob and tube wiring has made it increasingly difficult throughout the years for homeowners to get the wiring upgrades or modifications they need without replacing their electrical systems entirely. As time passes and new electricians are largely trained to work with modern cabling and other recent alternatives, this difficulty will only deepen.
Aging knob and tube wiring that’s been fixed by professionals with limited hands-on experience often becomes unsafe. Labor-related errors and issues with the specifications of replacement parts sometimes leave homeowners with an elevated risk of electrocution and electrical fires.
Knob and Tube Wiring Isn’t Grounded
Another major difference between knob and tube wiring and modern wiring is the fact that knob and tube wiring isn’t grounded. This is why many older homes lack three-pronged outlets. Without grounding wires, these systems can never support most modern, major appliances. While you might like the look, longevity, and undeniably effective design of your home’s aging wires, they won’t do much to add to your property’s value and marketability. This is especially true when buyers recognize knob and tube wiring as an outdated safety hazard.
The Ongoing Degradation of Wiring Insulation: Knob and Tube Wiring vs Modern Wiring
While the porcelain components in knob and tube wiring capably withstand the ravages of time, the rubberized cloth that insulates these wires does not. Damages to this wiring insulation are often attributed to improper use or overuse, but it’s all but impossible to avoid causing them when you’re running a modern home on an outdated electrical system.
Over time, overheating, fluctuations in humidity, and other environment-related issues can cause this rubberized cloth to dry out, crack, and flake off. This leaves wires exposed and often in visible and accessible locations like garage, attic, or basement ceilings. Time can also leave many knob and tube wires frayed, sagging, and bare.
Among the most common causes of failed wiring insulation and residential electrical fires is pest-related damage. As with all wiring types, rats and mice enjoy chewing on the insulation that surrounds knob and tube wires. It helps them sharpen their teeth. In older properties, rodent problems are sometimes a recurring issue due to multiple, potential points of ingress. The longer that you’ve had your wires, the more likely they are to have sustained damage from these and many other pests.
Why Replacing Old Knob and Tube Wiring Should Be a Top Priority:
House fires are always dangerous events. However, electrical house fires are among the most dangerous of them. When these fires break out in walls, they’re surrounded by flammable insulation and other dry building materials. In the right environments, even a small electrical fire can spread from one end of a home to the other in under 30 seconds.
Swapping your knob and tube wiring out for modern wires will greatly reduce your risk of electrical fires. It will also streamline your electrical system to perfectly support all of your modern gadgets, appliances, and devices.
We’re proud to be a trusted electrical service provider in Media, PA. We offer electrical system installation, inspection, and repair services. We also provide top-rated heating, cooling, and plumbing services. To find out more about knob and tube wiring or to have your outdated wires replaced, get in touch with Dream Team Home Services today.
