Let All Seasons Electric help protect your biggest investment weather it is a home or office.
Some of the common problems associated with older wiring is that the temperatures that the circuit conductors were originally designed to withstand do not coincide with the high temperatures induced by today’s modern equipment. This can lead to a deterioration of the conductor’s thermal barrier which make the conductors brittle and can actually expose the conductor’s current carrying parts leading to shock hazards or the potential for electrical fires. Furthermore, the original circuit layout employed in earlier construction can lead to circuit overloading which again can cause thermal deterioration of the circuit conductors.
To help mitigate the possibility of fire in older wiring we can employ a variety of safety factors to ensure the security of you and your assists. We employ the following techniques to insure your safety:
- AFCI protection: AFCI or arc fault circuit protection ensures that if there is an arc in a circuit these protective devices will eliminate the electrical flow which can feed a fire. These devices have been mandated in new construction since the implementation of the 2005 NEC but can also be used in older homes to insure a higher degree of safety in one of the most common causes of electrical fires (an arc). Furthermore, advancements in technology have refined these products to activate at lower current settings and are designed to actuate on both parallel and series arc faults. They will even provide protection against arcs in faulty appliance wiring. These devices are great when used in AL wiring applications where the leading cause of fires is produced by loose connections where arcs develop.
- The installation of an interconnected smoke detection system: Often older homes do not have an interconnected smoke detection system and only employ the battery operated devices or no devices at all. Unlike interconnected systems, the battery operated systems only annunciate at the detector nearest the fire which may not give occupants the time needed to evacuate. The new smoke detection systems not only annunciate at all locations when a single head senses a fire but are designed to insure that each bed room has its own head and that each level of the structure has a smoke detector. In addition, these new systems can incorporate carbon monoxide detectors adding safety and security to the inhabitants.
- GFCI protection: GFCI or ground fault circuit interrupt protection has been around since the mid 1970’s although there are still homes that do not have adequate GFCI protection installed. GFCI protection is designed to mitigate electrical shocks caused by ground faults in locations next to water or where water may be present such as in a kitchen, garage, exterior outlet, or unfinished area. These devices a fairly inexpensive and can be employed in older 2 wire systems which will allow the installation of 3 wire devices with out the necessity of re-wiring the house or business. Furthermore, these devices now incorporate a degree of surge protection for the device which helps eliminate nuisance tripping. They now also ensure that the devices can not be installed incorrectly and actually self test ensuring circuit protection
- Adding dedicated circuits: By adding dedicated circuits to high demand loads such as computer equipment, big screen TV’s, kitchen appliances, and bath rooms we can help eliminate the possibility of overloading on existing circuits by transferring that load to new circuits better designed to handle the higher ampacity loads. This can dramatically diminish the future possibility of fire caused by circuit overloading and subsequent overheating in older homes.
- AL to CU connections: All Seasons Electric can also provide pig tailing for aluminum to copper conductors. This eliminates the largest cause of aluminum electrical fires which is loose connections caused at the point of termination of aluminum conductors. Many insurance providers are now requiring pig tailing of AL to CU conductors before the building can be insured. This method is dramatically less expensive than whole house re-wiring.
- House re-wiring: Sometimes it is necessary to re-wire a house either from previous neglect of the electrical system, insurance requirements or remodeling. This method provides that greatest degree of protection.
- All Seasons Electric can also install tamper resistant outlets if you have children. These devices ensure that children can not come in contact with electrical components in the outlet. And, unlike tamper resistant device plates, these outlets do not impede the connection of the electrical devices. Tamper resistant plates can actually cause an arcing hazard due to the fact that the plates ad enough distance between the current carrying components in the outlet and the device plug.
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