Everything you need to know about rewiring your home
One of the most common causes of residential fire in New Zealand is faulty electrical wiring. While our houses get older, so too do our electrical systems – which in many cases were not designed to handle the ever-increasing electrical demands of the modern day home. With up to 80% of electrical fires in New Zealand being described as avoidable, the thought that this could happen in your home is certainly a scary one. However, there are a number of tell-tale signs that can be indivitive of your home needing a rewire.
In the first half of the 1900’s, New Zealand homes were typically wired with rubber cables insulated in cloth and ran inside a metal conduit. As time goes by, the insulation around the cable wears away and can contact the metal conduit it is inside and pose a safety or fire hazard. The wiring into the 1960’s was hit and miss, with some hazardous cables being produced at the time – some may leech a green substance and are very brittle.
Old rubber cable
How do I know if I need a rewire?
It is recommended you get an inspection of any pre 1970’s wiring to ensure your home is safe, and also for insurance purposes. Indeed, the electrical system in your home may function perfectly fine – however the risk of an electrical fault or fire increases as time goes by. If your home has a tendency for unexplained electrical mishaps, it could be a sign that a rewire is long overdue; frequently blown fuses, tripped breakers and blown light bulbs are likely to mean that the current system is in need of updating. More worrying signs include [but are not limited to] burning smells, sparks when plugging or unplugging devices and loose outlets. Regardless of the severity of the warning, it is likely that each of these electrical malfunctions can be put down to the same problem and same solution.
How long will it take?
As one would expect, the length of time to rewire a house does vary greately depending on the size of the house and the complexity of the job. While some rewires can be achieved in a couple of days, others will take a bit longer. A 100sqm home usually takes about 5 days to rewire, and this includes a switchboard replacement. It is recommended when getting a rewire, that you replace your fuse board as we will install the latest ground-fault protection devices (RCD’s) for your piece of mind. In addition, we do offer surge protection devices for your whole home as part of this process – just ask one of our technicians to give you a cost for this.
We take every step possible to minimise disruption during the process, and you will not be left without power when we leave for the day – we bite off the work in small chunks that we can handle so that your home is still functional.
Just drop us a line on our website, facebook or give our friendly team a call on 048 904 862 and we can get one of our electricians to carry out a safety audit of your home.
You can look at our FAQ’s for more information.
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