Rewiring Knob & Tube, Aluminum to Copper Wire
During the first half of the XX-th century, the Knob and Tube wiring system was King in today's Toronto, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Oakville, Brampton and the GTA. Knob and Tube is a whole house network of single wire conductors supported on a large number of small ceramic tiles (tubes) and many small cylindrical insulators (knobs). Generally, an electrical conductor is insulated with a cotton insulation and there are additional semi rigid cotton tubes pulled over some parts of the conductor. Cotton insulation on the Knob and Tube installations has never been great and after many decades of exposure to significant environmental deterioration, sometimes it is simply non existent. A bonding conductor (grounding in popular terms) never existed in the Knob and Tube system and Knob and Tube is inherently unsafe.
In the 1960-ties and 1970-ties copper became expensive and builders switched to cheaper Aluminum wire. The installations using the Aluminum wire usually contain the bonding conductor (grounding). Unfortunately most of today's electrical devices (switches, receptacles, etc) are not compatible with aluminum. Thermal induced creep between aluminum and steel or brass leads to higher temperatures and dangerously loose wire connections.
Over many decades of use the loads applied to the household electrical system grew over and over again, topping the system capacity. This would be the perfect setup for starting an electrical fire hidden somewhere in the wall or in the ceiling. Your family's safety requires an update of your house's electrical system to today's standards. Your home insurance company will force you to recognize it sooner or later. Home insurance companies have a really good reason to make sure houses have no active Knob and Tube, or Aluminum wiring. They pay out millions of dollars to the owners of burned down houses. After an extensive inspection of your house The Green Electrician will issue The General Inspection Certificate stating how much of your house electrical installation is Knob and Tube or Aluminum, if any. Such Certificate is respected by most home insurance companies, but check the opinion of your home insurance company about the Certificate issued by electrical company first. Please note, that not every outdated, old looking electrical installation is technically Knob and Tube or Aluminum. Some of the installations dated from 1940-ties and later could be grounded copper and good enough to today's home insurance standards.
The Green Electrician removed Knob and Tube or Aluminum wiring from dozens of houses in Toronto, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Oakville, Brampton and the GTA, and has extensive experience. There are tens of thousands of homes in Toronto, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Oakville, Brampton and the GTA waiting for the Knob and Tube or Aluminum wiring to be removed and many electrical companies already removing Knob and Tube or Aluminum wiring. The Green Electrician may not be the cheapest around, but is experienced and reliable. We will move in for a couple of weeks or more, depending on the project size, and during that period of time some parts of the house could become messy. In the process of pulling the new copper wiring we are going to cut several small holes in the house walls and ceilings. The Green Electrician will close those access cutouts, but generally a visit from your favorite plasterer and painter will be required afterwards.