Does anyone here have aluminum wiring in there house? Has anyone here gotten it replaced? If so how much did it cost? Do you have any recommendations? Advice?

7/8/2011 5:48:11 PM

Is there a particular reason you want it replaced?

7/8/2011 6:27:59 PM

needs to be in the long run

7/9/2011 5:21:53 PM

why?

7/14/2011 11:34:04 AM

I have alum wiring in my house...I've talked to several electricians and they all said there's no reason to replace it...now the breaker box with the fuses that are no longer manufactured is a different story.

7/14/2011 11:37:06 AM

I'd much rather have aluminum wiring than copper in my house, as long as it was installed correctly. There are a lot of electricians who don't know what they're doing with aluminum though.

7/14/2011 8:24:17 PM

^why?

7/14/2011 11:30:26 PM

aluminum saves money on larger service feeders but I am hard pressed to see much benefit in common residential applications. especially with derating and load ampacities that you have to account for.

7/15/2011 7:59:47 AM

There's a reason no one does Al wiring in homes anymore...

More brittle than copper. Shrinks/expands much more than copper -> possibility for connections to loosen over time -> fire/electrical hazard. Prone to corrosion -> more resistance -> lots of heat buildup at outlets, switches, etc. -> possibility for fire. And you're not supposed to splice Al to Cu with caps, you need a special connector, which you can be pretty sure previous homeowners didn't use. Otherwise, you have to get special outlets, switches, etc. rated for Al. You can also bet that previous homeowners didn't do that either. Then there's the insurance angle, some insurers won't insure it or up the premiums. This can hurt the resale value of your house or scare people off.

In general, something that's "safe when installed 100% correctly" is something you don't want in your house since you can pretty much guarantee it wasn't installed 100% correctly to begin with.

7/15/2011 1:33:25 PM

http://angieslist.com/

7/15/2011 6:51:49 PM

I know someone

7/15/2011 9:44:33 PM

Aluminum has little to no salvage value, so you don't have to worry about some crackhead gutting the wiring out of your house for scrap value. With copper quickly approaching $5/lb, I think we'll see this happening more frequently.

most of what xienxe posted is incorrect or typical contractor logic. AL-CU rated tinned copper outlets, switches, and connectors are commonly available for installing aluminum wiring to an outlet. the issues of being brittle and expanding more are relative non-issues that would only be of concern if an idiot was doing the installation. Aluminum is not prone to corrosion if the connections are made correctly, and the connections are the only place corrosion should be any concern.

7/18/2011 6:03:24 PM

^ You're right, corrosion only happens at the connections. And there's only like a couple hundred of them in a typical house, I'm sure they were all done 100% correctly and previous owners never touched them in the previous 30+ years... right?

I would ask the OP to take a look at the outlets in the house. I would wager you'll find at least a couple spots where corrosion has occurred and/or Al is spliced to Cu with a plain wire cap. He needs to fix those ASAP.

Obviously there are many houses with Al wiring that are doing fine. But it is more trouble than Cu, and there is much greater potential for problems because it's just not as idiot-proof as Cu is.

[Edited on July 19, 2011 at 6:48 AM. Reason : ...]

7/19/2011 6:45:59 AM

Quote :

"Aluminum has little to no salvage value, so you don't have to worry about some crackhead gutting the wiring out of your house for scrap value."

How often does this happen in houses that aren't abandoned?? Sounds like a GREAT reason not to get copper wiring....

7/19/2011 9:26:36 AM

^hahaha Now i'm picturing Tyrone Biggums punching holes in drywall and using his super-crackhead strength to pull yards and yards of Romex out of a finished wall.

7/19/2011 9:43:49 AM

i think that poster was being a bit of a scaremonger. Are there copper thieves? yes, but they are found more on commercial job sites and, like you said, abandoned properties.

I would be worried much more about my personal possessions if someone broke into my house and not them tearing out my drywall for 1000 feet of romex. And if they're ballsy enough to go after your live service feeders they'll hopefully end up like the guys in my photo gallery who went after one of ours a few years back.

7/19/2011 9:45:06 AM

^holy shitballs! I wish I could un-see those pics in your gallery. yikes.

7/19/2011 11:21:45 AM

those pictures are from a utility in Texas where three mexicans tried to steal the 25kV substation feeder exits while energized. You would have no problem ripping out the service wire inside a house with the wire energized - all you'd have to do is cut the wire, short it to trip the breaker, and rip it out. Or, you could be smart and just go throw the main disconnect to the utility outside the house or trip the main panel breaker.

Copper theft is going to become a major problem for residential properties in the next few years. Utilities didn't start seeing the rampant copper theft problems until about 10 years ago, and they are taking measures to prevent it by using aluminum and copperweld materials. This is going to force copper thieves towards easier targets, like houses / apartments.

7/19/2011 12:32:54 PM

Quote :

"Copper theft is going to become a major problem for residential properties in the next few years."

You really can't be serious. Especially if you're using in an argument in trying to decided whether to use copper vs. aluminum wiring.

If you think "copper thieves" are going to start stealing copper wire out of occupied residential homes when there is a ridiculous amount of new (and old) construction homes that they have their pick from, then I think you are a little delusional/paranoid.

7/19/2011 3:17:22 PM

he's probably got a doomsday clock and a fallout shelter to go along with his aluminum wiring

7/19/2011 3:28:57 PM

Im glad i wasnt the only one thinking this. If they were going to break into a house, wouldnt it be easier to take jewelry, electronics, anything but spending the time to rip the wiring out.

and they have this stuff called insurance that would take care of that for you.

7/19/2011 3:59:01 PM

Haha, reading the last part of this thread gave me a visual of some thief hooking a chain to your electric meter and trying to rip out as much wire as possible with his truck

7/19/2011 9:13:14 PM

Listen, copper thieves... come to my future home which will have not only copper wiring but also copper domestic water services. Because copper is that much better and homeowners insurance covers the theft of it.

The fact that anyone is acting like aluminum is better is sad and shows their ignorance.

7/20/2011 11:49:37 AM

aluminum is better.

signed, Utilities nationwide.

7/20/2011 7:35:33 PM

Aluminum is only better because it is cheaper. Despite that, copper is still more commonly used now.

7/21/2011 8:34:47 AM

^^then you should let your feelings be known to all of the engineering firms that are scared of aluminum and write it out of their specs.

7/21/2011 8:49:41 AM