This home upgrade can give you peace of mind.
Talk about a DIY disaster. This homeowner removed some paneling in their home and found a potential electrical hazard. Frustrated with the discovery of faulty wiring within their walls, they asked r/AskElectricians for advice.
"Thinking about a whole house rewire," they wrote. "Pretty sure this is a fire hazard. I removed [some] paneling to [find] this mess."
If your home was built over 40 years ago and hasn't been rewired, most electricians recommend getting it rewired. This is especially true for homes built between the 1950s and 1970s.
Signs your home may need rewiring include flickering lights, breakers tripping, and burning smells. As wires deteriorate, fray, or crumble, the risk of an electrical fire increases.
Rewiring your home isn't cheap, but the Inflation Reduction Act can help. Homeowners can save up to $2,500 on the bill thanks to the IRA. It also covers home upgrades such as skylights, heat pumps, and induction stovetops.
Rewiring your home also has benefits beyond reducing the risk of an electrical fire. Combined with other energy-saving changes such as swapping out incandescent bulbs for LEDs and unplugging your standby electronics, it can save you hundreds of dollars on your monthly electricity bill.
Electricians in the comments advised the homeowner to rewire.
"Can't put a price on peace of mind," one user said. "My house was the same way and I could barely sleep at night until I knew it was safe."
Another commenter suggested the homeowner "replace it all." "You'll sleep better," they added.
"Do it. You will not regret it. Had the same thing as you have here. … It's a pain in the a**. But it's so satisfying to be done," a third commented.
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