in this video we're going to look at some of the signs that indicate that your house
may need rewiring whether it was installed in the 1960s the 1970s or the 1980s or even
if you live in a victorian house will help you figure out if you need to call in an electrician
now just to reassure you this video is not designed to convince you that
your house desperately needs rewiring and it's not designed to persuade you
out of having essential work carried out the goal is simply to explain some things
about the electrical installation in your house so you can make an informed decision
now you may have found yourself in a situation where maybe a moving house and a report from a
solicitor has informed you that your property needs rewiring or you may have arranged for an
electrician to come and do some work on your property maybe as little as adding a socket or
two installing an ev charger fitting solar panels or even to the extent of having an extension bill
and they're gravely announcing that they can't do the work unless the existing wiring is improved
now this may well strike you as being a bit odd because you've never noticed a problem with the
electrics in your house everything's working just fine however some electrical installations are so
old that they may be missing certain key safety elements that are now pretty much essential in
new installations so let's have a look at some of the clues that indicate that you may need a rewire
number one look at the fuse box if your fuse box looks like the ones that you can see in
these pictures then that is an indication that the wiring behind it is older and may be in need
of replacing in addition this type of fuse box is missing some critical forms of protection
that can make your installation safer a rewire combined with a new fuse box or consumer unit
will provide you with something called an rcd that helps to protect users from electric shock
and an spd which can protect your appliances from damaging surges in the electrical supply
number two sockets and switches another clue can be found by looking at your switches and sockets
now the one you can see in this picture is made of an old plastic called bakelite and again if they
look like this then it's possible the older wiring may be in place behind it and may need replacing
you'll notice however i'm saying maybe and could be and this is because there's
a number of companies who produce new switches to look like these old ones to kind of give a
vintage effect to a space or even for use in period properties however it can be another clue
to help you make a decision just a word of caution on this one though it's possible that someone may
have come in and changed all the socket and switch fronts in your house to kind of spruce a property
up before sale without actually replacing any old degraded wiring behind them however if your
socket outlets for example look a little bit older and yellowed or even damaged then again that's an
indication that there may be old unsuitable cable behind it speaking of which number three cables
nowadays we tend to install cables that look like this they're insulated with pvc with an
outer sheath also made of pvc now if you look around your property you may be able to see
some of the existing cables maybe running outside to a socket maybe around your fuse box or even in
the loft if you can access it older installations used to be wired up in cables that look like this
it's insulated in vulcanized india rubber or vir as it shortened to and over time this insulation
has a tendency to turn brittle and break away so if the cables in your house look like this
they'll probably need replacing or you may have cables that look like this you can see that the
surface has a kind of dull metallic sheen to it and that's because this kind of cable is coated
in a lead sheath to protect it from damage again this is an indication that the cable is old and
will likely need replacing number four earth connections if you've ever replaced or removed
a switch or a socket in your house you may have noticed that the cables have three conductors in
them you can see them here this one and this one make the electrical system work so when you plug
in say your kettle if either one of these isn't connected it simply won't turn on and you know
there's a problem with one of these conductors this middle conductor however is the safety
conductor it's the one that connects to the metal body work of an appliance providing a connection
to earth this conductor is actually often called the earth but if you really want to impress your
electrician call it the cpc you'll blow their mind now if this conductor is not properly connected
most appliances will continue to work perfectly and you'll have no idea that it isn't connected
to earth until something goes wrong inside the appliance and the metal body becomes live
if someone then touches it they could receive a dangerous possibly even lethal shock if you've
ever opened up a socket or a switch and not seen this green and yellow conductor then
it's possible you'll need the cables replacing with ones that include it number five correct
insulation while we've got this socket off you can see the insulation here is in good condition
but if it's cracked and brittle then that's a sign that the electrical installation is aging
and may be ready to get replaced number six cable colours now you may have noticed that compared to
the cable we looked at on the bench earlier these conductors are a different colour to the ones that
we looked at and that's because back in 2004 the colours that we used to identify the conductors
was changed in order to harmonize with european colours now while a house wouldn't need rewiring
just to update the colours it can give you an idea of how old the installation is if the colours of
the conducts in your property are black and red then it was installed before 2004 and may even
be decades old especially if the green and yellow conductor is just a solid green instead if however
the conductors are brown and blue then you know that the installation was carried out after 2004.
number seven rodent damage now this might not be the first thing that you think of
when looking at your property and considering if it needs rewiring however in older houses
it's not uncommon to find that rats or mice have been gnawing on the insulation around the cables
and have caused live parts to be exposed leading to a danger of shock or fire this type of damage
is likely to be most apparent in areas like the loft or the cellar if you've got one
and if it's extensive enough it may even need rewiring with a wiring system that's designed
to prevent vermin from damaging the cables again number eight convenience of the installation
finally you may just want to think about if the current installation is working for you do you
find yourself running extension leads all over the place because you don't have enough sockets
or perhaps they're in the wrong places again in times past it was kind of standard practice to put
one socket in each room and that was considered to be enough if the numbers of sockets are on the
low side in your installation then it's possible that that installation is a little bit older and
may need rewiring or you may just want to add some extra points so we hope this video has helped you
to understand a little bit more about some of the reasons you might want to consider a rewire
for further information on the electrical installation in your home please check out our
other videos that we've made and if you think you are in need of a rewire then get in touch
with your local electrician who will be able to advise you further for further information please
head to electrium.co.uk all that remains in this video is to say thank you very much for watching