During a recent home inspection in Moraga, the home inspector discovered aluminum wiring in an older garage electrical subpanel.
Aluminum electrical wiring was installed in houses from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s during a period of high copper prices.
Since that time, aluminum wiring has been associated with a number of house fires.
The main problem with aluminum wiring is a phenomenon known as ‘cold creep’.
When aluminum wiring warms up, it expands and when it cools down, it contracts.
Unlike copper, when aluminum goes through a number of warm/cool cycles it loses a bit of tightness at the wall outlet termination…creating an over-heated condition… and in some cases, an electrical fire.
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