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The most common - almost exclusive - reason for natural gas explosions is people stealing the pipes out of vacant homes. 2nd most common is intentional. Then there's nothing in 3rd through 99th place, and finally accidents.
It's really, really rare. I don't have stats in front of me, but having done a ton of electrical work - I'd say your much - much - bigger worry should be old wiring and no ground. Far more likely to burn your house down than any gas leak. Although one kinda does lead to the other : D
Here's a random article excerpt:
"On average, the United States loses 17 people a year to leaks and explosions involving natural-gas pipelines. Statistically speaking, you are more likely to die from autoerotic asphyxiation (which causes around 600 deaths each year) or falling out of bed (around 450 people) than gas explosions. Even deaths by lightning strike are more common, with 26 fatalities in 2014."
On the other hand, about 8000 houses a year burn down due to an electrical fault, and 100 people die. No contest!
I've just bought a house. Well, closing today. The wiring is bad, and I've had an estimate for the purpose of negotiations, but it was a very general estimate and now that the house is going to be mine, there are specific things I am going to want done. I don't know how to talk to an electrician so hopefully some can help me.
I think the electric in the house was probably last updated in the 60s.
The house has a Federal breaker box which I've now heard a lot about so of course that's the main thing. But there are very few outlets anywhere, and they aren't the three pronged kind, and there are no overhead lights, or even light switches in the living room or two downstairs bedrooms.
And finally, the kitchen, dining and laundry area all have fluorescent lighting. (I can't imagine why anyone would want this in their house)
This can all be fixed right? So my questions:
-Regarding the florescent lighting, to save myself a little money anyway, can I simply exchange the tubes for LED tubes?
YES BUT IF THE IGHTS HAVE THAT OPAQUE PLASTIC COVER THE LED SOTIME SSHOWS EVERYBLED INDIVIDUALLY SO YOULL HAVE A BUNCH. OF DOTS SHOWING.
BARE LED 4 FOOT REPLACEMENT ARE. VERY HARSH GET THE LED HAAT LOOKS LIKE A FLORESCENT WITH THE WHITE PLASTIC OVERLAY
And are there different choices of LED tubes? We changed over to LED at work a few years ago and I find it very harsh and bright. I prefer softer yellow lighting in my home. If I CAN change those tubes to LED, will I be able to find that type of LED in that form?
YES YOU CAN GET SOFT WHITE NOW
(I have soft yellow LED bulbs in my lamps so I am thinking it will be?)
Can the electrician up date the few existing outlets, and add more, and put in over head lighting and light switches without tearing out the walls? My realtor assured me it can be done that way safely, but as much as I really liked my realtor, let's face it, they'll tell you what you want to hear because they want to sell the house.
_
YOUR HOISE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE THE GROUND WIRE. BACK THEN THEY USUALLY TOOK THE GROUND AND CRIMPED THEM TOGETHER AND STUFFED THEM THE BACK OF THE BOX. IF YOU GOT THE GROUND YOULL NEED NEW RECEPTACLES AND GROUND ROD AND TERMINAL iN PANEL...
The house has a gas stove, dryer, and water heater. I am a bit paranoid about being hooked to gas service, but I'll try to overcome that. However I am not really sure I am going to love a gas stove. I might, sometime after I've gone back to saving money again instead of spending it, want an electric stove. Would it be sensible for me to ask the electrician to wire the kitchen for that now?
GAS IS BETTER THAN ELECTRIC IMO. IF YIU HAVE A 220v PLUG YOU CAN SWITCH TO ELECTRIC RANGE
Speaking of the kitchen...the way they have it now, the outlets must be behind the kitchen cabinets and they have these extension cords coming up from somewhere, and lying on the kitchen counter, good grief, instead of outlets at the counter level. How is he going install outlets at counter level and get rid of those extension cords?
BREAK THE DRWYALL RUN NEW CIRCUITNTO SWITCH AND TO LIGHTS.
One more question. There is a tiny upstairs with two bedrooms that I don't intend to use for living at the moment, but just to keep everything safe, those rooms will need to be updated too of course, right? I'm trying to decide whether to go ahead and have him wire for overhead lights up there too, and put in switches, or just make sure the existing outlet (one in each room) is up to code.
MIGHT AS WELL. IT MAY BE CHEAPER TO DOMIT NOW THAN LATER.
All right. I want to sound like I know at least minimally what I want and need when I schedule an electrician. I know it's going to be expensive. I have received a reimbursement from the seller for this, but probably not enough to cover everything I want.
Thanks for any help.
Not yelling.
Electricians costs are all different. Average price is $120 a hour for a licensed guy. And you really want a retired or a licensed electrician. I saw a lot of hack electrical jobs that were fire hazards.
It’s usually cheaper to have it all done at once. I wold also upgrade to a 200 amp main panel and get one that’s solar ready if you ever decide to do solar
Why is everyone assuming she doesn't have 200 amp service? Our house is 100+ years old, has much the same electrical outlets she described as well as BX cable, and 200 amp was put in, according to the inspection tag on the panel, in 1971.
Make sure you don’t have any knob and tube wiring. Add amperage to the service. Create ground fault interrupter outlets. Change to all breakers if you have fuses. Follow the electricians advice but find one with experience on old homes.
If you're going to replace the service panel, sure, go ahead and upgrade to 200A. Otherwise, that house has gotten along just fine since forever with the 100A main, and will likely continue to do so.
Previous house was a 1949 built house that had been added on to extensively. 100A (maybe 125A) main. Electric range, TWO electric water heaters, central heat and A/C, a pool and associated equipment, and a subpanel to a separate shop building. Is it ideal? Maybe not... but it's not broken.
Why is everyone assuming she doesn't have 200 amp service? Our house is 100+ years old, has much the same electrical outlets she described as well as BX cable, and 200 amp was put in, according to the inspection tag on the panel, in 1971.
Because she said so herself in post #12 ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by catsmom21
The house has been inspected by a licensed inspector, plus the electrical estimate by a licensed electrician, and deemed unsafe. It is most definitely not up to code and the Federal electrical box is the main thing that needs to be replaced. It is 100 amp service now and the estimate includes upgrading to 220 amp. ...
I bought a 1914 Craftsman a year and a half ago. Electrical had been updated, but the inspector found some knob and tube. Wouldn't have been an issue but it looked like everything had been upgraded, so it was used to negotiate a price reduction. (The seller didn't want to do the work.) And then I hired an electrician to fix the problem and it turned out not to be extensive. Moral of the story: If you are going to invest in electrical upgrades, do it right and do it once for maximum bang for buck. You don't want to get caught flat-footed with your homeowner's insurance or lose out on some cold hard cash if you decide to sell in the future, and something superficial pops up.
My house runs on 125 amp service. It's perfectly fine since the stove, dryer, etc. run off gas. Gas is just better right now, although electric might not suck in another 10 or 20 years. Since you have 100 amp service, if you are going to spend the time and expense to upgrade, you might as well go for it. I'd be on the fence with 100 myself. 200 is plenty, but who knows, maybe that extra 20 gets you something nice. Perhaps you can fulfill that lust for electric appliances. (I wouldn't bother with the stove wiring, speaking of which.)
LED lighting has come a long way over the past few years. I have converted lighting in almost my entire house to LED. There are some things that just work better nowadays, like having a motion sensor on my porch light bulb instead of trying to hook up a timer using 2 wires. Bulbs come in different designs and color temperatures. This might require some trial and error on your part. I eventually settled on 2700K in the living room and bedrooms and 4000K in the office, dining room, and kitchen. I found 2200K to be way too orange-ish, and 5000K felt like an interrogation room. I might eventually change out the 2700K bulbs for 3000K bulbs since my gf isn't a fan, but I recovered from the 5000K experiment with 4000K and she seems happy for now. YMMV. (I think your dislike of LED might have to do with those 5000K "daylight" bulbs, which are quite common along with the 2700K "soft white" bulbs.)
Why is everyone assuming she doesn't have 200 amp service? Our house is 100+ years old, has much the same electrical outlets she described as well as BX cable, and 200 amp was put in, according to the inspection tag on the panel, in 1971.
The wring in my parents house is still 50's, the panel was upgraded in the 80's or 90's to 200amp by previous owner from a fuse panel.
The wring in my parents house is still 50's, the panel was upgraded in the 80's or 90's to 200amp by previous owner from a fuse panel.
I have the same thing in my house - the wiring is the 1959 original, except for some in the upstairs MBR suite, but I had the panel upgraded to a 200 amp one. That also allowed for identifying pretty much all of the circuits, not 100% though. I still have 1 or 2 unidentified switches.
I probably read it but my brain was full at the time.
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