Fuses vs. Breakers in Arlington (Fredericksburg: real estate, insurance, appliances)

[eyeball]

We're moving to the are in a couple months and have been starting to look at houses in Arlington (we find the houses online and have a real estate agent and local friends take a look in person). We recently thought we had found the house we were looking for, but it has a fuse box rather than circuit breakers. This leads me to believe that the entire electrical system is antiquated and possibly not safe, at least not by today's standards, although it is likely legal due to grandfathering of the electrical code.

Is this an issue we are going to run into with a lot of houses inside the beltway? Is the wiring in these older homes generally okay otherwise (i.e., will just changing the box from fuses to breakers be adequate)? If a home requires a complete electrical updating, what might that cost (ballpark, I know every house is different).

[gresan1]

Older homes, where fuses are installed, were not built with today's technology in mind. (ie. computers, microwaves, etc.) The wiring is not really that different. The only difference that you might ever see is weather the electrical outlets are ground equiped (lamest terms are the two hole and three hole plugs on the wall) but even with that somewhere down the line previous home owner has connected the ground to the outlets. (you can do it also, its fairly easy.) Back to the fuse vs breaker.
Breakers now a days are generally used simply because by standard you have to have at least two dedicated appliance connected to the circuit (usually your refridgerator, stove, and/or dishwasher)
There are downsides to circuit breakers, considering the cost, expensive to fix, maintain (once in a while, if you have a SFH, you have to manually switch to off and then back to on to maintain the trip mechanisms), miscalibration can damage the conductors, and other minor crap.
Fuses provide optimum protection but it is ancient technology nevertheless. If the fuse burns, you must replace (obviously.) There arent many fuse providers. Fuses are known for less fire hazards.
(the way fuses work in case of a short circuit or overload: the link to fuse burns, so you replace)
So the answer in short: FUSES are OK as long as down the line you opt to change to a circuit breaker to accomodate more output for future appliances and equipment, even though fuses will handle almost everything. Your Fuse or Breaker does not dictate that much about the house wiring, copper is copper afterall.
The cost to rewire the house is enormous. Not needed.
I would eventually change to a breaker as it is a little more practical to use. Although I grew up with fuses back home :-) Breakers are much easier to understand so anyone who needs to control the electricity can just flip switches and do not need to be intimidated by screwing fuses or hearing them pop when they burn out.
Hope that helped a bit. Im not an electrician (that's what you call people in the field right?) so hopefully someone checks this out and maybe educate me further too.

[gresan1]

oh wow, i just read what i wrote...obviously i can't speak english well LOL

[InspectorStu]

You may have difficulty obtaining home owner's insurance. Many insurance companies require upgrading to a circuit breaker service panel. I recommend having a complete home inspection by a Virginia Certified home inspector. Not only will you get the electrical system checked, You'll get the whole house checked (Roof, structure, foundation, plumbing, heating & AC .. more). Do not shop for the cheapest price because you will be comparing apples to oranges. BUT, if you have to shop, go for a median price. Email me. I'll try to help you even if you want to check around with other inspection companies.

Stu Certified Home Inspections in Fredericksburg and Northern VA