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Why are insurance companies getting concerned about aluminum wiring? What should a home owner, or a home buyer, look out for? For more real estate info, check my blog at (https://blog.winnipeghomefinder.com) Never miss an episode. Install our FREE Podcast App available on iOS and Android. For your Apple Devices, click here to (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/winnipeg-real-estate-news/id1098802561) For your Android Devices, click here to (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bokauffmann.android.winnipeg&hl=en) Check my (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnx1SxuUFDh_crVG4EZPlqA?view_as=subscriber) Bo Kauffmann 0:00 Do you currently own or are looking to buy a home which has aluminum wiring? What's the big deal? We'll talk about that next. Unknown Speaker 0:10 You're listening to the bone nose real estate podcast tips and advice for home buyers, sellers and owners with award winning REMAX Agent Bo Kauffmann. Bo Kauffmann 0:24 You've probably heard that insurance companies are paying special attention to homes which have aluminum wiring. Well, what's the problem? Really, there isn't any problem. Aluminum is still being used today in industrial and commercial application. So for example, large warehouses, office buildings, industrial complexes and everything. It's being used today by companies because it's about a third the price of copper, a ton of aluminum right now costs about 1500 dollars US while a ton of copper costs well over $5,000 us and so it was that back in the 1960s a residential home builders thought They might have a better cheaper product on their hands. So you're looking at the prices of copper in 1962, they were about 30 cents a pound. And by 1966, they had more than doubled. So homebuilders, even though for for a single home, it might only be 100 or $200 difference, but if a home builder builds 234 hundred homes a year, it can add up. So they're looking for cheaper alternatives, and they settled on aluminum. Now like I said, What's the problem with aluminum? Well, there's no problem as long as it's treated correctly and upgraded correctly. And here's what happens. Let's say you have a 1970 bungalow that was built by a builder using aluminum wiring, they would have used aluminum switches, aluminum plugs, aluminum rated light fixtures, all those things are called devices by electricians. So all the devices that would hook into that house would be rated for aluminum. Now fast forward to 1995 as an example, the current owner of the home wanted to give it an update. So new paint, new floor. And of course, we're going to update the lights and why not update the switches and wall plugs to make them look more modern. So you go to Home Depot, and you find that a copper light switch is $1, whereas an aluminum rated light switch is $8. So what most people do well, they go with the cheaper stuff. And that's when the problem comes in. You'll have aluminum wiring, hooked into copper light switch, aluminum and copper, very dissimilar metals, they will heat and cool and shrink and expand at different rates. And over the years as this happens, they'll start to work themselves loose, causing corrosion and eventual sparking and that's what causes fires. Until a few years ago, insurance companies had grandfathered these types of homes. So if you owned a home for the last 20 years, insurance companies weren't bothering you. If you went out and bought a home then a new buyer would be required by insurance companies to get an inspection, electrical inspection with a certificate to show that they All the wiring is safe and has been treated properly. The devices are the right ones. And if they're not that they're at least hooked up in a correct way. That was until recently. However, now insurance companies are even sending letters out to owners of homes that are...