In short
A house may need rewiring if it still has the cloth- or rubber-insulated cable found in many Sydney homes built between the 1890s and the 1970s. Warning signs include flickering lights, blown fuses or tripping breakers, warm cables or power boards, and cabling damaged by rodents. A switchboard that still uses old rewireable fuses and has no safety switches usually needs upgrading at the same time.
If you would rather have it checked, Ambient Electrical offers switchboard upgrades in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.
Why old wiring fails
The wiring is the backbone of your electrical installation. In many older homes, roughly those built from the 1890s to the 1970s, the original cable was insulated with cloth or rubber before modern thermoplastic sheathed cable (TPS) came in.
Over time both cloth and rubber break down. When the insulation crumbles, live conductors can touch, causing short circuits, blown fuses and arcing, which is a cause of house fires.
Old switchboards and fuses
Your home's safety starts at the switchboard, and in an older home a switchboard upgrade is often the first job. Many Sydney homes still have boards with rewireable ceramic fuses and no protection against earth leakage.
Old fuses are easy to tamper with, for example by fitting the wrong fuse wire, and a tampered fuse will not protect the circuit. Circuit breakers trip reliably and simply reset. Current wiring rules also require safety switches (RCDs) on light and power circuits in new work, which old boards often have no room for.
Today's appliances need more power
Homes now run air conditioning, home entertainment, electric ovens, electric hot water and pool pumps. The wiring and switchboard have to carry that load safely. Additional circuits are often needed for air conditioning, pumps, laundries, a shed, or an extension or renovation.
Surge protection at the switchboard is worth adding at the same time. TVs, computers, washing machines, air conditioners and fridges are controlled by electronics that are easily damaged by spikes from storms or the grid.
Warning signs to look out for
- Tripping circuit breakers or blown fuses
- Flickering lights
- Cables, extension leads or power boards that feel warm, a sign of overload
- Cabling damaged by building work or chewed by rodents
- Old rubber- or cloth-insulated cable, often visible in the roof space or at the switchboard
Old wiring colours in Australia
In Australian fixed wiring the active conductor is normally red, the neutral black, and the earth green and yellow, or plain green in older installations. Very old cable may have faded, perished or non-standard colours, which is one more reason not to rely on colour: an electrician tests every conductor before working on it.
Sources
- NSW Government: Electrical safety in the home
- Asbestos in NSW: Bituminous electrical backing board and asbestos
Ambient Electrical is an electrician in Waverley, Maroubra and the Inner West, and works across Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.
