Most older homes built prior to 1960 in the greater Cleveland, Akron, Northeast Ohio region still have some Knob and Tube wiring in them. Here’s what to know as a homeowner:

Knob & Tube (K&T) Wiring Overview & Risks:

• Most commonly used between 1920’s & 1960’s
• Lacks modern Ground wire (Grounding)
• Separates conductors (Hot & Neutral) to dissipate heat
• Far past life expectancy
• Many insurance companies refuse to insure homes with Knob & Tube still present.
• Difficult to partially rewire TO CODE due to shared neutrals through the system. Attempting to rewire one part of the house can kill power to opposite site of house.

Primary risks:

• Deterioration of the sheathing –  The wiring is incredibly brittle at its age & will deteriorate when working with it, causing the conductors to become exposed.  
• Lack of ground wire means that the system is not properly grounded.
• Improper modification – Majority of the homes in Northeast Ohio with Knob & Tube have been improperly modified at some point. This greatly increases the risk of an issue with K&T wiring
• Insulation – Knob & Tube wiring was intended to remain exposed & not have insulation set on top of it or blown in. Between the brittle wiring & the increased heat caused by the insulation, this can cause a fault to occur.
• Increased Electrical Load  – K&T wiring was installed when the average service to a house was 30-60 Amps & the demand for electrical needs was far lower. K&T wiring systems lack the sufficient number of circuits to ensure that the wiring doesn’t become overloaded.

The majority of homes in Northeast Ohio with Knob and Tube wiring have underwent some sort of renovation in the past 60-80 years where the K&T wiring was disturbed.

In our experience with most greater Northeast Ohio homes, the K&T wiring is especially bad because it was evident that the work was performed by either a DIY homeowner or a completely incompetent handyman who performed blatant code violations such as Open splices buried behind the walls, Junctions outside of Junction boxes, and improper splices into Knob & Tube. To make matters worse, these individuals went out of their way to hide the improper work that was done, making it very difficult to fully assess other hazards issues behind the walls

In our professional experience as one of the largest residential electrical contractors who specializing in K&T rewiring – We strongly feel that most home recently purchased with Knob & Tube should all be completely rewired. These homes typically tend to have other electrical infrastructure issues that extend past the K&T system such as an older fuse box, Federal Pacific Panels, dilapidated electrical outlets, no ground rods, double tapped breakers and more.

Connected Electrical is Northeast Ohio’s Knob and Tube Rewire experts, specializing in older homes in areas such as Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, University Heights, Lakewood, Medina & more. Give us a call today at 216-238-5314 to learn more about rewiring your older home with knob and tube wiring