The wiring in your home is the highway of power, feeding everything electrical in the household.
Knob-and-tubewiringwill have individual wiresone black hot wire and one white neutral wirethroughout the home.
The insulation on the neutral wires may also be dark with a white line rather than all-white.
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No Ground
Because only two wires are used, knob-and-tube wiring lacks a safetygrounding system.
This doesn’t necessarily make the wiring unusable.
Can You Keep Old Wiring?
However, thisand any other work done on knob-and-tube wiringmust adhere to local code requirements.
Wiring does not become unsafe after a particular date or time.
This is a serious mistake since these outlets imply a grounding system that is not actually present.
A GFCI outlet will allow the use of modern three-prong plugs.
Always call a professional to test your wiring;do not touch the wiringor attempt to identify asbestos yourself.
If your home has aluminum wiringespecially older wiringit’s worth upgrading to copper.
Dealing With Knob-and-Tube Wiring.
Center for Energy and Environment.
Knob-and-Tube Wiring.International Association of Certified Home Inspectors.
