my house was built in 1946 and I need to find out what type of wiring I have in the house. How do I find out?

Question

I have a circuit breaker box and I also need to find out how much amps of power i have coming into the house. Where should I look?

Answer 1

I'm not really sure what you are asking because of the wording that you used. The amount of total amperage available in the circuit breaker box is the amount that you see on the handle of the main breaker. It is probably a double sized one at the top of the row of breakers in the box.

That is not necessarily the amount of amperage that is coming into the house. It is fairly common for the electric company to put much higher capacity wires in than is necessary for your breaker box. They do this because they are less likely to have to replace them in the future if you want to upgrade.

It is also a tiny bit safer to do it that way and more satisfactory to the user. It cost them so little that it is worth it. Also, you are paying for it anyway, at least indirectly, so there is no added cost to them in reality.

Most boxes of that era are in the 50 to 60 amp range. A few are 100 amp, but not most. Do you know if the box has been upgraded in the last 60 years? It is quite possible.

What do you mean by the type of wiring? Most answers assumed you meant two or three wire. Perhaps you meant the material that the wire and the insulation are made of. Those are all valid questions that it could be helpful to know.

Others have suggested that you remove the front cover of the box to see inside. You will look to see if there are either green insulated, or bare wires going to the neutral/ground lug strip(s). If there are only white wires, your wiring throughout the house is two wire, i.e. ungrounded.

Note that there will definately be at least two quite large bare wires on the lug strip. Those are FROM the electric company and TO the ground rod/pipe.

I urge extreme caution when you take off the cover. The wording of your question tells me that you are not qualified to stick your hands inside the box. It is extremely dangerous to those who do not posess the training and experience to do it safely. The voltage inside the box can very easily kill a person.

If you tell us why you are asking, we can offer better answers.

Answer 2

The main breaker will tell you how many amp service you have. As to the type of wiring, Do your outlets have a ground(3 prong)? If no, then it's definitely a 2 wire system and should be upgraded. If yes, I would suggest killing the power to an outlet. If they aren't labeled in the breaker box, plug in a nightlight or something like that, and flip breakers until it goes out. Then remove the outlet cover and mounting screws. Carefully pull the outlet out of the box and look at the wires. You should see a white, black and bare copper wire. If you do, you've got a good 3 wire system.

Answer 3

In you electrical panel most breakers will be 15 or 20 amps. The main breaker will be much larger most likely 100 amps. That is normally the rating of the panel. For the type of wiring I would need more info but I'm going to guess that your receptacles don't accept a grounded 3-prong unless they have been upgraded. I would call an electrician to check that wiring is OK.

Answer 4

I would say yes - bite the bullet and get it done. I've done a couple now myself. If you only do half, then you cannot say it's been rewired, and will continue to have problems. It will be worth it, as you should recoup the expense if you were to sell it. Most of the cost of a rewire is the time it takes to run cables - usually lots of cutting and drilling - and the making good afterwards. You can save most of the money by running the cables yourself. They are pretty standard for most uses. Buy a decent DIY book that covers house electrics to see the sizes and ratings, and gives the local regulations. For instance - there is a minimum hight of sockets from the ground, and new regulations concerning bathrooms. Plus you can add extra sockets where you want them - eg kitchen. While your at it, you may as well add data cables and phone sockets too. After installing them all - and leaving all the wires long at the fuseboard, you could then just employ a electrician to comission the new system, - test - then connect up. This would take 2 hours tops - compared to 2+ days for a full rewire.

Answer 5

You can take off the panel to the breaker box via the 6 screws. LOOK BUT DO NOT TOUCH WIRES. Your wires can be a copper or aluminum grounded or non grounded system. As far as your amperage look at the main breaker at the top center and it will tell you. Mine says 200amp on it. Yours will more than likely say 100amp or less on it.

Answer 6

Call an electrician. They would be able to give you that info.