I guess it's because the electricity in my new old house had been upgraded before I'd moved in, but I don't think as much about fire as I did in my previous two houses.
I believe I spent about $6,000 over 14 years upgrading the electricity in the last house. I had an electrician who believed that if the squirrels hadn't chewed the knob and tube to shreds, you blend it with the other generations of wiring, update and upgrade where needed, reorganize the box and work from there.
It's been so long since the first house that I don't remember if we even had electricity or made our own candles.
The deadliest house fires caused by faulty electrical wiring typically occur in areas in which older housing is predominately occupied by people who can't afford to upgrade the wiring or have too many appliances plugged into a single outlet.
The Home Safety Council reports that 57 percent of fire and burn-related injuries occur in the home. Many of those houses don't have insurance to cover losses, and often are abandoned because the owners can't afford to rebuild.
For the people who do have insurance, the companies issuing the policies often offer fire-prevention programs or provide a free risk analysis of your home.
The Chubb Group, for example, is has MasterpieceHomeScan, a "complimentary infrared thermography service" to help policyholders "spot" moisture and electrical hotspots that, if left undetected, could lead to severe water damage and fire losses.
Appraisers will use state-of-the-art infrared cameras to scan walls and ceilings. The cameras also can help detect poorly insulated areas, which can result in higher heating and cooling costs and bursting frozen water pipes.
Chubb has been offering infrared inspections to its commercial customers and now will provide them to high-end policyholders.
The cameras register different surface temperatures and visualize these "thermal anomalies" in a variety of colors. A cooler temperature may indicate missing insulation (a common precursor to burst pipes) or a wet spot. A hot reading may indicate an electrical hot spot, a potential cause of fire.
If this technology sounds familiar, it is similar to the one used to perform an energy audit, in addition to the blower-door test.
Even if the electrical system is performing exactly as it should be, there are a number of other causes of fire -- falling asleep while smoking, for instance.
There is little that an insurance company's infrared technology can do to keep a dozing smoker awake, but certainly something can be done to rouse that person in time to prevent serious injury or worse.
The smoke alarm.
The Home Safety Council suggests the following:
Buy smoke alarms that are listed by UL and carry the UL mark on packaging.
Have smoke alarms on every level of your home, including the basement, and near every bedroom.
Smoke rises, so smoke alarms should be mounted high on walls or ceilings. Ceiling-mounted alarms should be installed at least four inches from the nearest wall; wall-mounted alarms should be installed four to 12 inches from the ceiling.
Choose an installation location that is well away from the path of steam from bathrooms and cooking vapors from the kitchen, which can result in "nuisance" alarms.
Place smoke alarms well away from windows, exterior doors, and air ducts, where drafts can interfere with their operation.
Test all smoke alarms at least once a month, following the manufacturer's instructions, or push the "test button" on the face of the alarm cover. Put new batteries in your smoke alarms at least one time each year; sooner if the alarm makes a regular chirping signal, indicating low battery power.
If smoke alarms are more than 10 years old, buy new smoke alarms.
When possible, use interconnected smoke alarms. Hard-wired, interconnected alarms with battery back-up run on your household wiring and are tied in together so that if one alarm operates, they all signal together. Also, wireless technology is now available to enable homes to have an interconnected smoke alarm system that can be installed independent of household wiring.
Fire sprinklers put water on the flames when a fire starts. They will put the fire out or keep it small until firefighters arrive, giving people more time to escape and protecting property. If you are moving to an apartment, choose a building with a fire sprinkler system. If you are building a new home or remodeling your existing home, consider having a home fire sprinkler system installed.
