When inspecting, there are safety issues to keep in mind for every home. As people who really care about people, our mission is to put our best foot forward to make other lives better. We give a thorough inspection that helps clients make the best financial decision and keep them safe.
Electricity can be dangerous and life threatening. A good electrical panel box is extremely important to the safety of a house. That’s where all of the electricity from the utility company meets the circuit breakers to distribute electricity to receptacles, switches, and household appliances.
There are 3 Very Dangerous panel boxes we still find in many houses. Federal Pacific, Zinsco, and Sylvania panel boxes were installed in homes from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s. Faulty designs made these electrical panels unsafe. The Stab Lok breakers fail to trip. Federal Pacific, Zinsco, and Sylvania’s loose attachments melt breakers, causing them to not trip. Frequently these breakers do not trip when there is a circuit overload or a short circuit. The surge of power causes the wires to melt and may start a fire in the home. This is why these panel boxes aren’t sold anymore. – The Worst Part – Many of these older homes don’t have Smoke Alarms!
At Inspections of Texas, we’ve always recommended they be replaced as soon as feasible. Some insurance carriers will not cover a house with one of these panel boxes.
In July 2024, we were able to experience what happens when these panel boxes go wrong! The first part of our inspection calls for us to turn on every light switch in the house. It’s called “loading the house down” to make certain the panel box can handle everything. About 30 minutes into the inspection, all three inspectors smelled something burning. The house was built in the 1950’s and someone installed plastic light fixtures around the front door exterior. One of them was on fire, and the circuit breaker had not tripped! There was no smoke alarm either!
At the end of the inspection, we turned off all of the electricity to the home. It was vacant, and we wanted to eliminate the possibility for the house burning down.
Hopefully, we’ll never see this again. If we had not done our job that day, and if the buyer didn’t change the panel box, their family could have died in a fire. This is why these panel boxes are The Most Dangerous!