Wires carry electricity throughout our homes to power laptops, televisions, and stoves, while allowing us to illuminate rooms with the flip of a switch. The majority of today’s homes have copper wiring — considered the gold standard for modern electrical — to do this important job. But if your home is a little bit older, your wiring might be of the less-desirable aluminum variety.

While you may have never experienced issues with your home’s electrical, selling a house with aluminum wiring can involve a few extra steps and raise scrutiny from buyers you should be prepared to handle.

That’s because homes wired with aluminum are 55 times more likely to have a wire connection that reaches “fire hazard conditions” compared to homes with copper, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) Publication 516, “Repairing Aluminum Wiring.”

No need to panic, though — you can take measures to ensure the house is safe and marketable, often without the costs of a full rewiring.

In this guide to selling a house with aluminum wiring, we consulted real estate experts and an experienced electrician for their direct advice. Follow these steps to get started:

• Determine whether your home has aluminum wiring
• Understand the risks of faulty aluminum wiring
• Disclose aluminum wiring upfront with buyers
• Share homeowners insurance information with buyers
• Know your selling options
  • Hire an electrician to perform a partial update
  • Sell your home “as is” to a cash buyer with funds for repairs
  • Rewire the home for copper when necessary

Determine whether you home has aluminum wiring

1. Consider the year your home was built. Aluminum wiring is most likely to be found in homes built between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s. During these years, the cost of copper was higher, leading to the use of aluminum as a cheaper alternative in approximately 2 million homes since 1965, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
2. Check any exposed wires for tell-tale signs. Exposed wires in the attic or the basement can lend a clue to whether your wires are aluminum. Many of the plastic “jackets” over these wires will be labeled with letters such as ALUM or ALUMINUM.
3. Pay attention to electrical hazard warnings.  If your aluminum wiring is starting to pose a hazard, you might have noticed flickering lights, circuits that don’t work properly, or even the scent of burning plastic near outlets or electrical switches.

Disclose aluminum wiring upfront with buyers

Even if your aluminum wiring operates fine and hasn’t caused any issues, don’t try to conceal aluminum wiring from buyers. Most states have real estate disclosure laws requiring sellers to share any material facts that could impact the home’s safety or value — and aluminum wiring may qualify.

By letting buyers know you have aluminum wiring, you give them the opportunity to order a professional electrical inspection to evaluate the condition of the wiring if they so choose. It’s always better to err on the side of honesty and disclosure, rather than risk a lawsuit down the line for failure to disclose. When in doubt, talk to your agent or a legal advisor on what’s required for your state.

Share homeowners insurance information with buyers

Another concern buyers may have about purchasing a home with aluminum wiring is whether their homeowners insurance will cover the property. According to PolicyGenius, an insurance marketplace since 2014, some insurers will charge higher rates or deny coverage of homes with aluminum wiring.

The insurance company will likely require an inspection after the policy becomes active and require updates if the property is deemed unsafe. You can help allay buyer concerns about insurance by sharing information about your own insurance company and the types of rates you currently pay, in addition to making sure the electrical passes inspection prior to listing.

Know your options

Jimmy Stewart, a top real estate agent in Fort Collins, Colorado, uses his knowledge as a former building contractor to help clients understand that aluminum wiring is not a deal-breaker. “If the home has aluminum wiring, I don’t really fret over it,” Stewart says. “I just get it fixed, and it’s an easy fix,” he says.

What Stewart’s referring to is a partial update or aluminum wiring repair. Unlike a full update that involves replacing existing aluminum wiring with copper, a partial update protects the wire connections, where problems are most likely to arise.

The preferred aluminum wiring repair method of the CPSC involves attaching a piece of copper wire to the ends of the aluminum wire at connection points using a connector called COPALUM, a process known as “pigtailing.” COPALUM — a specially designed metal sleeve system — has been tested by CPSC-sponsored research, lab tests, and demonstration projects to deem it a “safe and permanent repair of the existing aluminum wiring.”

Where COPALUM isn’t available, the CPSC does also accept an alternative pigtailing method using a set screw connector called AlumiConn as the next best alternative. Whichever method is available in your locale, the CPSC highly recommends having a licensed electrician perform this work.

Although aluminum wiring repair is not as comprehensive as a full wiring update, it is significantly cheaper and may be enough to make the home safe and satisfy buyer concerns.

Sources: Henderson Electric, an electrical company since 1955Porch.com 2021 cost guide to repairing aluminum wiring