jimbo Thanks for your reply. There may not be any problem with aluminum wiring today, but I'm looking to buy some older homes for rental investments. I just don't need the added hassle of trying to insure them. I'm a retired plumber and I haven't seen any homes wired with aluminum in the past 30 years. When I was in the north east in the early sixty's there were some fires in my area that were attributed to aluminum wire. Not to long after that it was no longer used up there.
John
Although the wiring of a structure seems to get the blame for many fires the truth of the matter is it is not the material that starts the fire but the installation practices that is the culprit.
Aluminum is widely used today for larger installations such as range, electric heat air handlers, feeders, and services. For some idiot to say that aluminum is a dangerous wiring method is ridiculous. For someone to say that the installation practice of any wiring method is dangerous is a founded statement that does cause fires on a daily basis.
Aluminum is a lot less forgiving than copper. Nicks in the conductor (not the insulation) causes the conductor to heat more than in copper, loose connections heat more and the list goes on and on.
The biggest downfall to aluminum wiring is the type of devices used. The device must be listed for use with aluminum. This is something that the inspector should have looked at but most electrical and home owner inspectors do not know the differences.
Here in Asheboro, NC there is one whole housing development that has nothing but aluminum wiring methods. Most of these homes were wired by the same electrician and there has not been one documented incident reported in any of these homes over the past 40 years. I know there are more than 40 homes in this project.