Rodent proofing electrical wiring

[ericsarratt]

I am a general contractor (utilities). I have a mouse problem in a 1933 home I am rehabbing. The house is my business office and is also used for tool and equipment storage.

I am considering putting all the electric in PVC or EMT conduit.

I have found very little research on mice burning down houses, but a common statistic I see is rodents are responsible for 20% of all fires in which the cause of the fire was undetermined.

Your thoughts.

After the neighbors home burned down--they said due to squirrels, I got to thinking about putting my wiring in electrical conduit.

I am in the process of redoing all the electrical anyway as it was poorly installed by the previous owner.

I have done the usual mouse trap thing, but they just keep coming.

The lot is fairly woodsy and I know this is contributing to the mouse problem, but I like the lot the way it is.

Thank you for your help and opinions.

 

[letgomywago]

Just have it done with mc it'll be cheaper and work better with fishing in. Steel wool works as a good mouse deterrent

 

[hbiss]

a common statistic I see is rodents are responsible for 20% of all fires in which the cause of the fire was undetermined.

20% of all fires of which the cause was undetermined were blamed on rodents. Sure, makes sense.

Regardless, if I had my way Romex would be outlawed. Not just because of rodents, but because it's so easily damaged by screws and over driven staples. But if there were no Romex, what excuse would they have for pushing AFCI breakers?

And yes, have your house wired with armored cable- type AC (the old BX) or MC. I would go with steel armor, no aluminum stuff. No need for conduit. My house was built in 1955 and the original wiring was AC and I wasn't going to change that. All the work I did to this day is all with AC.

-Hal

 

[macmikeman]

Probably there is no need for fire trucks in New York what with all the metal wiring and all, no electrical fires ever right?

 

[infinity]

I agree, steel MC-ap cable would do the trick.

 

[retirede]

… is rodents are responsible for 20% of all fires in which the cause of the fire was undetermined.

.

Read that back to yourself…..slowly!

 

[Joethemechanic]

These things work well

 

[ericsarratt]

Thanks! MC or AC it is.

 

[4x4dually]

Although my wife absolutely hates them....I have not fixed a wire on a truck, ATV, or tractor since we got them. Dang sure worth their weight in food.

 

[electrofelon]

IT is my opinion that most electrical fires are due to rodents. I have seen so may chewed up wires. What really did it for me was one i saw last fall where there was about a foot long piece of carbonized romex that looked like a sparkler. Its a miracle it didnt catch fire. I would never wire one of my structures with romex. MC should do the trick

 

[letgomywago]

IT is my opinion that most electrical fires are due to rodents. I have seen so may chewed up wires. What really did it for me was one i saw last fall where there was about a foot long piece of carbonized romex that looked like a sparkler. Its a miracle it didnt catch fire. I would never wire one of my structures with romex. MC should do the trick

Mice get into boxes going metal wiring methods won't stop them. Maybe we should make more rodent proof buildings instead of more rodent proof internal parts. Romex is allowed for a reason it meets the minimum requirements of the code and we live in a under housed nation so we have to keep that in mind. We could all use rigid and cast boxes with in use metal covers with gfi everything but there is a cost to consider. I've seen fires in buildings wired with conduit and mc also.

 

[electrofelon]

Mice get into boxes going metal wiring methods won't stop them.

I dont agree with that. Yes if you leave a bunch of KO's unfilled then yeah.

 

[letgomywago]

I dont agree with that. Yes if you leave a bunch of KO's unfilled then yeah.

They go up the conduits from the service panel or right through the plastic blank covers. A mouse can flatted its ribs and make it through a 1/4 size gap. I've seen that much of a gap with factory second 4 squares. Laborers who would be doing the houses in metal would definitely knock out extras just because too.

Chicago has fires still remember that they went down this road and I haven't seen anyone post how much safer they are because of this.

 

[electrofelon]

They go up the conduits from the service panel or right through the plastic blank covers. A mouse can flatted its ribs and make it through a 1/4 size gap. I've seen that much of a gap with factory second 4 squares. Laborers who would be doing the houses in metal would definitely knock out extras just because too.

Chicago has fires still remember that they went down this road and I haven't seen anyone post how much safer they are because of this.

Ok, wire your house with NM then if you dont think it makes a difference, its a free country! I'll stick with MC.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Probably there is no need for fire trucks in New York what with all the metal wiring and all, no electrical fires ever right?

....
Chicago has fires still remember that they went down this road and I haven't seen anyone post how much safer they are because of this.

The fire cause and origin stats for Chicago which, in general does not permit either metallic or non-metallic cable wiring methods, shows that the rate of fires said to be of electrical origin are 1/4 of the national average.

 

[letgomywago]

The fire cause and origin stats for Chicago which, in general does not permit either metallic or non-metallic cable wiring methods, shows that the rate of fires said to be of electrical origin are 1/4 of the national average.

That's good to know but also the method of fire assessment needs to be consistent and you've posted before that smaller departments have difficulty doing a proper study afterwards. Total fires compared to other urban areas would be an effective way to know if it makes a difference.

 

[tortuga]

I would go with steel armor, no aluminum stuff. No need for conduit. My house was built in 1955 and the original wiring was AC and I wasn't going to change that. All the work I did to this day is all with AC.

-Hal

I would never wire one of my structures with romex. MC should do the trick

Its interesting to see what people choose in their own home.

When I rebuilt my shop with a living space above I did it in PVC, EMT and some Flex.
Prices were not inflated back then though.
I considered using romex in the 2nd floor but I alredy had a pile or EMT and a bender there.
Mostly so I could pull in added circuits if needed in the future.
It proved handy when I needed a window ac. I could just open up a few boxes and push in a new circuit.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

That's good to know but also the method of fire assessment needs to be consistent and you've posted before that smaller departments have difficulty doing a proper study afterwards. Total fires compared to other urban areas would be an effective way to know if it makes a difference.

I don't think you can look at total fires either as there are so many different causes....maybe just fires "said to be of electrical origin" in bigger cities that permit non-metallic wiring methods.
It will not only be the fire investigation that makes a difference, but also the level of code enforcement when the electrical system is installed or modified.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

if the issues some car manufacturer's have had with the "green" soy based insulation is any indication, the problem in structures may get worse.

 

[mtnelect]

20% of all fires of which the cause was undetermined were blamed on rodents. Sure, makes sense.

Regardless, if I had my way Romex would be outlawed. Not just because of rodents, but because it's so easily damaged by screws and over driven staples. But if there were no Romex, what excuse would they have for pushing AFCI breakers?

And yes, have your house wired with armored cable- type AC (the old BX) or MC. I would go with steel armor, no aluminum stuff. No need for conduit. My house was built in 1955 and the original wiring was AC and I wasn't going to change that. All the work I did to this day is all with AC.

-Hal

Rodents ... So, you have the mice destroying the inside wiring and the squirrels destroying the outside wiring. I have been on service calls where the squirrels have chewed through the aluminum service drop. Oh, don't forget the ants eating the insulation off underground pull box wiring.