I have a home that was made in 1953 but it looks as though it’s been updated. I know it wasn’t a recent update because the outlets in the kitchen are too far apart. When I moved in there were 4 sections completely dead. The 2 back bedrooms (and I believe the hall light), The next section was refrigerator, one outlet on a stand alone counter in the kitchen. The next section was the bathroom. The last section was 2 of the 4 outlets in the living room. I was in a rush at the time I was trying to hook all this together. I found a wire with power so I used it. I have all that running on ONE circuit breaker. After taking a closer look at my panel I noticed that there is another 20 amp circuit breaker doing nothing. I’m going to trace that wire and split up what I wired. What would have been typical back then? I’m thinking I should leave the 2 bedroom outlets, hall,and bedrooms all one circuit and the single kitchen counter, refrigerator and bathroom be the second circuit. Looking for an old time electrician who remembers how these homes were wired or maybe someone who has a similar house can read off what the breakers are labeled in their subpanel.
I meant to say 2 living room outlets instead of 2 bedroom outlets toward the end of the paragraph.
Yes Virgo I could certainly go down to the city and see if permits were pulled for my home. I’m not too optimistic though. I say that because the panel circuits weren’t labeled. A certified electrician would have done that and and inspector would have expected it.
virgo = Angle
Man I really need to wake up…hehe.. Angle = Angel
First off as you know take and split all those outlets. Having all those on one line is just looking for multiple trips to the basement. I’d advice you to do as you were thinking leave the kitchen and bathroom on one line and the living room,bed rm, and hallway on it’s own line. The most common thing that comes to my mind is that the kitchen and bath are near each other, architechs do this to cut down on plumbing costs and im guessing that the electrician did pretty much the same. Don’t get me wrong I’ve seen some pretty f–ked up wiring jobs. You also should be able to find blue prints esp if it was an up grade in 1985 permits would have to have been pulled and the work been certified.
in 1953 [korean conflict area ] there was probably only one or 2 in the kitchen and 2 in the front room
the update [1985] more than likely added the ones in the bed rooms,
at that period, the only thing most homes had [in 53] were a fridge, & a few homes had tv,s , most only had a radio and 1 light bulb in the center of each room, we didn’t,t have electric appliances then
like toasters, mixers , blenders ,E-coffee pots , most things were done by hand , or on a wood stove gas was getting popular then as a cooking stove most was propane [ i remember we heated the house with a coal stove then ] so if you have a breaker box i would rewire the hole house again
With your current configuration you are on the right track as a temporary fix. Making sure the kitchen circuit is separate is a necessity.
However, as soon as possible I would try to do a service upgrade if necessary and get more circuit into the kitchen. Home receptacles and lights don’t pull the amperage that kitchens can.
If able, at some point, try and get the fridge on a circuit to itself and try to split the counter top circuits in half. This will save you trouble in the long run.
One was probably for the stove and the rest of the house on the other circuit breaker. Alternatively one circuit was for lights and the other for power points.
I suggest you make power circuits separate from the lighting circuits.
I was one of the old timers that has seen a lot of that type of wiring. I suggest that you call a qualified professional electrician to do a rewire of your home, and a complete upgrade of the whole electrical system. The 1950’s era homes had a 100 to 150 amp service, the mid 80’s would have a 200 amp service. Our typical home now needs at least a 200 amp service with a 30 circuit panel to accommodate the new requirements. A kitchen will need 6-7 circuits, plus the bathroom and then outdoors and garage or basement. It might also be time to investigate the smart panels that are computer controlled from a remote location like your cell phone. When doing this the planning must be complete in advance and then the amount of work you do will help determine the cost. Will you open the walls and close them and do the painting? All of the old wiring should be removed or abandoned in place if removal is not feasible. Most of the 50’s wire had a rubber insulation that deteriorates with heat and time and becomes a fire hazard. The wire from the 80’s may be good, but does it go where you want it? Do some planning and negotiate with a qualified professional electrician to do the work.
in 1953 i lived in an old mill house. all it had was a light bulb on a wire in each room,if you wanted to plug in something ,you plugged it into an adapter on the bulb,we didn’t get outlets for years.
1953? 1985?
In ‘53′ you might have had a small home with only two circuits, but I doubt it.
In ‘85′ those two 20A. circuits would be the minimum required
for the kitchen alone.
You speak of "sections" but how many breakers are there in that
panel?
Are you sure that there isn’t a sub- panel somewhere?