Aluminum Wiring in Older Homes

Published October 20, 2026 · Older homes & wiring

Short answer: some homes built between 1965 and the mid-1970s were wired with aluminum branch circuits, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says homes built before 1972 and wired with aluminum are "55 times more likely to have one or more wire connections at outlets reach 'Fire Hazard Conditions'" than homes wired with copper (CPSC Publication 516). CPSC recognizes only three permanent repairs: rewiring with copper, the COPALUM crimp method, or AlumiConn connectors. If you think your home has aluminum wiring, have a licensed electrician evaluate it and quote one of those three options.

This guide sticks to what CPSC Publication 516 says. It is general information for Fort Collins-area homeowners, not an inspection of your home, and it is not legal advice.

Which homes might have aluminum branch-circuit wiring?

CPSC gives a fairly narrow window. According to Publication 516, "homes built before 1965 are unlikely to have aluminum branch circuit wiring," while cable installed "between 1965 and the mid 1970s" may contain it. Branch circuits are the runs that feed your outlets, switches and lights, as opposed to the large service conductors that bring power into the house.

Build year alone doesn't tell you what's in the walls. A house from 1968 may be all copper, and an older house may have had a room added or rewired during that window. The year is a reason to ask, not a diagnosis.

How many Fort Collins homes are from that era?

We don't know of any published count of aluminum-wired homes in Fort Collins, and nobody should claim one. What the census does show is how much of the housing stock dates from before 1980. In the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates), 30.6% of Fort Collins homes were built before 1980, and the citywide median year built is 1992. In ZIP code 80521, which covers most of Old Town's west side and the area around CSU, the median year built is 1978 and 53.7% of homes predate 1980.

Some of those homes will fall in CPSC's 1965–mid-1970s window and many won't. If you own or are buying one, it is worth asking during an evaluation. See our page on electrical inspections for older homes and home buyers for what that kind of visit covers.

What does "55 times more likely" actually mean?

The figure comes from a survey done for CPSC by the Franklin Research Institute, as reported in Publication 516. It compares connections, mostly at outlets, in pre-1972 homes wired with aluminum against similar homes wired with copper. The problem it describes is at the connections, where wires meet devices and splices, rather than in the middle of a run of cable.

That is why CPSC's guidance focuses on how connections are repaired, and why it says repairs should cover every aluminum connection in the home, not just the one outlet that's been acting up.

The three repairs CPSC recognizes

CPSC Publication 516 names only three permanent repairs:

1. Rewiring with copper. Replacing the aluminum branch-circuit wiring with copper. It is usually the most involved of the three.
2. COPALUM crimp connectors. A method in which a short copper wire (a "pigtail") is attached to the aluminum wire with a special crimp connector, so devices connect to copper.
3. AlumiConn connectors. A connector used to join a copper pigtail to the aluminum wire, again so outlets and switches connect to copper.

Those are the only three CPSC lists. When you collect quotes, ask each contractor which of the three they are proposing, whether it covers every aluminum connection in the home, and whether the work needs a permit. If a quote describes a different method, ask the contractor to explain how it relates to CPSC's guidance before you sign.

How do you find out if you have it?

Don't take outlets apart or open your panel to check. A licensed electrician can examine the wiring safely at the panel and at a sample of devices and tell you whether aluminum branch circuits are present and how widespread they are. If you're buying a house, an evaluation by a licensed electrician during your inspection period gives you something concrete to negotiate with.

What does a repair cost?

There is no reliable published price for COPALUM or AlumiConn repairs, so get written quotes. For a full copper rewire, the cost guides we use put whole-home rewiring at roughly $3–$5 per square foot (Fixr: about $7,200–$13,400 for a typical home). Typical national ranges from published cost guides (2025–2026) — estimates, not quotes; no Fort Collins-specific source was published. Our Fort Collins electrician cost guide has the full table and a calculator.

Older homes often need more than one thing at once. If an evaluation turns up an undersized or aging panel too, read about panel upgrades in Fort Collins. For a full replacement, our home rewiring page explains the process.

Permits and who does the work

Inside Fort Collins city limits, the City of Fort Collins Building Services, not the state, issues electrical permits and inspects the work. Most rewiring and circuit work needs a permit, and the contractor normally pulls it. Our post on Fort Collins electrical permits goes through the steps. Colorado allows homeowners to do some electrical work on their own home with a permit and inspection, but not if the home is for sale or rented out (C.R.S. 12-115-116(2)); Fort Collins adds its own conditions.

Before you hire

In Colorado, electrical work for hire is done by licensed electricians working for a registered electrical contractor (C.R.S. 12-115). Before you hire anyone to work on aluminum wiring:

• Confirm the contractor's Colorado electrical contractor registration and its master electrician's license with the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA) license lookup.
• Inside Fort Collins, confirm the contractor is registered with the City.
• Ask who pulls the permit, and make sure it is pulled before work starts.
• Ask for proof of insurance.
• Get a written quote that says whether the utility's service-upgrade costs are included.

Our guide on how to check a Colorado electrician's license walks through the lookup.

Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Repairing Aluminum Wiring (Publication 516). This is general information, not legal advice or an assessment of any specific home.