Thanks to their respective colors, aluminum and copper should be easy to tell apart. However, there are some other signs such as the markings on the terminal – if it shows ‘CO/ALR’, this stands for ‘copper/aluminum revised’. Whenever you see ‘AL’, this means that there is aluminum within and this can be found on the wire jacket wherever wires are visible in the house. In some cases, the word ‘aluminum’ will show as will the brand name which only requires a little research to find the material.
Finally, we should also point out that the date of the home itself should give an indication as to the wiring. As we said earlier, the period between 1965-1973 was rife for aluminum as copper was so expensive. If the home was built during this time, it is highly likely that aluminum wiring exists.
