Your home wiring: is it safe?(Special Section: Home Fire Safety)

When you plugged in your new refrigerator, cranked up the air conditioner, or turned on the light to read this article, you probably didn't give a lot of thought to the wires carrying the electricity.

Few people do. After all, your home's electrical system is hidden in the walls. Homeowners and renters generally know so little about electricity that they tend to take potential problems too lightly or overlook them altogether.

But you need to pay attention to your home wiring no matter when your home was built or where you live, especially if you live in an older home. Thirty-nine thousand house fires and 350 deaths each year in the U.S. are caused by faulty home wiring and other electrical equipment, such as extension cords, lighting, and plugs, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

And at a time when many homes are increasingly susceptible to electrical problems, government oversight that's supposed to protect homeowners and renters is often fragmented and ineffective, CONSUMER REPORTS has found. Consider this:

* The nation's housing supply is aging. One-third of all homes--30 million--are more than 50 years old; half are at least 30 years old. Older homes often fall short of today's electrical-safety standards.

* Older homes in particular were not designed to handle rising electrical demand. Appliances may be more energy efficient than in the past, but they're bigger and we're using a lot more of them, which chronically stresses many homes' electrical systems.

* New electrical work in homes is supposed to be safeguarded by a system of licensing, permitting, and inspection by local officials. But homeowners often bypass that route because it takes more time and money. And governments are cutting staff and budgets for that critical oversight, or not paying for it to begin with.

* Problems with existing electrical systems--worn-out equipment and jerrybuilt "fixes" by successive owners of a home or an apartment building--may never be discovered. Localities typically don't require an electrical inspection when a property changes hands.

Debbi Porterfield thought her family was doing everything right when they bought their house in Rye, N.Y., which was built in 1875. Though the village didn't require inspections before or after the sale, Porter-field hired a home inspector whom the real-estate agent recommended. The inspector noted mostly minor problems.

So Porterfield, 44, a freelance writer, was concerned when a more thorough inspection by a licensed electrical contractor hired by CONSUMER REPORTS turned up some dangerous conditions. Burned wire insulation in a bathroom ceiling light, probably caused by a bulb with wattage too high for the fixture, could have started a fire near the children's bedrooms. In the garage,…