“Electricians, seeking advice on replacing aluminum with copper in a seventies house: is running a cable down the cold air return okay, and how to handle dead aluminum cables?”
Asked by Lubomir Simić 
7 months ago
Last Updated: May 13, 2024
Hey electricians, I have a couple of questions for you. I’m in the process of swapping out the aluminum wiring in a house built in the seventies with copper. Firstly, is it safe to run a cable along the cold air return? And secondly, what’s the best way to handle dead aluminum cable runs? Thanks for your input!
It’s never okay to be inside the cold air return. It’s fine to work alongside it. Make sure to safely end the aluminum conductors that you can’t remove by using taped wire nuts and get rid of all reachable aluminum conductors
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Just a heads up, you’re not supposed to use the return.
If you can reach the wires, go ahead and remove them. But if you can’t reach them, just leave them as is. Unless you’re completely redoing everything, there’s no need to take things out
Hey, could you please ask those girls to clean up their mess?
Totally agrees!