Historic core, newer edges
Golden is one of the oldest towns in Colorado, and the streets around downtown and the Colorado School of Mines still hold homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Those houses have usually been rewired in stages, so it is common to find a modern panel feeding some circuits that have never been touched. Rental homes near campus see heavy use and plenty of extension cords.
Away from the core, neighborhoods built from the 1960s onward climb into the hills. There the work is lighting, ceiling fans, outdoor fixtures exposed to wind and sun, and planning for outages.
Wind, fire weather and planned shutoffs
Golden sits right against the foothills, so strong downslope winds are part of life, and they are hard on service masts, outdoor lights and anything loose on the outside of a house. On high-wind, high-fire-risk days Xcel Energy has used planned Public Safety Power Shutoffs along the Front Range foothills, which makes a safe backup-power plan worth thinking about.
A portable generator must never be plugged into a house outlet. It needs a proper transfer switch or interlock so it can’t feed power back onto the line. Golden has its own building division for permits and inspections inside city limits.
Golden questions
Asked in Golden.
Straight answers for Golden homeowners. More in our full electrical Q&A.
How do I prepare my Golden home for a planned power shutoff?
Decide what you actually need to keep running, usually the furnace blower, the fridge, some lights, a phone charger and any medical equipment. Then plan a safe way to power it: a properly connected generator with a transfer switch or interlock, or a battery system sized for those loads.
Never backfeed a house through an outlet with a ‘suicide cord’. It can electrocute a lineworker or a neighbor and can start a fire.
Is the wiring in an old Golden house safe?
It depends on what has been done to it over the years, not just its age. Old wiring that was installed well and left alone can be in decent shape; wiring that has been extended, spliced and overloaded by many owners is where problems hide. An electrical inspection tells you which you have.
Do you go up into the foothills above Golden?
Genesee and the areas just above Golden are on our service list. Call with your address and we will tell you straight whether we can get to you.