Inadequate wiring

Assuming an equipment grounding conductor is present, is the wiring inadequate because you are using too many lights? too many floor lamps? too many radios and TVs? That is seldom the case. The wiring usually is inadequate because you have added many electrical appliances that were not considered or perhaps were not even on the market at the time of the original wiring job. The installation does not provide enough circuits to operate a wide assortment of small kitchen appliances, plus range, water heater, clothes dryer, room air conditioners and other heavy appliances. Some of these operate on 240-volt circuits, which may not be available; others operate at 120 volts but when plugged into existing circuits they overload those circuits. In addition, the service entrance equipment may be just too small for the load.