I have been replacing all of the outlets that I can in this 17 year old home, but I now realize I should have been looking at the wall switches as well. Now mind you, 2005 was NOT the dark ages of the National Electric Code, even here in South Carolina, but being a rental for all of it's life, plus mediocre choices in wiring means it's time to spend some cash on everything.
Honestly I haven't really thought about replacing the light switches except for adding TP-Link's Kasa automated switches, but it's a good thing I have. Take a look at these switches pulled from the bedroom.
I did not know that there were back stabbed switches as well as outlets, and here's a perfect example of why these connections are shitty. Both of these switches came from the same box in the bedroom. If I hadn't pulled them out I might never have known there was a fire risk lurking in there. Notice the red circles on the switch on the right. Not only are there scorch marks but the insulation has been broken off. Very likely during some remodeling or painting some one got really rough with that switch, broke the insulation and didn't think to replace it. I strongly suspect someone at some point knew this thing had caught fire, shoved it in anyway and kept going. This thing was a fire waiting to happen.
Almost all of my wall outlets were back stabbed as well, but I have yet to see that kind of scorching there. Instead it's the GFCIs which have been scary. One bathroom outlet had some plastic insulator stuck in the ground hole:
and this one from the half-bath has clearly started to corrode:
I guess my point to all of this is that if you have a home that isn't new construction and spent time in the hands of renters it may very well be time to replace all your switches and outlets.
