I recently had a TV cable repairman at my house and when he was checking the outlet and cable line running into my daughter’s room, he told me they were “hot” and I needed to have an electrician come out.
The electrician said the lines weren’t grounded and did so. My house is an older one and my understanding was that in the past, all outlets weren’t grounded and the only ones that really need to be are those which have major appliances plugged into them, such as the refrigerator, washer, and dryer. Is that correct or should every outlet in a home be grounded?
“The simple answer to your question is, yes, it is a good idea to have grounded outlets for motorized appliances and any other electronic item with a three prong plug,” says Tim Hennelly, owner of Casa Buena home inspections of Little Rock. “Any appliance or electronic item you buy which has a three-prong plug at the end of its power cord was designed to be plugged into a three-slot grounded outlet.”
“The main reason for this is to protect us from stray electrical current,” says Hennelly who defines a ground fault as “an unintentional connection between an ungrounded conductor and metal parts of enclosures, raceways, or equipment.”
If a wire was to become loose or disconnected in an appliance, it could make contact with the metal housing (the body or cabinet) of the appliance, he explains. Anyone making contact with the housing could become the conduit through which the electricity would flow. And that someone could be hurt.
“Some of us have experienced that electrical flow to some degree or another,” Hennelly says, adding that while it is a rare occurrence, it can happen. “I have seen people severely injured when they became the conduit for the stray electricity and it’s not a pretty sight.”
Some faults can occur that are strong enough to trip a breaker or fuse. Others may not be strong enough to trip the breaker, but could still be powerful enough to harm someone. If a properly grounded outlet is in use, when such a fault occurs, it is not harmful.
Do all the outlets in an older house have to be grounded? No, says Hennelly.
“A homeowner is not required to update their electrical system every time the electrical code changes,” he says. But, Hennelly adds, one exception to this would be when a house is remodeled. Under certain remodeling conditions, a requirement to upgrade a portion of the electrical system would apply.
Should a homeowner consider having some ungrounded outlets grounded? That would be prudent, the house inspector says. There are other steps a homeowner can take to improve the electrical safety of the house, even if it has an older two wire ungrounded system.
Homeowners can rewire the entire house, but this can be expensive and too costly for many homeowners.
Short of that, a home’s safety can be improved other ways, such as adding an additional circuit that provides several grounded outlets or by grounding older ungrounded outlets. Ground fault devices may also be installed.
Hennelly warns do-it yourselfers about tackling electrical projects.
“I went online to see what kind of information was on the Internet about this subject,” Hennelly says. “In the first two sites I went to, both of them had misinformation about some basic electrical facts. Short cuts and electricity are not a good combination.
“If you really want to do this right the first time, call a licensed electrician,” he advises, suggesting homeowners find a licensed electrician who will provide a free estimate. Working together to discuss what should be done, the homeowner and electrician can arrive at the best way to proceed.
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HomeStyle, Pages 35 on 05/25/2013