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DIY & Home Improvement

In reply to the discussion: Electrical question [View all]

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
9. You've got a few options.
Sun Mar 9, 2014, 12:03 PM
Mar 2014

Option 1: Do nothing. There's not a whole lot of devices you regularly use that have a ground - that's why they only have two prongs on their plug.

Truly dangerous-for-people grounding situations should be covered by a GFCI outlet, and that doesn't actually need a ground to do it's job. GFCIs work by monitoring the current going out the hot, and back in the neutral. If there's more than a trivial difference, the GFCI breaks the circuit. The outlet doesn't use the ground, other than connecting it to a ground wire.

However, doing nothing does mean anything plugged into a surge protector isn't protected. Surge protectors route the surge to the ground. So if the ground isn't wired up, the surge protector can't do it's job.

Option 2: Truly rewire the house.

This is your most thorough, and most expensive option. Run new wire to everything and get a real ground. But it will cost a lot, and require repainting most of the inside of your house - the electricians will have to punch holes in the walls to run the wires.

The pluses are you know the wiring is new and modern, and you can add enough outlets to comply with modern code (at least 1 plug per wall, no spacing between outlets larger than 12 feet. 3 feet in a kitchen). If you're using a lot of extension cords, this could be handy. You should also use this opportunity to upgrade to a 200-amp panel, and circuit breakers.

Option 3: Do it piecemeal.

You can ground an individual outlet to the plumbing, and can do that one-at-time. There's some technical reasons where this is less ideal than the 'rewire' scenario above, but it's a lot cheaper. (Google "Ground loop" if you want to read about it. It's not likely to be a problem, but it is possible.) This lets you handle the surge protector situation mentioned above.

Electrical question [View all] Holly_Hobby Mar 2014 OP
He;s right. ret5hd Mar 2014 #1
Thank you...this is astounding to me Holly_Hobby Mar 2014 #2
The prime question is what is the wiring from the breaker box to the outlets? PoliticAverse Mar 2014 #3
The wiring is original, Holly_Hobby Mar 2014 #4
Your husband is correct BillZBubb Mar 2014 #5
Wrong, sorry... Callmecrazy Mar 2014 #18
Nope, you are wrong. BillZBubb Mar 2014 #22
Yes, you're technically correct. Callmecrazy Mar 2014 #23
He's right. JoeyT Mar 2014 #6
Yikes...I suppose the only fix is Holly_Hobby Mar 2014 #7
You've got a few options. jeff47 Mar 2014 #9
Thank you so much for taking the time n/t Holly_Hobby Mar 2014 #10
He's right Warpy Mar 2014 #8
Thank you - you won't believe where the fuse box is - Holly_Hobby Mar 2014 #11
Are your wires in conduit, flexible metallic cable or non-metallic cable (romex)? Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2014 #12
The current wiring is 2 wires, Holly_Hobby Mar 2014 #13
Just to be clear. Are you talking about the coating on the wires themselves or how the .... Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2014 #14
This is the most important answer... Callmecrazy Mar 2014 #17
do you think s house built in 1959 Wash. state Desk Jet Mar 2014 #19
My parent's house was a 50s house with cloth wire in thin wall pipe. Cook county Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2014 #20
Thanks bin sober, thats interesting Wash. state Desk Jet Mar 2014 #21
Jeff47's option 3 is a common cure. Wash. state Desk Jet Mar 2014 #15
If you go the route of grounding selected outlets Wash. state Desk Jet Mar 2014 #16
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