Public Service Announcement: Is your house grounded?

Hey~

I just want to make a quick public service announcement:

Is your house grounded?

I am in the process of getting solar power. Yesterday, the city came out to inspect the installation. To my surprise, it did not pass inspection. Why? Because my house’s electrical system is not grounded. What?

My house was built in 1972. So, it is not too terribly old, but old enough to have not been built with grounded electricity. I assumed that it was because the outlets are three pronged. But that may not mean anything.

Change in electric cords.

For safety purposes, more and more electric cords were designed to be used in grounded outlets. More and more appliances used three pronged electric cords. In order to use these cords, there were two basic options. They needed to use an adapter which would convert the two prong outlet into a three prong outlet. Or the house had to be re-wired to add ground wires. It seems that sometimes people will replace two pronged outlets with three pronged outlets without the grounding wire. I have only had this house a year. I did not do this, but apparently some previous owner did.

What does it mean to you?

I am no electricity expert, but I do know that the purpose of the three wire grounding system is to prevent power surges and electrical fires. You say hey, I have power surge protection. But, from my research, if your home is not properly grounded, they may not work. You may also be like me and have those GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets. But that still does not make your house as safe as being properly grounded.

What to do?

Well, you should contact an electrician. First, if your home is older than when grounded wires were automatically built into the home (check your local inspector for information) have your outlets checked. Remember, those three pronged outlets may not be grounded, and that alone is dangerous. And do it yourself inspections are not reliable. Second, if your home is not grounded, ask the electrician what would be best for you. Could be re-wire the home. Could be what I am doing and getting grounding rods installed. It could be getting your water line grounded. Hey, this is electricity. Don’t fool around. Be safe.

OK, I hope you found this helpful.

Lisa Y coaching