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Is Your House Properly Grounded? How You Can Tell

Is Your House Properly Grounded? How You Can TellHow To Tell If Your Home Is Properly Grounded

Grounding is a crucial aspect of your home’s electrical system, though it’s probably one you don’t think about too often. It ensures that your appliances and electronics work properly and safely when they’re plugged in, and it often protects you from electric shocks if something goes wrong with your wiring.

Your house is likely properly grounded if you live in a modern home with an up-to-date electrical system. Unfortunately, there’s still a lot that can go wrong with a home’s wiring, and that includes faulty grounding. While you should always call a licensed electrician if your electrical system needs major repairs, you can still check to make sure that your house is properly grounded.

What Is Grounding, and Why Is It Important?

Electricity always follows the path of least resistance. When an appliance is plugged into a functional electrical outlet, that path is the circuit that allows the appliance to work correctly. If there’s a problem with the appliance or the outlet, electricity could flow outside the circuit, turning you into the path of least resistance if you touch it and giving you a nasty electrical shock.

On the other hand, if the outlet is grounded and something is wrong with an appliance, the electricity will flow back through your home’s wiring and safely into the ground. In short, grounding is a safety measure that protects you and your appliances from harm. Without proper grounding, your home could be vulnerable to electrical fires, power surges, or worse.

How to Make Sure Your Home is Properly Grounded

Suppose you live in a modern home and you’ve had your electrical system upgraded and inspected regularly. In that case, your home is probably already properly grounded. Grounding issues are more likely to affect older homes with wiring systems installed before 1965. If these homes are grounded at all, it’s likely through a metal conduit or cable.

The best way to know whether your home is properly grounded is to look at your electrical outlets. They should all be three-pronged outlets, which means they have two narrow slots and a U-shaped hole underneath them, which is the grounding element.

Having three-pronged outlets still doesn’t guarantee that your home is grounded, especially if you live in an older home. Many older houses have replaced their two-pronged outlets with three-pronged versions without being properly grounded. Fortunately, there’s another test you can perform with your outlets to make sure that this isn’t the case.

To test your outlets to make sure that they’re all grounded, you’ll need a device called a multimeter. First, turn the multimeter to the highest AC voltage range available and insert the test probes into the hot and neutral slots (or the two narrow slots) of the outlet. Remove the probe from the smaller slot and insert it into the U-shaped ground terminal. If the reading on the multimeter doesn’t change, the outlet is properly grounded. Repeat the test for every outlet in your house; don’t assume that every outlet is grounded.

Final Thoughts

If you find that your outlets are not properly grounded or you aren’t comfortable testing them yourself, don’t hesitate to call Service Minds Mister Sparky in Fort Myers, FL for assistance. Our expert electricians can test your outlets to make sure that they are safely grounded and make any electrical repairs necessary to keep your home and your family safe.

So remember when it comes to your electrical system and keeping your home safe, don’t put up with any malarky. Call Mister Sparky. We’re always available when upgrading your home’s wiring or repairing a faulty electrical outlet.

 

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