Grounding Solutions for House Wiring

Ground Wire

• You can ground an ungrounded outlet by running a ground wire to the equipment grounding bar found in your breaker box or in the electrical service box outside your house. Ground wires might also be run to the grounding electrode conductor, which is a wire attached to an 8-foot ground rod situated within 5 feet of the water meter. The National Electric Code allows the ground wire to be run along the existing wiring.

Water Pipe

• Residential electrical systems were originally grounded to the main water pipe, which was metal but, according to the NEC code, that isn’t enough now because plastic water pipes and non-conducting fittings are more commonly used. Another problem with grounding to your water line is that the water meter has rubber or neoprene bushings that break the continuity. Instead of, or in addition, to grounding to your water pipe, the NEC recommends burying copper-clad grounding rods in the foundation or the earth outside your house. These supplemental grounding electrodes are also required by some local municipalities when you sell your home or do new electrical work.

Electrical Outlets

• Older homes were equipped with polarized outlets instead of grounded outlets. Polarized outlets have two vertical slots, while grounded outlets have a round hole beneath the vertical slots. The round slot accepts the grounding conductor and is connected to a ground wire. Sometimes homeowners replace a polarized outlet with a grounded outlet to make it easier to use three-pronged appliances but this is a violation of the NEC code unless a new grounded wire is installed to the outlet at the same time. An exception is made for outlets protected by ground-fault circuit interrupters, also known as GFCIs.

GFCIs

• GFCIs are designed to detect small differences in current and interrupt the power in the circuit so you don’t receive an electrical shock. A GFCI outlet isn’t the same as a grounded outlet, but it’s usually safer, according to David Valley, a Massachusetts certified home inspector. GFCIs can be installed as outlets or as circuit breakers, and they’re one of the easiest and least expensive solutions to the problem of having an ungrounded house.