I am moving to a home with no ground plugs- what can I do to protect against ground faults?

Question

Maybe wording the question without the s-word will help it stick around.

Answer 1

If the pipes in the ground are plastic (they usually are), water pipes aren't the best choice for grounding. Not only your hardware is not protected, you can electrocute someone taking a bath.

There are ersatz solutions - two yards of an iron bar stuck in the ground vertically, or several yards of wire dug into the soil, but they won't beat a good grounding.

Answer 2

I would be somewhat concerned about the purchase of this house.  You say 50's era, but in most places grounded outlets were required by the 50's.  You would probably have to go back to the 30's or 40's to find a house that was wired as such.  Is the house really much older than you think?

I have had a few houses form the pre-50's and had to deal with the issue.  Indeed, you would have to replace all the outlets and somehow get a ground wire back to you main electrical box.  If the complete system is that old, the main is probably not very good either.  You may even have a problem with insurance coverage or getting a mortgage on a house with such an outdated system.  The only systems I've seen without a grounding system were old 60AMP fed systems, way to low of a power rating for a home today.  Dont think of plugging in an air conditioner, Large Flat scren TV, or even a lot of lights on the same line.  Most homes today are 200AMP services.  People even consider a 100AMP service obsolete these days.

The other issue, and to me even more important than the grounding issue, is that the old wiring in systems like this have brittled with age and the insulation broken down.  This is unsafe and a real fire hazard, the reason a mortgage company or insurance comapany may not approve the purchase or insurability of the home.

Even if you try replacing the outlets, when you remove the old ones and try replacing with new, you will run into problems with the wiring's insulation breaking or in your fingers.

The only real solution is a complete rewire, from the electric pole, to a new meter and breaker box, and all new wiring throughout.  If you do this, you are probaly talking $20,000 by the time you rewire it all and patch up any holes needed in walls or ceiling that may be required to run the new wiring.

  A home inspector would point this out in a minute.  If the town requires inspections or an occupancy permit before you move in, it would likely be denied because of this.

In any case, have this checked by a qualified home inspector and electrician.  It really is a safety hazard.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Here's someone with the same situation.

Answer 4

There are a couple answers here that are down right dangerous. Mainly the answers that suggest you ground directly to an electrode buried in the earth.

You can not ground directly to a buried electrode.

Why?

Because electricity does not try to go to ground, it simply tries to get back to its source.

In this case the source is the transformer.

The reason there is a voltage to ground from the transformer is because the center tap (neutral) of the transformers secondary winding is grounded to the earth. This is done to limit voltage between the live conductors and the earth and to provide protection from accidental contact with higher voltage sources and lightning.

In a home system you will notice that the ground rod, pipe or whatever electrode is used WILL be bonded to the neutral coming from the transformer. This is to provide a low impedance path for fault current to flow.

An electrode that is not bonded to the system neutral will not trip in the event of a line to ground fault. The breaker will not trip because the impedance of the earth, between the unbonded electrode and wherever the transformer is grounded (usually at the pole and again at the service) is simply too high to allow sufficient fault current to flow.

Don't believe me? Go and wire a breaker directly to an unbonded electrode. Turn the breaker on and it will not trip.

The National Electrical Code plainly states that the earth shall not be the sole equipment ground.

http://www.iaei.org/subscriber/magazine/...

http://www.iaei.org/subscriber/magazine/...

http://www.iaei.org/subscriber/magazine/...

http://www.iaei.org/subscriber/magazine/...

As far as GFCI's and the NEC are concerned, they are an acceptable substitute for grounding for the protection of personnel. They don't prevent shocks but are designed to trip quickly enough to prevent damage. The NEC allows you to replace an ungrounded receptacle with a GFCI (with a ground hole) on an ungrounded circuit. A GFCI will function without a ground and the little test button does adequately test them.

Answer 5

You have little choice if you want to be safe but have the grounds wired, at least to the receptacles that you want to use grounded equipment. Check that there is not already a ground wire in the back of the receptacle as I have seen that.

I disagree with the answer on the link above to use GFI's. These don't stop shocks or limit the current level, they only trip in the event. If its a bad shock or someone sensitive, then its too late by that point. Of course GFI's are good to have in addition to the correct grounding

You need a ground connection for grounded equipment, no option.

Answer 6

The circuits may be grounded to a water pipe, and the house rewired with grounded outlets.  Consult a licensed electrician.

Answer 7

buy a  piece of copper rod,3 feet long. pitch it into the soft soil near your house. Keep 1 foot copper rod above the soil. At the top,tight a gauge at least AWG # 8 copper wire,bare or not bare doesn't matter. bring this wire into you home,this is your electrical ground wire to be use for your GFI.