Importance of Ground Wiring a Home

Below are assembled five facts that drive home the point that it is essential to have ground wiring in your home. Every event is just as critical as the one before it and the one after. A home without grounding can become a home with critically dangerous consequences attached to not being prepared for electrical storms, or faulty wiring went wrong. It is estimated that before 1965, when NEC required grounding wires to be added to every home, there were more than 800 fatalities per year being caused by faulty wiring in homes. Recent reports show that there are fewer than 200 fatalities per year now, with the new wiring rule intact. The problem that many older homes still operate with non-updated wiring in the house. If you believe you have a home that is still using the two-wiring system than the one enforced by NEC in 1965 with the grounded wiring added to contact an electrician or DIY check your home.

First Fact

Ground wiring can protect against electrical surges. Ground wiring is essential during electrical storms producing high electrical currents. During an electrical storm, a grounded home is set to send the excess electrical current into the ground rather than be absorbed by the appliances and thereby protecting your devices.

Second Fact

Installing electrical ground wire in a home will result in stabilizing the electrical current in the house. Regardless of how many sockets are struck by a lightning bolt, all the excess electricity uses the same reference in delivering the excess into the ground through the ground wiring.

Third Fact

The ground doesn’t resist the electricity that passes through it, while a circuit will accept the electrical current up to its resistance point. By having a home grounded any electrical surge above, the capacity of the voltage limit of the house will be directed to the ground and, therefore, won’t receive resistance from the ground. Essentially dirt is not a good conductor and, therefore, not good ground. A poor conductor does not transfer heat well and the reason why the earth is called a poor conductor of electricity and makes it safe to send excess electrical heat from a hot wire in the house.

Fourth Fact

A grounded home can prevent severe injury or death. When referring to the two types of conductors, we can now understand that some materials are inferior in conducting like ground, rubber, glass, and wood. On the other hand, some natural or human-made elements are good at conducting an electrical current like silver, mercury, steel, iron, and gold, or seawater. When a home is not grounded, and an electrical surge takes place, the excess electricity needs to flow, and if not pointed to the ground, then it will be absorbed by electrical outlets and appliances. A person holding an appliance with high conductivity could be at risk of harm. If a person is inside a home and their home is grounded, they are safe and free from being struck by lighting. It is more likely that a home without proper grounding will catch fire during an electrical storm and thereby put the members of the house in a dangerous circumstance.

Locating an Electrician for Home Inspection

While a homeowner is in doubt whether their home has old wiring that needs to be grounded, they can contact a local residential electrician. Perform a search on the internet using simple terms like “Best electrician on Brisbane North.” The first part of the search terms tells the search engine what you are searching for, and the second part of the search term tells the search engine where you need the service performed.

Fifth Fact

Ground wiring can improve the safety of a home. In older homes, which used two-wiring systems, could either cause blown fuses and power surges, which can be a severe hazard in a home. The problem is that two-prong outlets cannot provide sufficient power. Smaller appliances can work on a two-wiring system. When larger devices are added to the system, it can easily cause a surge. It can ultimately cause the fire to the wood in a house. An indication of older wiring is flickering of lights or blown outlets.