When you first buy a home you will have an electrical survey completed as part of the purchase process. This tells you of any electrical issues and allows you to plan to get them sorted. As part of this or any electrical inspection, you may hear the term ‘ungrounded outlet’. You would be right to wonder what this is and to be concerned.
If you have an ungrounded outlet you should consult your local electrician Sydney and get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.
The Ungrounded Outlet
Your electrical wiring in your home is composed of three wires.
- Live
This is the wire that delivers electricity to the outlet. It will be connected to a breaker in your electric panel and there should be one breaker for every circuit in your home.
- Neutral
The neutral doesn’t carry an electrical current until the outlet is in use, it then conducts it back to the main panel, completing the circuit and allows appliances to work properly.
- Earth
This is the third cable and is sometimes referred to as the ground. It also goes back to the main panel. But, it connects to other earth cables and is then channeled into the ground.
Its role is to take any electrical current that has escaped and return it to the ground. Electricity naturally goes to the ground. That’s why you won’t get an electric shock if you are not touching the ground directly or indirectly when hit by electricity. It’s an essential safety feature.
An ungrounded socket can be one of two things. It has just two points on the socket, telling you that there is no ground connection to the socket. This can signify the circuit was deemed as needing aground.
It can also be a standard three-point circuit but the ground isn’t connected. This could be a fault in the circuit or even tell you that none of your circuits are connected to the ground.
The Risk Of Ungrounded Outlets
As mentioned, electricity likes to head to the ground, it will pass through you if you are on the path of least resistance. During the process, it is likely to give you a nasty shock. In some cases, a mains electric shock can be fatal. The ground prevents this from happening.
If there is any problem with your circuits or outlets the escaping electrical current will go through the ground cable and safely away from you. But, if there is no ground the current can go through you, giving you the shock.
In other words, a circuit or outlet without a ground is much more likely to give you a nasty electric shock. That’s why your outlets should be checked regularly and any issue resolved.
Alongside this, an ungrounded circuit increases the risk of a fire as the electrical current will go somewhere. If its path crosses flammable material it can ignite it and start a fire in your home, which can be devastating.
