Ungrounded Outlets
How big of a deal are ungrounded outlets? This is one of the most common questions I get when inspecting older homes. Let’s dive a little deeper into the subject!
Modern electric receptacles have three slots connected to three wires – a hot, neutral, and ground. The round prong (normally on the bottom) is for the grounding conductor. Under normal circumstances, this wire does nothing and is only there to protect you if something goes wrong. If there is a short in the circuit, the ground wire will give the wayward current a path to the ground, and keep it from electrocuting you! One other thing to consider – most surge protectors utilize the ground wire to protect sensitive electronics from voltage surges. There are some surge protectors available that do not rely on a ground wire for protection, but they are very expensive and it is often more economical to run a new modern wire instead.
It is easy to determine which outlets are ungrounded by using a three-prong outlet tester which is available online or at any hardware store.
Outlet testers are inexpensive and will also find other issues with outlets such as open neutrals (usually a loose white wire) or hot/neutral reverse (outlet wired backward). It is possible to trick the outlet tester by installing a “bootleg ground”, which adds a jumper wire between the outlet’s neutral lug and grounding screw. The tester will show the outlet as normal, but in reality, it is ungrounded. A good home inspector should catch bootleg grounds if outlets are testing normally, but there is a lack of grounding conductors in the main panel.
The National Electric Code (NEC) has required grounds for receptacles since 1962. In my experience, many homes built before 1975 did not have ground wires installed. There are a few options to upgrade these two wire outlets to make them safer:
- Pull new three-wire romex to each outlet and the electric panel. While this is the best option and would bring the circuit up to modern standards, it is often impractical and expensive. However, this might be worth considering if extensive remodeling will be taking place.
- Replace ungrounded outlets with ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets. GFCI outlets will protect against shock and electrocution, but will not allow most surge protectors to operate correctly. This is usually the best option for homes that have just a few ungrounded outlets. It should also be noted that not all outlets on a circuit would need to be replaced. A single GFCI outlet will protect all other outlets downstream. Finding the first outlet on the circuit is the tricky part!
- Replace standard circuit breakers with GFCI breakers. GFCI breakers will protect against shock and electrocution, but will not allow most surge protectors to operate correctly. This is usually the most cost-effective solution for homes where most (or all) of the outlets are ungrounded.
Ungrounded outlets are very common in older homes. The good news is, there are ways to make easy upgrades that will make them safe without breaking the bank. Just remember that sensitive electronics might not be protected when using surge protectors on ungrounded outlets, even if GFCIs are installed. Expensive electronics should always be plugged into a surge protector that is on a grounded outlet, even if you have to run a new wire from the electric panel. Better safe than sorry!