Home electrical system?

Question

We're looking to update our home electrical system. With the exception of the new kitchen added about ten years ago, the rest of the house has older, two prong outlets. We want to change these out for three prong, grounded outlets for obvious safety reasons. We were told if we didn't have a ground wire behind the older outlets, we could replace the outlets with GFCI outlets without having to connect a ground wire. This doesn't sound safe. We have given some thought to simply having the rest of the house rewired, but that could get expensive. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Go ahead and invest in rewiring the home.

You will most likely need to replace your circuit box, meter base, mast, entrance wires, and possibly, the utility will want to change the transformer supplying power to you and your neighbors.

As to the idea of replacing your old outlets with GFCI outlets.... while the GFCI outlet itself is safe to use, it would not eliminate the hazard presented by leaving the old wiring in place. I would be more concerned about that, than whether I had a 2 prong, or 3 prong outlet.

You can disconnet the old wiring, at the circuit box, and leave it in the walls, when updating. Replacing the meter base, mast, and/or entrance wires may need to be done by a licensed electrician, or, you may need to have a permit from your local inspector, so be sure to contact them for information, before starting this project.

Yes, you could simply add ground wire to all your boxes, when replacing the outlets, if the existing wire is in good condition. If you still have the old cloth wrapped wires, replace them, and as soon as possible.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) must have that ground wire in order to function. If you install it with only two wires then you have just a common 2-wire plug--might as well just install a regular wall plug and save a lot of money, for the good it would do. Older homes having the 2 prong plugs are a good indication that you have the old style wiring--no ground wire. If you want to upgrade your home , then there"s only one way , and that is to put in new wiring. Your old wires might even be smaller(14 awg) than what is normal to use today(12awg) and also some might be on a 15amp fuse/breaker instead of 20amp normal today. All this means , if so ,is less power for you besides having no ground wire for safety. Sorry---there"s no easy way out. Merry Christmas.

Answer 3

who ever told you to put in gfci's is completely wrong because if there is no ground wire a ground fault (gfci) receptacle will never work EVER!! ive been a electrician for 10 years. but u should have a ground in the box . it might be on a screw inside the box the safe way to do it would be to get 3 prong plugs and run a wire from receptacle ground to the screw in the back of the box where the other wire is connected to the box itself and that will also get your job done easy and is up to present day electrical codes hope this helps

Answer 4

glad to see safety is the major concern. you might be able to just add gfci outlets ...if the wire covering is metal, (bx cable) the metal cover would be the ground. or ..... if the cover is vinyl (romex) and has a ground wire in it. you won't be able to if you have knob and tube wiring unless you have a ground wire run to the outlet. and if you are going to do that, you'd be better off running new wires. as far as doing the work yourself, it depends on the ordinances where you live, weather or not it's legal. get a few estimates from electricians and ask around for who is good. good luck, happy holidays!!

Answer 5

There aren't many options here. If you're using a Multi-tester and getting a 110 volt, or thereabouts, reading at the recepticle then either the lamp plug is not making contact with the sides of the recepticle, or the switch is turned off or there's a problem with the lamp, bulb, etc. In most electrical circuits, the voltage shifts back and forth from neutral to hot, 60 times/second, it's called alternating current, (AC), so if you've got power then something is wrong with the unit you're plugging in.

Answer 6

the reason they told you .. to install a gfci is that it doesnt need a ground. gfci monitors the voltage. its legal and in the code book.. only problem with the gfci idea is that the other outlets would have to feed from the gfci.. being gfci---outlet1---outlet2-----outlet3 etc. If it was me i would look to re-wire the house. only other way is to run a ground wire to each outlet.. in some cases it can be pretty cheap

Answer 7

Back to basics. If your house was wired using metal boxes and metal cable or conduit [Chicago] then all that metal if properly installed provides a continuous path to ground .
All you really need to do then is buy ,pre-wired green grounding screws or ground clips , securely anchor them to the metal boxes and then pig tail a wire coming from the new receptacle[s].There are many products available just for this purpose.

Answer 8

You can not legally do any major electrical work to your home without a permit if you live inside the city limits. The permit itself usually can not be obtained unless you have a license. You'll have to check with your city hall because permit issuance and requirements vary by city. If a permit is required, you must obtain it prior to purchasing materials and beginning the project. If you don't, the city can levy a fairly hefty fine. You will also need to review the inspection process with the city. If you don't complete all the inspections before the permit expires they can force you out of your home until the inspections are passed. (I'm not kidding about this. It happened to one client.)

Answer 9

My suggestion is to read a electrical book from home depot or Lowe's. I think you can just hook up the ground to the box, but I am not exactly sure.