When you walk around your house and flip a light switch you assume the power will be there, and it usually is. Sometimes electricity is something that we take for granted, but as any Arizona electrician knows, the electricity that powers your home is delivered directly to your house from the electric company to your house via two “hot” 110 volt wires. The electricity is returned through a common wire that needs to be connected to the ground (aka grounded). In the past the wire was simply attached to one of the cold water pipes in your home but the current standards set forth by the National Electrical Code mandates that the wire must have a separate grounding path. The separate ground is typically made by putting a metal stake in the ground and connecting the wires to your home’s electrical panel.
In some instances, recently, copper thieves have been making the rounds in some neighborhoods and snipping these ground wires. They take the copper and resell it. What does this mean for you? The electricians at Cirtcele Electric explain that the “metal stake” should be a copper ground rod or a “ufer ground system” preferred in dry climates such as Arizona.
When your Arizona electrician talks about your house being “grounded” he means that literally and this grounding acts as a backup in the event a neutral wire within the house or an electrical appliance fails. If your house isn’t grounded the risk of an electrical shock increases. As your electrician knows, the ground wires are typically yellow or green and this makes them easy to differentiate from the other hot or neutral wires.
Within your home, black wires are usually the “hot” wires and carry the electrical currents from the outlets to your appliances. In some cases, hot wires may also be red. The white wires in your electrical box are those that carry the electrical currents away from the device. If a white wire becomes damaged, the currents are no longer carried away from the appliance and without this and/or a ground wire, again there is a potential for an electrical shock.
The ground wire on your house is connected to your circuit breaker which will be “tripped” if the neutral wire becomes damaged or nonfunctional. If your circuit breaker is activated, the electrical current traveling through it will be stopped immediately reducing the risk of injury.
While your appliances will function normally even if the ground wires are no longer there or functional, you run the risk of electrocution if a large amount of high voltage comes in contact with the appliance. The reason for this is that there will be nothing to break the current. When you consider that a ground wire is essentially insurance against damage to your appliance and injury to yourself in the event the neutral wire loses functionality, the ground wire ensures the appliance won’t give off an electrical shock.
Whether you’re in the process of buying a new home or are in your family home, you need to ask your electrician or a home inspector to inspect the ground wire as well as the rest of your home’s wiring. Faulty wiring can lead not only to shock but to a fire as well.
The qualified electricians at Cirtcele are available to perform inspections of your home’s wiring to help make certain your home is properly protected and that your home’s wiring is up to code.
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