Dawson's Electric is the electrician to call for electrical grounding in Raleigh, NC. According to the National Electrical Code, your home’s electrical system must have a built-in path to the ground. It serves as a vital safety mechanism in the event of a lightning strike or other power surge.
Without it, your home could catch fire from the excess voltage or you could receive a fatal shock if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can count on our electricians to see to your home’s grounding needs, protecting it and you from harm.
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Expert Grounding Service in Raleigh
When electrical service became common in homes here in Raleigh, ungrounded, two-pronged outlets were common. It wasn’t until the 1960s that electrical codes began requiring a path to the ground in homes. A ground path means exactly what it sounds like. It is a wire that connects your home’s electrical system to the ground.
In the early days, this was typically accomplished by running a wire to a home’s incoming water pipe. If you own an older home, this may be how your home’s electrical grounding works. However, this may no longer function as intended.
The replacement of water infrastructure over the years could have included the use of PVC piping. That would have interrupted your home’s electrical path to the ground. In that case, you would be vulnerable to fires and electrocutions from unexpected power surges. Plus, your home’s outlets wouldn’t be protecting your devices and appliances as they should.
FAQs
Yes, an electrical box needs to be grounded. Ensuring that the electrical components in your home are grounded protects your safety and the safety of your home. When an electrical box is grounded, that allows for shocks and surges of electricity to flow to the grounding point of the system rather than to you or your home. It is a good idea to make sure that your electrical boxes are grounded because it also prevents your appliances from becoming damaged due to a strong electrical surge. To get your electrical box grounded, contact us today.
Each electrical system in your home should be grounded. To ensure that your home is grounded at a basic level, you should check your outlets to make sure that they are three-prong rather than 2 prong, as the third hole is for grounding. Appliances and devices that come with cords that have three prongs have a grounding component built-in. When it comes to making sure your entire home is grounded properly, you should call an electrician to get it inspected. To get your electrical systems inspected, give us a call today.
To run a ground wire to an electrical panel box, start by:
Turning off the power to the electrical panel.
Knock out the circle on the side of your breaker box with a hammer and a screwdriver.
Run the wire into the electrical breaker’s box.
Connect the wires to their respective connection points.Depending on if you have a two or three-wire cable, the connection points will vary. When it comes to running a ground wire to your electrical panel box yourself, you should ensure that there is no power to the electrical panel box before you begin working on it. Call us today to get help running a ground wire to your electrical panel box.
To check if your house is properly grounded, you will need a circuit tester.If you have a circuit tester you should:
- Put the red probe inside the small outlet slot.
- Put the black probe in the larger outlet slot.
- Check for an indicator light.
If you do not see an indicator light, switch the probes to see if it was grounded in reverse.
If an indicator light never shows up, then the outlet is not grounded and you should refrain from using it. Another way to check to see if your house is properly grounded is to make sure that your outlets are three-prong, rather than 2 prongs since the third hole is a grounding component. To get your house’s electrical systems inspected, contact us today.
- Protection against overvoltages
- Reduced risk of electrical fires
- Reduced risk of electrocution
- Reduced electrical line noise
Today’s electrical codes require that your home has a path to the ground with a resistance of 25 ohms or less. To accomplish that, we may install more than one ground rod outside of your home. A ground rod is a metal rod that’s between 8 and 10 feet long. It gets installed into the earth near your home and connected to your electrical panel via a wire.
Typically, a two-rod system will see each installed at least 6 feet from the other. That provides ample room for electrical dissipation in the event of a power surge.
Your Electrical Grounding Specialists
Dawson's Electric is the place to call for your home’s grounding needs in Raleigh. We’re a small, locally-owned electrical contractor with deep roots in the community. We’re fully licensed and insured and can help you make sure your home complies with all relevant electrical codes.
We’ve served local homeowners since 2005, amassing an impressively long list of positive reviews in that time. We’re Better Business Bureau accredited with an A+ rating, too.
So, when you need electrical grounding services in Raleigh, call Dawson's Electric right away!
