Tag: wiring

Why Does Electricity Have to Be Grounded?

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does electricity have to be grounded

“Grounded electricity” is a bit of a difficult concept to grasp for many homeowners. Fortunately, the pros at Roman Home Services are here to help answer all your questions about what grounded electricity means and how it works.

Difference Between “Grounding” and “Grounded”

While “grounded” and “grounding” sound the same, they have different meanings, specifically in the world of wiring and electricity. Before we get into the specifics, it’s important to know a bit about how electricity flows through your home. There are two wires that are needed to complete a circuit and the wiring in your home is no exception to this rule. Essentially, there are two wires you need to be aware of. The “hot” wire, which is black in color, carries the negative charge and the neutral or “grounded” wire, which is usually white or gray, carries the positive charge. These wires run side by side and do what they need to do to supply electricity into your home.

The wiring and electric system in your home is designed to discharge negative energy into the “ground” or basically the earth on which your house is standing. The “grounded” or neutral wires primarily have the job of returning the current to the ground. However, if there is a problem with these “grounded” wires (they have been chewed through, there is wood or a flammable material in its path), your electrical system has a backup plan. This is where the “grounding wires” come in—these backup wires run parallel to the hot and neutral wire, creating an alternative pathway for the electric current to follow just in case a fault, breakdown, short circuit or electrical fire occurs.

So, in short, the “grounded” wire is a neutral wire, connected to the earth, which helps supply electricity to your home. It is white or gray in color and is uninsulated. A “grounding” wire is part of a complex backup system underground. It provides an alternative pathway for the current, just in case there is an issue with the “grounded” wire.

How Do I Know if I Have Grounding Wires?

One way to tell if you have grounding wires is by looking at your outlets. If the outlet has a grounding connection, it has a round slot for the third prong of the plug—this slot is indicative of a system of grounding wires. While most homes have the complex system of grounding wires complete with circuit breakers, some older homes may not have this. If most of your outlets don’t have a third slot, chances are your home electrical system does not have a grounding connection.

Why Does My Home Need a Grounding Connection?

There is a simple answer to this question: Because it protects you and your appliances. Having a grounding connection prevents the likelihood of electrical fires and electrocution, which can be fatal for you and your family. Your power lines have a great deal of excess current and it’s best that there is a safe and separate pathway away from your home and its inhabitants.

Have More Questions about “Grounded” Electricity? Get in Touch with Roman Home Services!

This was a bit of a complicated blog, so we understand if you still have questions about whether electricity needs to be grounded or not and how you can add a grounding connection. Contact us with your concerns and our experienced electricians will be more than happy to help you. Call us at 414-369-3798 or schedule a service online!

Diagnosing a Short Circuit

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When a short circuit happens, you’ve got no choice but to drop whatever you’re currently doing. Something has gone wrong somewhere, and you can’t just ignore it and keep on pretending like nothing happened. But that’s just the first step in the process to restoring power to whatever just lost it. How are you supposed to know what caused the short circuit, and what can you do figure out where it happened?

Let the electrical experts at Roman Home Services guide you through it! Isolating the cause of a short circuit is a fairly straightforward process, but if you don’t know where to look, it can get complicated. We’ll walk you through the steps of tracing a short circuit so you can diagnose where your attention should lie. And if you’d rather just let a professional do the dirty work, we’ve got you covered!

First Things First: Cut the Power

Before you even start thinking about tinkering with volatile electrical components, cut the power to your breaker or fuse box. You don’t want to accidentally injure yourself doing something dangerous, so make sure that no power is running through the circuits you’re about to be inspecting.

As a double-safety precaution, turn off light switches and unplug any appliances you can think of. This is no time to skip being careful. It only takes a few minutes, and you’d rather take a bit longer to ensure your safety than risk serious harm because you were impatient.

Problem with the Circuit?

To find out where the short is, you’ve got to narrow down your options. Now that all your appliances are unplugged and your switches are turned off, reset the breaker. Either flip the switch or replace a fuse, depending on the type of box you have.

Next, see if the short has occurred again. If it happens immediately, then the odds are high that you’ve got a problem with a circuit itself or with your electrical system as a whole.

Find the Culprit

However, if none of the switches have tripped or no fuses have blown again, then you know the problem is somewhere in the house with a specific circuit. Go one-by-one, flipping light switches until the short happens again. Sometimes it’ll happen soon, but it may take some time until you figure it out.

But if it doesn’t happen at all, then you’ve only got one possibility left: it’s the fault of a specific appliance. Plug them in one at a time to see which one triggers the short, and you’ll have your answer. Either swap out your appliance for a new one, or call an electrician to fix it.

 

DIY electrical solutions can be dangerous, so you always need to observe proper electrical safety while you’re working on them. If you’d rather let a professional handle this potentially serious issue, let us solve your problem. The experts at Roman Home Services are well-versed in circuitry and can help identify your issue in no time.

Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to find out how we can help!

Is My Home’s Wiring Safe?

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Given that we use the electricity in our home all day, every day, we don’t always take into account the state of the wiring that gives us power. For the most part, we assume that it’s functioning as intended. However, there’s a chance that underneath it all, your home’s wiring could be a hazard waiting to happen.

How can you tell? Instead of continuously using electricity and hoping that nothing will go wrong, keep an eye out for a few telltale signs that your wiring needs to be replaced. Some are easily observable, while others you wouldn’t notice unless you’ve got a keen knowledge of the history of your home. Let Roman Home Services help you determine if you’re good to go or not, and give us a call if you think you’re at risk.

Home-Related Factors

This is one of those things we mentioned above that you wouldn’t be able to notice unless you know the information ahead of time, and you should. The wires that are installed in homes built more than 40 years ago have run their course. Eventually, they will break down and be more susceptible to sparks and fires, so we recommend having your home rewired if it fits that criteria.

Also, if you’ve recently had your home remodeled, it might be a good idea to have new wiring installed. For instance, if your home remodel included installing more heavy appliances or electrical additions, then your existing electrical grid might not be able to handle the extra strain.

What Type of Wiring?

Even if your home doesn’t fit one of those criteria, it might still be unsafe if you’ve got aluminum wiring. Homes were built with this type of wiring for a few years in the 1960s and 70s, but that was quickly abandoned once people realized that aluminum wiring oxidizes easily and can become exposed at connection points – which leads to fires.

If your home was constructed during that timeframe, it was likely outfitted with aluminum wiring. Although it probably isn’t an immediate danger, we still recommend having a rewiring job performed so you can put that concern to bed for good.

Everyday Visible Signs

Other reasons you’d need new wiring involve things you might encounter as you go about your day at home.

  • Arcing, or a visible current when you plug or unplug something from an outlet
  • Faulty lights, or ones that dim unexpectedly or flicker on and off without you doing anything
  • Frequently tripped breakers or blown fuses
  • A noticeable burning smell coming from electrical components

This isn’t a comprehensive list, so there are other things that would warrant a professional inspection. But these are particularly worrisome – should you notice them, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!

Roman Home Services’s team of expert electricians can come up with the ideal rewiring solution for your home. We’ll work with you to figure out how to best support the electricity you need to power your appliances, and we’ll make sure it’s all safe.

Give us a call at 414-369-3798 for more information or to speak with one of our team members!

Electrical Wiring Tips: What is Hot, Neutral, and Ground

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Before you perform any project or home improvement on your electrical system, you must have some understanding of how it works. Wiring is how electricity is distributed throughout your home, arguably making it the most crucial part of your electrical system. But how does wiring manage to transport electricity?

The answer becomes clearer when we look at the three roles wiring must fulfill: hot, neutral, and ground. These three components work in tandem to distribute power throughout your home, as well as help maintain electrical safety. It is recommended you understand each component’s capabilities.

For Milwaukee homeowners seeking electrical wiring tips, Roman Home Services has assembled a guide on hot, neutral, and ground wire. Follow our guide below to better understand your electrical system!

Hot Wire

Hot wire is used as the initial power feed to a circuit. It carries the current from the power source to the outlet. Acting as the first instance of a circuit, they are always carrying electricity, meaning it is dangerous to touch a hot wire while there is a power source feeding it.

Hot wire is identified by its black casing. This is the main color of hot wire for most homes. However, other hot wires can red, blue, or yellow, although these colors can indicate a different function besides powering an outlet. Regardless, all hot wire should be treated the same: do not touch hot wire unless there is no connected and operating power source.

Neutral Wire

Once hot wire has initialized the beginning of a circuit, there must be another wire to complete the circuit. This role is filled by neutral wire. Neutral wire carries the circuit back to the original power source. More specifically, neutral wire brings the circuit to a ground or busbar usually connected at the electrical panel. This gives currents circulation through your electrical system, which allows electricity to be fully utilized. Additionally, this prevents faulty or excess currents from residing in your outlet.

Neutral wires are identified by their white or gray casing. Although they may not always be circulating an electrical current, they should be handled with as much caution as hot wire.

Ground Wire

So, with hot and neutral already being used to make a circuit, what role is left? The answer is safety of course! Ground wire acts as defense against unstable electrical currents. Under normal circuit conditions, ground wire isn’t carrying any current. But when an electrical accident such as a short circuit occurs, the ground wire takes the unstable current away from your electrical system and sends it toward the ground.

Ground wire is easily identified by its green casing. But not all homes may have it. Although it is a requirement by the NEC for newly-built homes, older homes don’t always have a ground wire. To tell if your home has ground wire, check your outlets. If your outlets have three prongs, then your home has ground wire. If there are only two prongs, then ground wire may not be utilized. If the latter is the case, we recommend consulting with Roman Home Services to help determine if your home can be retrofitted with new ground wire.

Check back at Roman Home Services for more electrical wiring tips! And contact us for affordable and quality wiring and rewiring services. Give us a call at 414-369-3798 for Milwaukee’s leading electrical experts.

Related Links:

Electrical Grounding Made Simple – The Spruce

Upgrade a 2 Prong Outlet with a New GFCI – The Spruce