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Hi ElectraHealth,
I tested an outlet near my bed with your surge suppressor that I just received, and it showed not grounded. I never use this outlet, nor have anything plugged into it, but I wanted to see if this was a health hazard because it's right near my daughter's bed.
Thank a lot,
Tatem
Woops I meant "off the charts" for the electric fields. If a 2-wire cable is feeding that outlet, then higher electric fields will be present. Sometimes the ground inside the outlet is just not hooked up to the outlet. But in an old house there could be old cable that does not even have an equipment grounding conductor.
It depends on how close your body is to the cabling and to the outlet, and everything you plug into it. It's definitely not a good thing, but a question of how much time you spend, how close, and how much dirty electricity, and a number of other variables. You may have "bigger fish" to fry when it comes to EMF/EMR exposure than this outlet. We could determine that by having a consult and getting a view into your home better.
ElectraHealth Principal
Click here for personal 1-on-1 help with me
Can shielded wiring help this?
Woops I meant "off the charts" for the electric fields. If a 2-wire cable is feeding that outlet, then higher electric fields will be present. Sometimes the ground inside the outlet is just not hooked up to the outlet. But in an old house there could be old cable that does not even have an equipment grounding conductor.
It depends on how close your body is to the cabling and to the outlet, and everything you plug into it. It's definitely not a good thing, but a question of how much time you spend, how close, and how much dirty electricity, and a number of other variables. You may have "bigger fish" to fry when it comes to EMF/EMR exposure than this outlet. We could determine that by having a consult and getting a view into your home better.
ElectraHealth Principal
Click here for personal 1-on-1 help with me
Shaun,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have a 3-prong outlet - but the (ElectraHealth) 7-outlet grounded usb charging adapter is showing not grounded. (But the "protected" light is green.)
I also tested it with a Belkin metal power strip that I have that lights up when the outlet is grounded and protected. (With this one as well, only the "protected" light is green, but not the grounded light.)
Yes, the house is old.
Luckily, since I moved into the house 12 years ago, I hardly ever used the outlet.
If I continue to not use the outlet or have anything plugged into it, is this still a huge concern? (I have no need for the outlet.)
Do I have some time before I fix it, or can this ungrounded outlet be creating more harmful than normal charges even when not in use?
I just want to make sure I understood.
Looking forward to hearing back from you,
Thanks Shaun,
Tatem
So you have a 3-prong outlet, but it is showing - with the 7-outlet grounded usb charging adapter? - that it is not grounded?
You can also test it with an outlet tester. It could be a broken ground, but could also be a 2-wire feed going to that outlet. Is the house old? This is definitely a huge cause for concern, because your electric fields could be off the charts. I would recommend not having any cords or strips plugged into that potentially ungrounded outlet until the reason can be determined.
ElectraHealth Principal
Click here for personal 1-on-1 help with me
Can shielded wiring help this?
2-wire cords are the worst for electric fields. 3-wire (cords with ground) cords are a little better. Shielded cords that are properly designed and grounded are the best. The only caveat to this is that in a home/building with typical unshielded "romex" or "NM" (non-metallic) cabling in the walls - that is the typical plastic-covered electrical cables...homes with this typical unshielded cabling can sometimes have cancellation effects between multiple circuits. In some instances replacing a cable with a shielded cable could increase electric field exposure if a cancellation effect was in place before. The switch to shielded would get rid of the cancellation effect. Usually shielding cords or replacing with shielded cords helps. But it's always important to measure to make sure that a cancellation effect was not lost and the readings have gone up.