How dangerous is it exactly to live in a house that is not grounded? I mean that the entire house's electricity system is old and was never grounded when built 50+ years ago. Please reply.
Hi there,
I am Irish, living in Spain.
My current house is not grounded, at all.
I was watching The Earthing Movie, and somehow ended up watching you guys on YouTube.
I'm worried because my 7 year old daughter and I sometimes do 'spark' off of each other - usually when I am working on my laptop - which is a lot of time - we get little sparks if we touch arm to arm for example.
I wasn't sure if this was serious.
So, my question is; How dangerous is it exactly to live in a house that is not grounded? I mean that the entire house's electricity system is old and was never grounded when built 50+ years ago.
We have also gotten some small sparks off other surfaces over the last year that we have been renting our home.
Apparently, in Spain, it's very normal for houses not to have had the electricity grounded.
But is this very dangerous to our health?
Please reply.
Many thanks,
Niamh
niamhyoga@gmail.com
The chances are that the house is grounded through the electrical system. You may not have ground rods, but there should be a third wire which is ground coming to the house. Or do you only have 2 wires coming to the house?
You are on 240 volt system there, and the electrical distribution system is designed very differently than in the US. There are pros and cons of grounding the house with ground rods (earth electrodes).
The use of "grounding" or "earthing" equipment to connect to the body seems to be able to offer benefits to many. We have heard a great deal of positive anecdotal evidence that it can help health. However, there are also risks. I ESPECIALLY do not recommend the use of any of those types of products while at or near electronics such as computers. This could be VERY bad. I DO recommend that the computer (laptop) itself be grounded. We have a number of adapters that will ground your laptops. This has been shown measurably and also through anecdotal reports to help. Measurable it can help greatly.
I would not worry about it too much to be honest, Niamh, about whether or not the house itself is grounded with rods or not. I would look at the wires coming to the house and see if it is grounded - are there 3 wires or only 2? Or are there metal pipes underground such as water coming to the house? If so, it is very likely connected to your electrical system either purposely or inadvertently.