Earthing Work
Probably one of the most important safety aspects of an Electrical system is correct earthing (or grounding) throughout the installation. Knowing why and what things need to be earthed is not always clear and I often have to explain to my customers in Leeds why things need to be earthed and the potential dangers of not having the correct earth system in place.
WHAT DOES THE EARTH WIRE DO?
Earth wires within your Electrical system usually connect all switches, sockets and any other parts back to where the mains supply and Consumer unit or fuse board is. This will then connect to the mass of earth or ground either by a method provided by the Electric supplier, or onsite of your property.
The basic function of connecting everything to Earth is to ensure that should a fault occur, any electrical fault current will flow down the earth wire and blow the fuse or breaker to disconnect the supply.
Electricity is always trying to find its way to the the ground (think lightening!). The path to earth provided by the installed earth wires should always be of a lower resistance than any alternative paths which may become present under a fault, such as through a persons body through their feet to the ground they are stood on. This means that should something go wrong with the wiring, the electricity will always ‘prefer’ to take the path down the earth wires as this is the easiest route to earth.
