Grounding in an apartment: why is it necessary and how to create

The presence of household electrical appliances leads to the fact that the apartment must be provided with safe conditions for their operation. Our advice site will tell you why grounding is necessary, what its absence can lead to, and also find out what not to do in any case..

It is very simple to understand that there is no grounding in your apartment or that it does not work – you grabbed the body of the washing machine or dishwasher with a slightly damp hand and an electric shock struck you. Often, a stream of water flowing from the tap begins to shock. And it’s dangerous! If you stand on a wet floor and at the same time touch a faulty electrical appliance and a tap, you can get a fatal electric shock!

Why are there such problems? Because in old houses – until 1998 – the TN-C scheme was used. Since the beginning of the XXI century, it has been banned in our country. Developers are required to use TN-S, TNC-S and TT grounding schemes.

As you can see, the difference between the modern and outdated scheme for connecting an apartment building to the power supply is obvious even to non-specialists. According to the TN-S scheme, three cables go to the house, according to TN-C – only two. And there is simply no grounding, dangerous electricity has nowhere to go.

Devices whose housing is made of non-conductive materials – hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, media systems, power tools – belong to the II class of protection. They can be plugged into any outlet. But devices of class I of protection – dishwashers, refrigerators, boilers, ovens, electric hobs, washing machines – can be connected to the network only using three-pin plugs in special sockets to ensure grounding. So determine in advance where such class I appliances with a conductive housing will be located in order to provide a socket for a three-pin plug..

We repeat, if your house was built or overhauled, modernized in our century, then you most likely have grounding such as TN-S and TNC-S. You just need to make sure it works fine..

The residents of the “Khrushchevs” and “Stalinoks” may have problems with this. Let’s consider a typical situation: you decided to make repairs in the kitchen or bathroom, invited an electrician friend to install grounded sockets for dishwashers and washing machines. No problem – the specialist made the wiring with a three-wire cable, the sockets were purchased correctly, but there is simply nowhere to connect the yellow ground wire (PE) on the dashboard, which is located in the apartment or entrance. It is logical that the input into the house is of the old type, there is simply no third cable.

What absolutely cannot be done in such a situation:

1. Simply plug household appliances of class I into an ordinary socket without grounding. Problems in this case are guaranteed, you will receive electric shocks when using the device;
2. Do not connect the PE wire anywhere, leave everything as it is. It will be even worse, all devices that are connected to this line will start to “bite” with current;
3. Connect the protective wire to the radiators and heating pipes. We did it before, we admit. But this is a serious violation! Stray currents will accelerate corrosion of both pipes and radiators. In addition, you have no guarantee that the pipeline is in contact with the ground. The batteries themselves can start to shock. And not only with you, but also with the neighbors;
4. You should not do zeroing by connecting a jumper between “ground” and zero in the outlet itself or by connecting the yellow wire to the zero bus in the shield itself. It might work, but the risks of fatal errors are very high! In addition, this method of grounding is simply prohibited..

The only option is to install an RCD, the selection and installation of which the portal devoted a separate article to. Even if major repairs are not yet included in your plans, you still need to replace the old apartment panel, install an RCD.

Important! All work on the apartment panel can only be carried out by a qualified electrician with at least a second level of approval.

We strongly recommend that all new wiring around the apartment be made only with three-core wires and only use sockets with grounding.

As you can see, grounding in an apartment of a high-rise building differs from the arrangement of a safe power supply system in a private house. It is very important to do everything right, ensuring the safe use of all electrical appliances in the apartment..