Grounding

[lilcary]

My mother and I have moved into a new house and I was just checking the receptacles with my digital multimeter and I have found that most of the outlets in the house are not grounded. Is this a major problem, can this be easily fixed, and is this something that I can fix myself?

[Hube]

Is this a NEW house (just recently built) or just new to you (how old )Post info with a description of the electrical service panel specs. Hube

[lilcary]

The house isn't new, it is probably like 20 or 30 years old. There is a breaker box in the basment.

[jackofall]

It's not that big of a deal but less of a chance of problems if the ground is there. Reality is the ground and nuetral wires go to the same place at the panel (THE EARTH). There may be a few advantages by the ground wire that I don't know so running a new circuit or two for the computer and tv/stereo type things, most of the other things (alarm clocks, lamps, ect...) only have 2 prong type plugs so I wouldn't worry about those.

[lilcary]

OK, thanks for the advice.

[kactuskid]

Any receptacle outlets that you now have should be of the 2 prong type or GFCI if no ground is present. You can however check to see if a ground is present through the metal electrical box that the receptacle is in. You will need a multimeter to do this. If a ground exist then you can install 3 prong receptacles. A grounded receptacle is safer than an ungrounded one. Here's a link to show you how to test an outlet and the details for replacement.
http://www.codecheck.com/250_50_commentary.html