Connection & Conductivity

Does an electrician need to come to your home to and see if your outlets are grounded properly?

In North America, most modern homes have a functional electrical grounding system that interfaces with the Earthing plug-in cord. If you have a house built before the 1960s, and outlets do not have a third hole (ground port), you will either need to use a ground rod or call an electrician to update the wiring.
Earthing products come with a simple outlet checker. You just stick it in your wall outlet and it lights up if you have a good ground.  You then just plug the accompanying Earthing cord into the third hole and you are good to go.

Outside of North America, you will also have to use a ground rod if your home’s electrical system is not properly grounded (earthed).  If it is grounded, you will have to obtain a grounded North American adapter for the outlets.

If you live in an old apartment building without grounded electrical outlets and cannot place a ground rod outside in the Earth, what can you do?

If you don’t mind a wire running through your apartment, you could connect (clamp or tape) the prong end of the Earthing cord to the cold water pipe under your bathroom sink.  The pipe is part of the building’s water supply system, which originates underground, and is thus grounded.  Make sure that the pipe is totally made of metal all the way down to the ground.  Any plastic section of the pipe would cause an insulating effect.  You may want to consult with an electrician to explore this and other possibilities to create a good electrical ground connection.  Meanwhile, try to spend some regular barefoot time out-of-doors if possible and consider using an Earthing mat in your office or place of work if practical.

When working grounded on a laptop computer you might feel a kind of uncomfortable stinging, tingling in your hands.

Ungrounded laptops (without a three prong power cord) can generate significant electric fields.  Some people will feel sensations while they are grounded and working on the computer.  If the feeling is uncomfortable, we recommend several options:

  1. Don’t ground yourself while using the computer plugged in.
  2. Ground yourself only when the computer is operating on battery mode.
  3. Place the laptop directly on an Earthing mat to ground the computer

Can you plug an Earthing product cord into a surge protector or extension cord?

Yes, as long as the surge protector or extension cord have an existing ground hole (to accommodate the prong on the Earthing cord) and if you can connect the surge protector/extension cord into a grounded outlet in the home or office.

Can you use two Earthing products at the same time, such as a mat and a patch?

You can use multiple grounding products at the same time, but for safety sake you should only plug them into one grounding source, either a grounded outlet or a ground rod.   Not one to the outlet and the other to a ground rod.  The reason is to avoid the risk of a shock in case of a surge due to a power outage or a thunderstorm.

Here’s the situation: Your house/building electrical system is connected to, and stabilized by, a ground rod in the Earth, usually located under the electrical panel. A loop wire (also known as the ground wire), runs through your system, and you connect to it whenever you insert your Earthing cord into the third hole (the ground port) of the outlet.  If you plug your Earthing sheet, for instance, into the outlet, you are grounded via the house ground rod.

Let’s say you also want to sleep with a patch or a band.  You have an Earthing ground rod and you are thinking about using it now, and connecting the patch or band cord to the attached cord of the ground rod while at the same time you have the sheet connected to the outlet.

Don’t!  It’s not a good idea.

If you were to do it, you would be creating what’s called a “ground loop,” meaning a closed circuit − a closed loop with the ground closing the loop.  When you place an Earthing ground rod into the soil, usually it is not close to the house ground rod.  There are differences in size, depth, and soil conditions between the two rods that create an electrical resistance between the two rod locations.  This means a different “electric potential,” that is, level of electrical energy, and the difference would generate a current flow in the closed circuit of which you are a part. So the current flows through you.

In general, you wouldn’t feel anything unusual and you wouldn’t be harming yourself.  But there would be risk from a shock, for instance, when a power surge or a thunderstorm occur.  In that case, the difference in electric potential can get very high, reaching even several hundred or even thousands of volts, and create a very strong current enough for you to feel as a mild shock.

All Earthing product cords have built-in resistors that protect you.  If it were not for the presence of the resistor, the shock you feel would be much larger.

The bottom line: If you use more than one Earthing product at one time, connect them to the same grounding source, either to a grounded outlet or to the ground rod cord.  Not one to the outlet and the other to the ground rod.

You can certainly plug two single Earthing cords into the two receptacles of a standard grounded outlet or even into two different outlets.  Or you can use an Earthing splitter cord with two terminals into which you can plug two Earthing product cords.

It should be noted that newer houses have ground rods under the house at several points below the pathway of the ground wire, resulting in an improved grounding system.  Older grounding systems may have wires with a volt or two, because of the length of the wire and a slight build-up of resistance.  Electro-hypersensitive people may feel even that low voltage, and are advised in that case to connect their Earthing product to a dedicated Earthing ground rod planted in the soil outside an adjacent window, if that is feasible).

Can you plug the Earthing cord into the ground (Earth) hole of an outlet while there is an ungrounded lamp or some other appliance plugged in?

Yes.  As long as the outlet is grounded and you can insert the cord into the ground hole.

If it safe to plug a wire into the ground port of a wall electrical outlet and wrap it around your ankle or wrist?

We do not recommend this.  It is unsafe. All authorized Earthing products are specifically designed for safe, biological grounding of people. They have a built-in resistor that limits the flow of current in order to prevent the unlikely possibility that electricity would flow through the connecting wire and possibly hurt someone. The resistor allows the Earth’s natural energy to come through but not any potentially harmful electricity. In this respect, the resistor acts like a “kink” in a hose, curbing the flow. Earthing products for personal grounding thus have built-in protection similar to the systems utilized in industry throughout the world that prevents electricity and static from damaging sensitive electronic parts.

Is there a safety risk of being in contact with an Earthing system while using electrical or electronic devices?

Earthing products are designed with built-in user safety. First, an electrical outlet tester is supplied with each product to verify that an outlet is properly wired and that the outlet has a working ground. The product ground cords are designed to provide a safe soft ground utilizing a built-in (molded in) in-line current limiting 100kohm resistor. In the event that a short develops in an electrical device that a person is in contact with while grounded the built-in resistor limits the current flow to a safe level. The accepted safe current limit of 5-8mA is defined as “sensation of shock not painful; individuals can let go at will.” The human body threshold of sensation is 1mA. The electrical calculation is current=volts/resistance (I=V/R). R = Rresistor + Rbody. Typical body resistance is 10k when wet and much higher when dry. However, to be conservative, using Rbody=0, Rres=100kohm, V=130volts; then maximum current I=130volts/100,000ohm=1.3mA; well below the accepted safety limit of 5mA and most likely barely perceptible.

If the power goes off in the house, can you still be grounded?

Earthing doesn’t “run” on electricity. Your Earthing product is connected to the energy of the Earth, not to the electricity that operates your lights and appliances. If you plug your Earthing product into the ground (earth) port of your wall outlet, you are simply making contact with the ground (earth) wire in that hole that connects to other outlets in your house and is attached to a large ground rod outside. The ground rod receives the natural energy that flows through the Earth’s surface and stabilizes your electrical system. Whether your power is on or off, doesn’t matter. As long as you have contact with the Earth, by being barefoot outside, or using an Earthing product indoors that is connected to the Earth, either via a grounded (earthed) wall outlet or a separate ground rod outside, you are grounded.

Can you ground yourself outside by wearing electrostatic discharge (ESD) footwear?

ESD shoes are primarily designed for discharging static electricity but to a degree they ground the body beneficially. They are better than regular shoes but not as good as going barefoot. The difference between grounding and static discharge is that grounding instantly equalizes your body at Earth’s potential. Static discharge, generally called a soft ground or a dissipative ground, has an inline 1 meg ohm resistor in the ground cord which is design to slowly bleed off static electrical charges (contact and separation charges). These charges are created on the body by clothing and shoes whenever you move your clothing with arm movement or walk or sit on any synthetic material. The ESD industry uses dissipative grounding to prevent a rapid discharge of static electricity that might otherwise blow an electronic circuit or sensitive chip.

Compared to Earthing products, physiological results are not as good with ESD systems that incorporate a 1 megohm resistor in the line. Why is this so?

This statement refers to electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices used in the electronics industry and other industries that are meant to slowly dissipate static electricity on workers that can otherwise damage sensitive electronic components.  By comparison, Earthing systems are conductive, meaning they instantly equalize the body with, and maintain the body, at Earth potential, and are meant to simulate the natural, evolutionary human experience of being barefoot on the Earth outside.  Earthing research has demonstrated that holding the body at Earth potential (simulating being barefoot outside) produces significant results on measurements related to inflammation, blood electrodynamics, and autonomic nervous system function.

There is no scientific evidence we are aware relating to the effect of ESD systems on the physiology, and thus no way to compare objectively ESD vs. Earthing.  ESD products are meant for industrial use.  The Earthing design has been shown in repeated experiments, published in a variety of journals, to generate distinct changes in the physiology and for which ESD products, meant for industrial use to prevent common static from damaging electronic components, have not been documented to do.

We have informally tested ESD products and found that they do not generate the same electrophysiological changes as does Earthing. While ESD products may produce some benefits, people have told us that ESD products do not produce the same experience and results as Earthing.

All ESD ground cords contain 1 megohm resistor. A 1 megohm resistor allows 60hz EMF-induced body voltage to drop by 90 percent.  Earthing products have a built-in 100K ohm resistor in all ground cords for safety and allows 60hz EMF induced body voltage to drop by 99 percent.  Earthing’s ability to bring and hold the body at Earth’s potential restores the body’s natural electrical state and facilitates inflammation reduction. Reducing EMF-induced body voltages will not do that, however, such reduction benefits the autonomic nervous system and sleep.

Can you connect an Earthing product to an electric outlet on a cruise ship?

Check with the cruise company first. In-cabin outlets may not be grounded.

Can you use the outlets on a house boat to ground yourself?

As long as the boat is connected to a shore power, an electrical outlet ground would be fine. When a boat is not connected to shore power and running on a generator, the outlets may not be ground. You would have to ask the manufacturer.  If your boat is in ocean (salt) water, you can connect your Earthing device to a ground rod and dangle it over the side into the water. Sea water makes a good ground.

A Brief Guide to Earthing

FREE

Get access to the downloadable guide, plus stay up-to-date on the latest news from the Institute

Scroll to Top