Whether or not your electrical panel needs to be hooked up to a ground rod depends on several factors. If this is a SERVICE (which is the say the enclosure which contains the first breaker/fuse After the meter), then it would generally be connected to a ground rod (or 2 ground rods, if the resistance to ground is not 25 ohms or less...but only 1 if using an underground metal water pipe as a grounding electrode as well). If this is a panel within the house fed from the service, it will be fed with 4 wires and the ground for this panel will attach back to the grounding bar in the service, so a subpanel doesn't need a ground rod...UNLESS the subpanel is in a separate building, in which case you need to pull a ground wire to it AND drive a ground rod. There are many other factors to consider as well, including local/municipal electrical codes. Most of the time, there isn't actually a ground coming from the utility to the meter, this is a neutral, which is tied to ground at the utility's transformer and then tied to ground again at your service. After this service, ground and neutral must not be tied together again. As you can see, this is somewhat of a complicated subject. If you have any doubts about the grounding system, you may want to call an electrician.
ok , im trying to find out why im useing so much electrity every month , and some one said it might be bleeding through the ground , just checking i seen the only ground goes to the electric meter box out at the pole "about 30 foot from my breaker box" ,and i noticed that the ground wire in my breaker box went down and connected to my mobile home frame , but not to a ground rod
So is there just a meter on that pole or a meter and a main braker? Just curious. If you are concerned about electricity usage, first change your bulbs to compact flourescent. You can run 4 bulbs for the price of one 60 watt incandescent, plus they almost never burn out. What kind of heat are you using? If electric furnace or electric baseboards, this is a big player. Also, if you are running supplemental space heaters, they use a lot of electricity. Combine baseboard heat with poor insulation and windows and you are going to be using some power when it's cold. Ceiling heat is just as bad, if not worse.
yes a meter to read numbers out side then my breaker box inside , only use 1 space heater and my electric bill will go up and down aout 200 more or less every month and i ONLY use energy bulbs , it very weard lol , might have to hire an electrition thnx 4 your help
Electric water heater is another big one. It may be beneficial to set it up to only come at at certain times and only for a few hours. This way it is only heating water when you need it to.
Jeff,
You state that the ground and neutral must not be tied together again after the service point. I can understand that if I was going to drive a seperate rod at the service point and the panel because there would be a difference in potential. Is it permissable to ground at both points if you tie your rods together with #6 copper and have everything at the same potential?
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You only need one 8-foot copper grounding rod for a typical residence. The grounding connections should be continuous from meter / service entrance throughout the building -- your meter is grounded to the rod, the breaker panel is grounded via the meter ground cable, and so on and so on.
Charlie
ok , im trying to find out why im useing so much electrity every month , and some one said it might be bleeding through the ground , just checking i seen the only ground goes to the electric meter box out at the pole "about 30 foot from my breaker box" ,and i noticed that the ground wire in my breaker box went down and connected to my mobile home frame , but not to a ground rod
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If this panel in in North America, your main panel should be grounded in accordance with the requirements of the National Electric Code and your local building code. Please check with your local building inspector on the requirements for your installation.
If you are in a different jurisdiction, check with your local building inspector. If there is no such thing in your area, the answer is yes, it should be grounded and you can use the same rod as is used with the meter.
Thanks for your question @ FixYa.com
ok , im trying to find out why im useing so much electrity every month , and some one said it might be bleeding through the ground , just checking i seen the only ground goes to the electric meter box out at the pole "about 30 foot from my breaker box" ,and i noticed that the ground wire in my breaker box went down and connected to my mobile home frame , but not to a ground rod
This gets better n better as it goes along. This meter is actually a power pedestal in a trailer park of some kind (recreational or permanent) and your main panel is really a small 30 or 50 amp that is grounded to the trailer frame which should in turn be grounded through the 30 or 50 amp cord (in North America) back to the outlet in the pedestal. You have a small electric heater space heater, possibly a electric/gas hot water heater and maybe a small gas heater. Your unit is not well insulated and as a result, it is difficult to keep the heat inside. On the up side, you only heat the space you are actually occupying and not the whole unit. You have a gas or electric hot plate or stove and possibly a microwave and TV.
The heater, when in use, will gobble up electricity to produce heat that is difficult to keep in your unit. I doubt there is electricity going through your unit to ground and running up your bill. Such a condition would be a short and should kick a breaker off. That is not to say there is not a appliance that is leaking something. If there is you should see use @ the meter when everything is off, clocks, night lights everything. Turn everything off, make sure to unplug TV and microwave, clock radio etc. Look at the meter, running? Flip the main breaker off in the pedestal, still running?
Perhaps you should discuss this matter with the park facility manager.
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yes a meter to read numbers out side then my breaker box inside , only use 1 space heater and my electric bill will go up and down aout 200 more or less every month and i ONLY use energy bulbs , it very weard lol , might have to hire an electrition thnx 4 your help
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