#4 bare copper connected to two 8' copper ground rods 6" apart driven into the ground.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoWiki User
∙ 12y ago#4 solid
DON'T CONNECT A GROUND WIRE TO A COLD WATER PIPE!!! Use ground rods in accordance with local codes. When in doubt, contact a local electrician or the local building and zoning office of your city or county. Connecting a ground wire to your cold water pipe can result in electrolysis that will eat away at you water pipe. ---------------- Metal underground water pipe is the first grounding electrode listed in the NEC. It is still commonly used in residential installations and is used in commercial installations when available. When the water pipe is used as the primary grounding electrode, it must be supplemented with another electrode which is most commonly a ground rod. Generally speaking, a 325 amp service requires 350 kcmil copper conductors for residences or 400 kcmil copper conductors for commercial installations. In either case these require a grounding electrode conductor of 1/0 ("one ought") copper.
It is true that a cold water pipe will work as a ground but it should not be trusted. If the wiring in a house is older then the introduction of electrical grounding I would have to recommend the instillation of new grounded wiring. Grounding using the plumbing system, past where the cold water pipe enters the house, can present a hazard to plumbers. They can receive electrical shock if they remove a piece of pipe that was part of the groundings pathway. Also, as plumbing codes change they do not take into account electrical need. In many areas of the united states plumbers are using non-metallic piping and fitting. If this is added to your system you will lose your grounding.
No. Not if the GFCI is wired correctly. The neutral wire should always be cold, or at ground potential.
The quick and dirty answer is that the live wire (or hot/black wire) in a North American supply has a potential of 120V above ground - The voltage you pump out of the hot wire will do what it is meant to do (such as heating a kettle element) and then find the shortest path back to ground which in this case should be the neutral wire since it is directly bonded at a very low resistance path to the ground (your panel earth will probably be connected to your cold water pipe inlet, or to a metal pipe hammered into the ground).A more complicated question is why do you need a separate ground/earth wire when both of them are connected to the same thing. I will leave that one for someone else :)For information about that see the answer to the Related Question shown below!
One type of heating for the floors that is a bit less expensive is the geothermal heating. These pumps rely on water pipes that are layed in the subfloor and when water moves through them the heat (or cold for that matter) radiates to the tiles above and generates heat or cooling.
Depends where you are. In British Columbia, not required.
DON'T CONNECT A GROUND WIRE TO A COLD WATER PIPE!!! Use ground rods in accordance with local codes. When in doubt, contact a local electrician or the local building and zoning office of your city or county. Connecting a ground wire to your cold water pipe can result in electrolysis that will eat away at you water pipe. ---------------- Metal underground water pipe is the first grounding electrode listed in the NEC. It is still commonly used in residential installations and is used in commercial installations when available. When the water pipe is used as the primary grounding electrode, it must be supplemented with another electrode which is most commonly a ground rod. Generally speaking, a 325 amp service requires 350 kcmil copper conductors for residences or 400 kcmil copper conductors for commercial installations. In either case these require a grounding electrode conductor of 1/0 ("one ought") copper.
ground
Electrical grounded to the cold water pipe, usually before the first fitting once it is through the foundation..
Tap water temperature as "cold" is its normal temperature, depending on what your water source is. Underground water usually from wells/reservoirs is about 55 degrees, where as some parts of the country water comes from above ground lakes/reservoirs, and there the temperature will vary. Its warmer in the summer and can get really really cold in the winter as the above ground water temperature drops.
Cold air is less dense than cold water. This is because air molecules are farther apart and have less mass compared to water molecules, which are closely packed together.
The crystalline water that falls out of the cold atmosphere is known as snow. Snow forms when water vapor in the atmosphere freezes into ice crystals and then falls to the ground.
Ground up dirt, Cold water, and a lot of sun.
'P' trap
Using a water pipe ground clamp and securing the ground wire to the cold water pipe as it goes into the building BEFORE the water meter is one way. A better way is to drive an 8-foot ground rod into the ground and secure it via a ground rod clamp. My employer and I actually try and use both methods together.
Because the mains pipe is buried in the ground where it takes longer for the cold to reach.
It depends on many factors. Some of them are:how deep the pool is;how cold the pool water is;how hot the hot water is;how cold the air is;how cold the surrounding ground is;how windy it is; andhow warm you want the pool water.