As I continue to add electronic devices in my living room worth X thousand dollars, it dawns on me that it's not wise to look at my outlet and say to myself, "Gee, I'm still using a three-prong ...

While standard receptacles typically use three wires -- hot, neutral and ground -- you'll occasionally find 2-prong outlets in older homes. Since this type of outlet lacks a ground connection, the ...

Close up image of an upside-down electrical outlet - Do Mi Nic/Shutterstock Sometimes there are funky elements in your home that can make you scratch your head and question the thought process behind ...

To start off, the third prong on a plug is for the ground wire, and its job is to bond electrical components. Under normal conditions, there should never be any current on the ground wire. Think of it ...

The apartment I will be moving into on Wednesday has three-prong receptacles in all the rooms. My GFI receptacle tester ($5 from the hardware store) tells me that most of these receptacles have an ...

John Carlsen has more than a decade of experience testing and reviewing home tech products, with a major focus on smart home security. He earned his BS in journalism from Utah Valley University. In ...