{"id":514,"date":"2020-03-16T11:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/?p=514"},"modified":"2020-03-13T12:02:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T16:02:44","slug":"three-pronged-adapters-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/electrical\/three-pronged-adapters-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Three-Pronged Adapters Safe?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"electrical-outlet\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The standard for major electrical appliances since 1969 is to have three-pronged plugs. Soon after this standard was introduced, the household outlets started to change over to three-prongs. A three-pronged outlet is a grounded<\/em> outlet. The third prong, the one below the \u201chot\u201d and \u201cneutral\u201d slots, is the \u201cground.\u201d The ground slot is there to protect a person from receiving an electrical shock from the metal casing of an appliance because the electricity from the hot wire side is sent into the ground in case there is excess. You\u2019ll notice that some appliances still use two-prong plugs because they don\u2019t have large metal cases in them that can create this problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lengthy explanation about grounded outlets and\nthree-pronged plugs is necessary to get to the big question, \u201cIs it okay to use\na three-pronged adapter?\u201d The cheater plugs allow you to plug a three-pronged\nplug into a two-pronged outlet, which you wouldn\u2019t be able to do otherwise. If\nyou live in an older home with two-pronged outlets, you may have plenty of\nthese cheater plugs around. Is this a good idea?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Cheater Plug Basics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve used a cheater plug before, you\u2019ll know that they work. The appliances plug into it and runs. But the cheater plug hasn\u2019t<\/em> made the outlet a grounded one. What it\u2019s done is a basic rewiring to bypass the grounding. In other words, it\u2019s a safety bypass<\/em>. And if that sounds like it can be a problem, you are right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the issues with using a three-pronged adapter is that\nit can allow you to plug an appliance into a socket that isn\u2019t rated for the appliance.\nAn older home with two-prong outlets won\u2019t have the same amp service as a modern\nhome, and that won\u2019t match with the appliance\u2019s electrical demand. If you use a\ncheater plug to get around the voltage-mismatch, long-term use of the adapter\ncan create a dangerous situation leading to shorts circuits and tripped\nbreakers. We definitely don\u2019t recommend plugging any major appliance (such as a\nrefrigerator) into a cheater plug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Big-Picture Solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your home still has two-pronged outlets and you\u2019ve been getting by with adapters, please stop this practice. Instead, arrange for an electrical upgrade for the house to put in grounded three-prong outlets. This job will also require putting in a new electrical panel to increase the amp service. This is all around great for your house. It makes it safer and makes it easier for you to use modern appliances without interruptions from tripped breakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get started, call an Orchard Park, NY electrician<\/a> who handles electrical upgrades for outlets and panels. Our electricians are experts with these upgrades, and we specialize in replacing faulty old Federal Pacific electrical panels, which many homes in the area have. We also perform extensive rewiring for homes and install GFCI and AFCI outlets, which are important safety devices that keep a household protected from electrical shocks. We have served the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Area since 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scherer Electric is Western New York\u2019s Favorite Electrician! Schedule electrical upgrades with us today.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you live in an older home with two-pronged outlets, you may have plenty of these cheater plugs around. Is this a good idea?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[87],"tags":[109,108,99],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":518,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514\/revisions\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}