If you live in an older house, one question you might have is whether you can replace a two-slot with a three-slot outlet without running a new ground wire through the house? The answer is that you can with a GFCI outlet. Here is how.
Replacing Wall Outlet Overview
Always replace two-slot outlets with three-slot outlets. The best way is to add a grounding wire to all of the outlets, and this is not easy. Two slots in old outlets represent hot and neutral wires, while new three slots have added a ground wire. The electrical code has required this since the mid-1960s because it adds shock and fire protection.
How to Replace Wall Outlet Two-Ways
The best way for you to do this is to run a grounding wire; typically, this wire is bare copper or one with green insulation. The ground wire would run from the outlet back to the main electrical panel of your house. The most significant issue with this solution is that you would have to tear into the walls or floors to do this. There are a few other ways to do this job as well, but it is tricky and would need to be done by a qualified licensed electrician.
Another option and the more DIY option is to install a GFCI outlet. A GFCI outlet stands for a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). It is a circuit breaker type that shuts off electric power when sensing an imbalance between the outgoing and incoming current. A GFCI will give you better protection than just the ground on the equipment you are 
planning on plugging in, without running the third wire. This method also has drawbacks, because equipment like computers and air conditioners won’t operate correctly without an equipment ground, which is why labeling any GFCI is required if it doesn’t have one.
Remember, it is not safe to use adapters that convert three-prong plugs to two-prong ones since usually, the adapters will bypass the equipment ground safety features.
If you have a house with two-pronged plugs, we would love the opportunity to help you fix the problem. So contact us today.
