I live in an older home and the electrical outlets only have a white and black wire. There is no ground wire . I would like to know what my options are to protect my computer from power surges. It is my understanding that an outlet must have a ground wire for a surge protector to operate.
Thanks

 

What does the grounding look like at your circuit breaker (or fuse) panel? That's the first place to begin your investigation. Do you have a metalic water pipe or ground rod?

 

I don't see any grounding rod or water pipe near breaker panel unless it is inside wall.
I guess what I'm wanting is a surge protector of some kind that does'nt require a ground wire. Affordable of course. Checked my electric companies website. They offer a whole house "collar" but still recommend individual surge protector outlets for sensitive electronics. These require the ground wire.

 

The connection of the panel to earth via a grounding rod and/or water pipe is part of the grounding electrode system. This system is not part of the equipment grounding system that is needed to protect computer equipment.

A surge suppressor will work somewhat without a grounding connection, but it will only provide a small subset of the protection that is available with a grounding connection.

The normal solution for protecting computer equipment is to run a new circuit from your panel to the location of a few receptacles for your computer equipment. This approach is usually feasible, relatively inexpensive, and often within the capabilities of a competent DIYer.

One final note: if you boxes are metal and conduit is used, it is possible that you have grounding already.

 

Thank's to all for advice, I'm surprised this doesn't seem to be a common question in message boards I've looked at. A lot of 40 year old homes and almost everyone it seems owns a computer.
Perhaps I've just heard so much about power surges that I am over reacting. Anyone else out there felt the need to rewire because of this problem?
No, I do not have metal conduit, just cable running in attic. I do quite a bit of DIY but not electrical, I'll call the pros in.

 

This is a pretty common question in this forum. It comes up a few times a month. I think many people are just taking the risk.