Assessment and prediction of earthing resistance in domestic installation

Abstract

Before the introduction of the Ghana Electrical Wiring Regulations 2012 (L.I. 2008), most residential wiring within Sunyani Municipality was carried out by unlicensed artisans. This situation imposed a need to investigate the effectiveness of the earthing systems carried in the Sunyani municipality. Therefore, the current study sought to evaluate earthing resistance effectiveness within the Sunyani Municipality by measuring the earthing resistance of 1004 homes with an earthing resistance tester from January 2016 to April 2018. Again, we predict future resistance based on measured values. Out of 1004 buildings surveyed, 834 had an earthing system in place. Twenty‐eight buildings, recorded an earth electrode test within 0.0 to 10 Ω representing 3.36%. A high percentage (96.64%) had their earth electrode resistance above the acceptable value by the Energy Commission of Ghana. The results revealed that the overall effectiveness of earthing in the domestic installation in Sunyani Municipality is below average compared with Ghana Energy Commission benchmark.

Keywords

• earth‐electrode
• earthing
• earthing‐lead
• earthing‐resistance
• soil‐resistivity
• earthing‐conductor