I am renovating an old home(90 years) that my wife and I just purchased. The electrical system in the house is outdated - some of the outlets appear to be knob and tube but most are the brass and silver; forgive me if this is incorrect info, I honestly know very little.
To the point - We do not have grounded outlets and I started replacing the 2 prong outlets with 3 prong outlets (without installing the ground). I realized this is a bad idea and decided to start researching. I am a little confused because I hear opposing arguments on whether or not the GFCI outlets are able to compensate, to some degree, for the inability to short circuit on demand.
I have read that the GFCI are good for nothing more than water running into the outlet whereas the actual ground would short circuit if there was a problem with too much electric output or metal coming into contact.
My question is: Could I replace the 2 prong outlets with GFCI and call it good, or should I be installing a ground? I prefer not to overhaul and install a ground but please tell me if this is a terrible idea or not.
Thanks in advance😀
-- UPDATE --
I see that some of the outlets are encased with a metal rectangular box and was wondering if I could ground the outlet(s) by running a bare copper wire to the metal rectangle box back to the ground screw on the outlet?
Pictures requested:
On "The Newer Looking Outlet" above, you are not able to see it in the photograph but there is a green screw for grounding; it is on the bottom left hand side