Is this grounded? If not, how to fix it

Put your computers on a UPS, even a small one. Just protecting yourself from short power outages will save you a bunch of downtime. Even if you resolve your overload issue, this is still worth it.

Most computer users today can get by with a laptop that's under $500, giving you built-in battery backup & portability in a compact, low-power package. Plug it in to your keyboard, mouse, and monitor the same as your desktop today, so your work experience doesn't change.

The power strip you linked to (http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/surge-protectors/home-surge/6050S.html?selectedTabId=specifications&imageI=#tab-box) doesn't appear to have a breaker. I think that whoever wrote that was just confused about what it means to be rated for 15A.

If your coffee maker and space heater are in the same location, you could plug them into mutually exclusive switched outlets. You'll need:

• A steel square box, and an appropriate face plate

• A regular duplex receptacle. 15A or 20A can work

• a 3-way switch

• cable

• plug (15A or 20A, to match the recep)

• fittings

Snap off the tab on the hot side of the recep, then run short leads from those 2 screws to the 3-way switch. This will let the switch choose one socket or the other. Plug in the heater on one and the coffee maker on the other. Now it's easy to make sure only one is in use at a time.

(Later I will add some pictures and other details. If anyone has pointers to the correct fittings and cable, please comment.)

Don't worry about why. If you try to only fix the problem, you may miss something. Worry about getting it correct!

Black == HOT
White == Neutral
bare == ground

(in North America -- Europe is different!)

Open it up again and make sure it is connected as follows:

• white from panel to white from outlet to white from light
• black from panel to black from outlet to black from switch
• white from switch to black from light
• all grounds together (and to box)

The wire going to the switch has no neutral in this case. The black wire is "always hot" and the white wire is "switched hot". I like to wrap black electrical tape around the end of the white insulation (without covering the copper wire) to indicate that, despite being white, it is not actually "neutral".

Speculation on how it was mis-wired: (copied and corrected from my own comment later on) If removing the ceiling bulb made the outlet light not work at all, then you were getting some sort of current flow through the bulb. So yes, you must have had it in series. CFL has circuitry so could perhaps pass more current while starting up (hence the increase in brightness of the outlet light for a second) after turning on the switch. As for where the power was going when the switch was off... It could be that the CFL was "absorbing" and "returning" some small amount of current (a capacitive load), enough to lightly switch an LED light; they don't need much.

Given the capacitors and inductors involved in even a simple circuit for a CFL, it's not unimaginable that this is possible. I don't have an LED night-light to test this but you could do this yourself.

If properly wired, the smaller prong of a plug is the hot wire. Bend the larger prong of the night-light or otherwise set it up so that only the "hot" prong is connected. Then touch the exposed prong to the side and/or tip of a CFL and see if the night-light lights.

As a more personal example... Think of standing on a rubber mat (or wearing rubber-soled shoes) and touching the hot wire with your finger. Don't do it -- just think it! You'd feel a "buzz" even though you're not grounded or touching a "neutral" wire. Most of us can relate to this from some experience in our past. Your body has a capacitance and will absorb and return electrons as the voltage in the hot wire oscillates at 60Hz.