I'm currently converting roof space into a simple, low-budget, one room computer based project studio. This is going to involve installing 240VAC mains outlets to power various bits of equipment. I intend to implement the "star ground" earthing technique, to try and reduce electrical noise problems. My understanding of star grounding is that each individual power outlet has the same resistance to earth, because the length of wire from each outlet to earth is effectively the same.
My question is, given that some outlets will be physically further away than others, how obsessive do I have to be about making the earth wire from each outlet to the "star grounding point", the same length?
What about the length of cable from the outlet to the back of the piece of equipment - is it worthwhile trying to make all of these of roughly the same resistance?
Ultimately, I suppose I could sit down and calculate the resistance of each earth, adjusting each accordingly by varying either the conductor length or cross-sectional area. I'm thinking about this too much, aren't I?
Is there an accepted allowable percentage difference in to-earth resistance across a studio's power outlets, for instance?Noting the low-budget nature of this project (so balanced power is not an option, neither is using different phases for different circuits), I'd be interested in any other ideas you have for trying to eliminate electrical noise when it comes to my power installation. Is it worth measuring the resistance to earth of the existing power installation that I will be branching from, to see if having extra earth rods sunk might be helpful, for instance?
Thanks for your help. Sorry if these are rather dumb questions - I've been searching and reading quite a bit, but this is the one grounding issue I have yet to find an answer to.