Since 1969, all major appliances have been required to a have a three-pronged plug. Now, most appliances have three-pronged plugs, and most homes also have three-slot grounded outlets for them. But not all homes do. There are many older houses in our area built before the grounded outlet became the standard.
What can you do when you have a three-pronged plug you need to connect to power, but the outlet doesn’t have the third slot? This is where most people turn to a three-prong adapter, which fits into the outlet and allows the three-pronged plug to then fit into it. These adapted are sometimes called “cheaters.” They aren’t making the outlet grounded, they’re just rerouting the power to allow the plug to work in the older outlet.