D'ya think the 4 foot earth rods got anything to do with the voltage here, not having 120 Volts?
I think it's probably more the case of our earthing arrangements.
The only time an earth rod is required here is on a TT system, which will have an RCD, or in old installations a voltage ELCB or a current-operated ELCB of at worst about 500mA rating.
In the U.S., it's normal for all services to have a ground rod installed, despite the fact that they are equivalent to what in British terms would be a PME system.
