> At the breaker box the neutral and ground are supposed to be bonded together. Note this advice is country-specific. In some countries, the bonding is done fu

> At the breaker box the neutral and ground are supposed to be bonded together. Note this advice is country-specific. In some countries, the bonding is done further away from the house. In any case, you should never trust the neutral line to be an earth. If a fault occurs that disconnects the neutral line from the supply, your neutral line will have deadly voltage on it by virtue of being connected to live through your appliances. Moreover, depending on the multimeter you use, if you measure the voltage between neutral and earth, you could possibly trip the RCD in the distribution unit (if you have one). The rules are simple in most countries - if it has any touchable metal parts, it must be earthed.