Everything to Know About GFCI Receptacles | Ask This Old House

In this video, This Old House master electrician Heath Eastman teaches host Kevin O'Connor everything he needs to know about ground fault circuit interrupters.
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Kevin O'Connor and master electrician Heath Eastman meet back at the shop to talk about GFCI outlets. After discussing what a GFCI is and what it does, Heath shows Kevin how it works, the different types of installations that may exist, and how to test a GFCI’s function.
What are GFCIs?
GCFIs exist to protect the user. These devices detect when current from the hot conductor contacts a non-current-carrying metal part and cut off power to the circuit.
This means that GFCIs detect when current escapes the circuit due to a short circuit, such as the wire touching a metal box, a plumbing pipe, or the user standing in a puddle of water when plugging something in. Rather than continuing to feed current into that object or person, the GFCI trips and prevent further flow of electricity.
Where They're Required
GFCIs are not new. They've been around since the 1960s, and as such, code requires them in certain places. Typically required spaces include kitchens, bathrooms, and outdoor outlets. Anywhere water is usually present from a sink, shower, or toilet, or environmental causes like rain, snow, and dew, are locations where GFCIs are typically required.
How They Work
GFCIs operate by sensing the amount of current is being used by a device. The device looks for the same amount of current coming into the device and back out of the device. If the amount of current drops on the return side of the device, the GCFI will sense an imbalance (typically caused by a short of some sort) and trip the outlet off.
Types of GFCI Devices
There are typically two types of GFCI devices: outlets and breakers. GFCI outlets generally have a test and reset switch on their fronts, which is the tell-tale sign that a GFCI protects the circuit. Should the device trip, the reset button will jump outward, and the user must then reset it to reactivate the circuit beyond the outlet. Breakers work similarly, though they install inside the main electrical panel and protect the entire circuit.
GFCI Circuits
Just because an outlet doesn't have a test and reset button on its front doesn't mean it's not GFCI-protected. These devices are designed to shut off the entire circuit past the GFCI outlet, so if an outlet is on a GFCI-protected circuit, a short will cause the GFCI to trip regardless of where the short occurs. So, if a GFCI is installed first in a series of 5 outlets, a short at the 5th outlet will cause the GFCI to trip, protecting the entire circuit.
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Everything to Know About GFCI Receptacles | Ask This Old House
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[@CommomsenseSmith]

GFCI saved my life one day standing in a puddle of water using a floor scrubbing machine. The scrubber had a bad ground it it popped almost instantly. Still got a jolt but very quickly it was over.

[@jsvalentin]

Saved my when I forgot to unplug a device that I was trying to fix

[@peep39]

I had a similar thing happen. Working outside with a cord next to me, on my hands and knees, when a 5 gal bucket of dirty water was dumped all over my back, the ground, and the outlet at the same time. Only later when I went inside and noticed the lights were out that I put together what happened, and indeed the gfci circuit tripped. I was in a weird position and I'm not sure I'd have been able to move if I had gotten electrocuted

[@connorwallace9643]

​@@peep39that's shocking lol

[@VetRider-AZ]

This is by far the best explanation of GFCI line and load that I’ve ever heard. Great job.

[@roberte.6892]

You know, it's so heartening to see a show like TOH, which I grew up with back in the 90s, evolve to stay relevant - and amazing well I to th 21st century. These new videos are just as informative as anything out there on KZbin, straight to the point, and presented by two guys that you could easily see as your next door neighbors.

[@SamiHossri]

I can't thank you enough for this! I've been out of electricity for 3 weeks in my bathroom waiting to have enough time for an electrician to come by until I saw this video. I just pressed the button and all lights came on 🤣 I'm pretty sure my daughter shoved something in the outlet

[@glasshalffull2930]

The tricky part is the ‘first’ GFCI receptacle can be in the garage, basement, closet (or another place) and be obscured by boxes etc. Master bath receptacle loses power and now it’s a hunt for where the upstream GFCI receptacle is located.

[@Nill757]

Might be clearer to explain exactly why the breaker in the panel doesn’t do what the GFCI does. Panel breaker is looking for any current surge higher than its trip value, say 10 or 20A, going through the hot (black) leg. Usually that happens with a short between hot and return, or hard short between hot and a good (green) ground. These are the 100+ amp shorts that will melt a piece off your screw driver if it’s in the way in the moment before the breaker trips. Too many loads will also trip a breaker. A panel breaker helps stop fires from high amps flowing through the wires. However, there is still the possibility of amps lower than the panel breaker trip (10-20A) leaking out of the hot side into some kind poor ground, like from a hot connected handle on an old appliance, to a human, and to a floor puddle. That kind of of leak might not start fires, but it sure can hurt people. GFCIs detect these leaks of current not going where they are supposed to go, and break the circuit.

[@northyland1157]

They turned my garage into a room when I was very young. But they never installed any GFCI outlets for the bathroom or kitchen area. I was always worried about the risk. Its very easy and cheep to convert a regular outlet in to a GFCI outlet! I should have done this years ago. I finally did the conversions of 3 outlets near to bath and kicthen and i feel good about it.

[@entertainment7307_5]

Very good and short video. Excellent work guys!

[@steve_main]

This is a great video guys! Explains it very well!

[@hillhouserehab]

Thank you for educating

[@jonathanwilliams1641]

Great Video. Very well explained and exactly what I was looking for.

[@heroknaderi]

This video is so informative I enjoyed it.😊

[@deesee708]

This explains why my master bathroom outlet looks like a regular outlet but has a "GFCI Protected" sticker. No power, but no buttons...?! I had to find the GFCI outlet upstream that was protecting it. In the other bathroom, as it turns out! That reset button restored power to both bathrooms even though I had not known both bathrooms were out. Ha. I was able to stumble across the fix on my own, but thanks to this video I now understand. Thanks!

[@xdkosman787]

A GFCI outlet does have a few limitations that you should be aware. It won't trip the circuit if you happen to touch the hot and neutral conductors at the same time since it won't detect an imbalance. This means you can get a severe or fatal shock from doing this. You can also get shocked before it even trips if you are the conduit. Regardless of GFCI you should be very careful when working with electricity. Having said this GFCI has saved thousands of lives.

[@jrmillerfilms]

Hey man, question. I'm not professionally trained in electrical, so I could be wrong, but if you are using the gfci circuit wouldn't it detect an arc just before you touch the hot and neutral at the same time causing it to trip? Totally agree on your safety PSA though. Electrical should not be underestimated.

[@trevorbauer3754]

This old house saved the day again I couldn't find where I lost power then I watched this clip thanks this old house

[@dirtyhairy8884]

Excellent and very important information, thank you gents!

[@rudinah8547]

Very cool. I might add a second outlet in my bathroom and connect it from the existing gfci

[@danielmeyer6082]

can you do a video on how to use gfci if you don't have a ground in an old house. Great stuff, as always. Thanks

[@MooseTurder]

I am not an electrician so this is nothing more than some dude on the internet talking. GFCI outlets do not require a grounding connector to function, and can be used to replace ungrounded outlets provided they and all downstream outlets are labeled as no equipment ground. Another option you may have is a GFCI breaker in your main panel.

[@dosadoodle]

The instructions for how to do this come with an outlet and are easy to follow. I installed one this past summer to replace an older 2-socket outlet.

[@Tractorman-xj4gt]

Great stuff from Heath - as always !!

[@davidredpath4781]

Great job, Heath!

[@Oldhogleg]

Left out that there's wet location rated ones for outdoor, ones with an audio alarm when tripped for things like storage freezers, ones with night lights, and GFCI with AFCI dual function.

[@mitchdenner9743]

Thanks you just gave me an idea.

[@davemi00]

My Comment too.

[@rupe53]

this video was about how and why we have GFCI, not about all the codes and different requirements for various locations.

[@salvadorsepulveda6415]

Thanks guys

[@Rakusan2]

What is fun, is to have the GFCI in the kid's bathroom and downstream outlets in the parent's bathroom. The downside is that the fun only happens once unless the kids reset it before the electrician arrives.

[@aurvaroy6670]

That's exactly how my bathrooms are wired. The small one across the two bedrooms has only one GFCI receptacle while the master has two normal receptacles that are fed and protected by that GFCI. And it makes sense because the smaller bathroom is closest to the panel.

[@sabprogroup8623]

thank you

[@rupe53]

I just looked up the NEC on this and it seems to be included as of 1971. The problem I see is back then the inspectors were NOT adopting new code as often as they do today. That means many homes built in the 1980s were still done to code that was prior to 1971. I know that my home was totally rewired with a service upgrade circa 1980 and not a single mention of anything GFCI. (we've since fixed that)

[@jurascipakre9200]

awesome

[@struggle375]

Thanks

[@DougNak]

Could you PLEEZE cover arc fault circuit interrupters and “nuisance tripping"? 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@tim22589]

Can you do a video about the difference between GFCI and AFCI outlets? Many folks get confused over which one to use where.

[@nahumorellana5606]

The basic difference between AFCI and GFCI is AFCI trips when it detects dangerous electrical arcing faults to prevents electric fire whereas GFCI trips when the electric current to ground exceeds a certain value. It protects people against fatal electric shock.

[@wkw4095]

Should talk about type S and T gfci outlets and how they're not as sensitive for outside applications. GFCI outlets can be way way too sensitive for gardens.

[@XzTS-Roostro]

My mom's almost 20 year old house has a few GFCI breakers switches in the breaker panel.

[@brendasoer5507]

I got a question for you Heath. I got a 1 yr old GFI ( sub pump ) with no green light but has power..( I plugged in a lightbulb just to test..and the lightbulb came on ) but I`m pretty sure it had a green light "on" last year. I should have done a reset but I didn`t and now I covered it over for the winter...should I go back down & do a reset to get green light even though I got power 😥 Tx Heath... ps last spring..the new breaker in basement panel for sub pump switched off ( don`t know when ) and I reset it...could that have something to do with it ?

[@marlonallansupetran7120]

Can this be done from the breaker?

[@Krowe2020]

Question: We had a bad winter storm that knocked out our power. When we flipped the breakers over everything came back on except for one outlet in the kitchen, the bedroom upstairs that's over the kitchen, and the outlets on the 2 season porch which shares a wall with the kitchen. After searching the entire house, my boyfriend found something that he pushed or flipped, and everything worked again. However, another storm last year did the same thing but this time we couldn't remember where he found to flip the power back on to the areas mentioned. There is no sub-panel. The outlets without power don't have those reset buttons. My house is over 100yrs old. Do you have any ideas? I believe the outlets are fine themselves because this is the second time it's happened and the first time they came back on. Any help would be extremely appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[@VideoByPatrick]

What type screw driver do I need to remove gfi receptacle? Screw has square in center with cross hatch; looks like phillips screw but it's not. The face plate is flat head driver but gfi screws are different.

[@mdhafiz7152]

This love you videos

[@roberto.gallegos]

Beakers that are connected to certain bathrooms with showers power keep going out when showering with a lot of steam in the restrooms. Could the steam be tripping breakers. If so what can I do about it. Would a gfci help so it just pops that and not the breaker.

[@brucecyganoski4200]

I having a problem with an electrical outlet, No power going to outlet, I CHECKED all my breakers and they are all fine, I tried to replace the outlet rolling the way it was worried still no power going to it, can you assist me with this problem

[@toshiro-kano]

Just bought an older house. GFCI in the bathroom tripped. Went around checked things and fiddled with stuff and somehow got it back on. It tripped again over night while I was sleeping and I cannot get it back on again. I've checked everywhere for another GFCI that is on the same circuit but can't find it. I replaced the GFCI and still can't get it on. There's also a ceiling exhaust fan that I unplugged but still doesn't come on. I really don't want to have to pay a few hundred dollars for an electrician to come fix it ....

[@markb3146]

In an Australian household the current standard is all circuits have what we call RCD protection . ALL circuits. North American electrical standards and fitting like positively steam powered. Even the outlet terminals are exposed ... pops my noodle !

[@SamMcWhannel]

I am in north america and I do agree, but I think you also have to consider the different risk levels of touching 120v here vs 230v elsewhere. Here the thought is that in an area that is not wet the chances of your skin allowing enough current to flow at 120v to seriously hurt you is very low. Also, I can't believe that in many countries the GFCI/RCD trip point is 30mA at 230v! to me that seems very dangerous, we were always taught that above 10mA through the body is hazardous which is why GFCIs trip at 5mA in north america.

[@ToniDandFamily]

Do i keep my gfci reset button on...which keeps a red light on, or i keep them turned off? I've had one person tell me keep them all on and one person told me to keep them all off. Lol

[@atypical13thtwin15]

Giid info Im protected!

[@sharpshooter012345]

Only if Hollywood started using these in their movie's.

[@askurmom1]

What are you talking about?

[@MooseTurder]

USS Enterprise could use a couple of these...

[@TherapyGel]

@@askurmom1 I'm guessing he means in movies any time there's something involving a plug that goes wrong it's always burning up and throwing sparks even though in real life it'd just trip the breaker/GFCI.

[@Nill757]

@@TherapyGel Yes, or if theres enough amps flowing to make all those fire works for many seconds, the panel breaker would trip.

[@djfloth]

If you have 3 connected bathrooms, does it matter which bathroom has the GFCI outlet? And if so how do you determine which one it should have it?

[@FyreWulff]

It just depends on where they are on the electrical diagram. If they are wired in line with each other you would put the GFCI in the bathroom that's the closest to the breaker panel, which would protect all the bathrooms downstream. It doesn't hurt to just give each bathroom it's own GFCI though.

[@johnnyboy13642]

Just remember if you connect the load outlet to the line AS well as the line from the power source, it won't be protected, but will still be live obviously.

[@robertlee8805]

Could do a video(s) on connecting solar panels to EV Chargers to battery storage or which is the best/safest design? Plus to more than 1 EV Chargers. Both Residential and commercial property like multiple apartment units. Whats the minimum solar panels to each vehicle plus Apartment on this setup?

[@Oldhogleg]

That's beyond thier scope.

[@patrickhabegger1262]

Can you have more than 1 GFCI on a circuit?

[@danielleg2616]

what if the GFCI isn't turning off the other outlets in the circuit?

[@arignateam2665]

How many outlets can we connect to the gfci outlet? Is there a max?

[@jptrainor]

No limit.

[@Oldhogleg]

If I remember correctly, the NEC code assumes 180 Watts per duplex/single plex receptacle. For example if you have a 15 amp circuit, code allows you to go up to 80% capacity; 120 volts times 15 amps equals 1800VA. 80% = 1440VA. To find how many receptacles: 1440VA÷180VA=8 receptacles. You can run up to 7 receptacles through the GFCI; with the GFCI being the 8th receptacle.

[@kylefowler5082]

The real answer is that you would have to check with your local inspector and find out what the code is in your area. TN used to have a code limiting the number of lights and/or plugs allowed on a circuit but it has since been removed a few years ago. The 180 watt per receptacle NEC rule is really more of a general load calculation for other uses. It's still a good idea to use it when calculating the amperage of circuit however. Back to the question in more practical terms there are reasons not to put too many outlets under the protection of a GFCI on one circuit. Alot of modern appliances leak a little current to ground just being plugged in. I've done service calls where the reason the GFCI is tripping is because it is protecting alot of outlets that have appliances plugged into them all leaking a little current that ends up being more than 5 miliamps. Finally distance is another concern. If I remember right Square D recommends a max circuit length of 250 feet to prevent nuisance tripping with their GFCI breakers

[@Oldhogleg]

@@kylefowler5082 Yeah, I didn't mention about the appliances because I thought he said nothing was plugged in the GFCI, or anything downstream. It's true that a lot of appliances leaks these days due to nearly everything is cheap ChiCom garbage.

[@flat-earther]

Arigna I suggest watch a 13 part series called _What on earth happened_ by Ewaranon to learn that the earth is not a globe.

[@romeobravo78]

I paid a hefty amount to Heavy up my Panel and install GFCIs in the garage to meet code. Now I plug a new fridge into the garage and it trips the GFCI. How do I successfully run a fridge in the garage?

[@luffymonkey990]

can anyone tell what tester is he using

[@kevintierney3199]

Plugged in light sensing night light into GFCI outlet and the night light won’t work Plugged night light into regular outlet and it worked WHY?

[@connorwallace9643]

Ok why is there no ground wire coming in at top . Yet there is a ground wire at bottom of first receptacle with the GFCI. ?? Thought wire at beginning of GFCI has to be grounded coming in to the GFCI .

[@surferdude642]

The ground covers the entire receptacle, both sockets, Line and Load.

[@davemi00]

BEST - GFCI’s for Outdoors ??

[@xoxo2008oxox]

While I'm glad for this, there are appliances that shouldn't be on GFCI like a freezer and or fridge. These receptacles are mass-produced, aren't all subjected to individual QC, and can trip for no reason. We had one in a garage (bldg code) and it tripped with no one around. The appliance, a deepchest freezer, then powered off and we never realized till it was too late. We lost $$$ in food. The freezer was tossed out because of the smell. Same thing happened to a new replacement, but this time we caught it as I had a LED on it. I decided to replace the GFCI with normal receptacle and no more issues (circuit was 20A and no other load). Electrician told me of ghost trips and the worst are the AFCI receptacles. I prefer, in the garage, using a GFCI-cord plug device like with a powerwasher or shop vac. Or a powerstrip with GFCI integrated.

[@tchevrier]

refrigerators and freezers are supposed to be on separate circuits, for exactly that reason.

[@nighthawkj30A4]

My house was built in 1996 and doesn’t have Gfci plug in the bathrooms.

[@jptrainor]

You can add one. Should be simple. But first make sure there isn't one somewhere else, on the same circuit, that is already protecting the bathroom receptacle.

[@mitchdenner9743]

They can be added easily. Not a bad idea where water is located. Will prevent death if the ol lady throws the hairdryer in the tub while your bathing.

[@surferdude642]

They also can exist in the electrical panel as a gfci breaker.

[@Ruairi.C]

Id love to see a break down of different electrical systems world wide. In Ireland we follow the U.K. System and alot of what im seeing in the USA seems primitive in comparison. We protect whole houses not just individual outlets? We also have individual earth or ground on all appliances. Can anyone comment on this? Maybe im wrong?

[@robertf6344]

You also have 240 v right? I've been connected to 110 for a second or so, no damage. I wouldn't try that with 240.

[@Marcel_Germann]

@@robertf6344 Voltage hurts, actually it's the current that kills. 30mA is the threshold for healthy adults, 10mA can kill children and elderly persons with heart issues. When touching it in the right (or better wrong) moment it will disturb the sine node that controls the heart beat and the rate of it. Heart beat rate will increase massively, but that will reduce the pumping power of the heart, leading to unconsciousness and cardiac arrest at the end. CPR until ambulance arrives and they can use a defibrillator to bring the heart beat back into the regular rythm. That can even happen up to 24h after the shock. That's the reason almost all electricians here have these automatic defibrillators (AED) that can be used by lay-persons. And here in Germany we got two voltages in the electric installations, because they are usually three-phase installations. The voltage between every one of the three lines is 230V to neutral or ground, the voltage between the lines is 400V. So never touch two wires at the same time. In the UK and other European countries you'll find three-phase only in commercial and industrial installations, domestic installations are usually single phase only.

[@tchevrier]

just don't connect a GFCI outlet to a circuit with another GFCI outlet or breaker. You can get nuisance interruptions.

[@lasekmmmk7785]

What if I put a gfci to another gfci. Will it matter?

[@jayvictus80]

As long as you go to line side it should be fine...a little overkill though

[@kylefowler5082]

It's not unsafe to have a GFCI protect another GFCI but it makes it confusing to those who don't know it's wired like that. People are used to pressing the reset button on one GFCI to reset the circuit. With two GFCI's they might both trip and require a reset of both units. Or maybe the one protecting the other trips and someone else doesn't know about the first one and doesn't understand why they can't get the power back on. Electrical can be confusing enough for an electrician sometimes let alone the average Joe. No need to make it any worse

[@DeathAngelHRA]

That's actually how I rewired my house, mainly because I like redundancy and had made a bulk purchase of GFCI outlets online for a fraction of the in-store cost. I do get nuisance interruptions on occasion, but physically seeing the GFCI at each wet location gives a bit more feeling or reassurance.

[@danielleg2616]

​@@kylefowler5082 what if the GFCI isn't turning off the other outlets in the circuit?

[@robertwalker9663]

I have a GFCI that trip daily despite having no load on the line/outlet… What do I do?!

[@Oldhogleg]

It's likely defective. If replacing it doesn't work, then there's a fault in the circuit somewhere, usually a bad/melted wire splice or something in one of the switch, receptacle, or junction outlet boxes.

[@ianbutler1983]

Look for a device (outlet probably) somewhere that gets damp. I have one in my bathroom that also feeds an outdoor outlet. When it rained, the GFCI in my bathroom would trip. Took me a while to figure that one out.

[@Oldhogleg]

@@ianbutler1983 Lol, I forgot about that possibility! 👍

[@tylere.8436]

Could be the outlet itself replace it, if it still trips, you might have a wiring issue somewhere.

[@javiergalvan242]

💯💥👍☝️

[@jopo6388]

Never use the line/load of a GFI unless necessary as its always better to spend the extra 10 bucks to put a GFI receptacle at EVERY location simplifying where the 'Trip' happened.

[@tommy--k]

My gfci trips, and there’s nothing plugged into it.

[@arthendrickson4860]

When these devices came out, they were called GFI (ground fault interrupter). Now, they are called GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter). Why the name change?

[@kylefowler5082]

Because GFCI's only protect one circuit each. GFI's are pieces of equipment usually built into breakers but can be standalone units that typically protect an entire electrical panel or groups of electrical panels

[@rupe53]

@@kylefowler5082 ... I have yet to see a GFI that protects an entire panel. They are only for a single circuit, although you can wire to do multiple outlets within that circuit.

[@kylefowler5082]

@@rupe53 you don't do electrical work for a living. Marinas can have dedicated GFI units.

[@rupe53]

Sorry, only residential work here. Never wired in a marina before. I have wired surge protection to a panel. That's a different animal. OTOH, this video is about residential stuff.... and very general at that.

[@okaro6595]

@@rupe53 In Europe it was previously common to use one RCD for the whole house/apartment but that has the problem that everything goes dark if it trips so they moved to two and then to individual circuits. In the US having just one would not work because of the low tripping current.

[@samsen3965]

Great but simes like a small modification that saves big. Now tell me why the price of GFCI should be so much more? eg, 50-60Amp regular braker at HD are about $20 and once get tagged as GFCI they are $300 ish??!!!! WHY?

[@Alex.AL_26]

Try plugging in Christmas lights outside when it is raining with these outlets. Nightmare! constantly tripping the outlet.

[@okaro6595]

Gee, maybe electricity and rain do not mix.

[@andrewahern3730]

These anti-GFCI comments sound to me like people that take batteries out of their smoke/CO alarms because of false positives.

[@Engineer9736]

Seems like TOH got stuck in an loop of the same topics.

[@LarsLarsen77]

Licking your fingers and sticking them in the socket wouldn't trip the GFCI, it would trip the regular breaker, since you're drawing current through the neutral and live wires, not the ground.

[@ShadowzGSD]

it would trip the GFCI, not the breaker, there would be leakage through the human body, if there was no GFCI it probably still would not trip the breaker if you poked around with wet fingers.

[@jptrainor]

If you perfectly close the circuit through your body, and you have no other contact with a ground path, then yes I agree. Edit: with the exception of tripping the breaker, as others noted.

[@ianbutler1983]

If you were isolated from ground, it would do nothing except shock you. To trip the breaker would require 15 or 20 amps flowing through your body. You would be very dead if that happened. The electric chair passed 10 amps through the prisoner. It is probably not possible to pass that through a body at 120 volts.

[@ShadowzGSD]

@@ralph5450 squirrel

[@Engineer9736]

Completely wrong.... a breaker requires so much current to flow that you would be completely toast dead. If your body had a low enough resistance to get such current going at least. A human dies at 0.018 amps, breakers are usually 10 to 16 amps. A GFCI is the only thing that will save your rearend.

[@BlueStreak706]

Hello everyone, be safe and be kind. Have a nice day!

[@thomasstogner4715]

Shut up

[@BlueStreak706]

@@thomasstogner4715 freedom of speech, don’t like it? Go eat dog crap!

[@thomasstogner4715]

@@BlueStreak706 what happened to being safe and kind you POS

[@flat-earther]

Chuong I suggest watch a 13 part series called _What on earth happened_ by Ewaranon to learn that the earth is not a globe.

[@BlueStreak706]

@@thomasstogner4715 it is quite sad what happened to you or who did you wrong. I hope you find peace, you sound very angry and sad. It’s ok, there is light and great things in life. God Bless You!

[@jaxxonbalboa3243]

I am a Field Service Engineer and I can tell you that GFCI Receptacles are a nightmare. Many new medical offices have these installed almost exclusively and these receptacles do not like equipment that draws high current. One of my clients actually had to have an electrician come in and install a non CFCI receptacle just so he run the equipment.

[@davidredpath4781]

Well that’s too bad buddy. GFCI’s save lives and I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You are a field service engineer, not an electrician.

[@jaxxonbalboa3243]

@@davidredpath4781 I never said I was. Just relaying my experience from my perspective.

[@davidredpath4781]

@@jaxxonbalboa3243 would you rather have someone inconvenienced by an appliance not working or someone dead because a GFCI not being installed. Not arguing just conversation.

[@kylefowler5082]

@@jaxxonbalboa3243 Off brand GFCI's nuisance trip like mad. Also Leviton GFCI's are notorious for nuisance tripping. I've seen both issues with my own experience in the field. I stick with Pass & Seymour and Eaton brand GFCI's. If they trip something is wrong

[@jaxxonbalboa3243]

@@davidredpath4781 Strange question that has nothing to do with the experience I shared here.

[@s1dest3p]

Who uses their middle finger to point to something? How were you raised??

[@leohoward7282]

Why not call it a circuit breaker

[@surferdude642]

A circuit breaker will trip on an overloaded circuit, hot to hot short, hot to neutral short, and a ground fault, but only when the circuit breaker rating is exceeded.

[@Engineer9736]

Short answer: Because a GFCI is not a circuit breaker. Long answer: See Ted's answer.

[@leohoward7282]

@@surferdude642 couldn't you set a smaller trip amppage for a circuit breaker

[@surferdude642]

@@leohoward7282 Not really. The lowest rated circuit breaker for residential use is essentially 15 amps. What you could do is install a gfci circuit breaker. Then on a ground fault only it will trip like a gfci receptacle. The downside is that the whole circuit will off and you have to go to the electrical panel to reset.

[@ronbennett7885]

@@leohoward7282 Still wouldn't be low enough. Circuit breaker protects the wiring. GFCI protects the user. On a related note, if one is in series with the load, GFCI likely won't trip. For typical use cases, often not an issue, but for electrical work could be. Some may get a false sense of security thinking GFCI will protect them when rewiring an outlet or circuit instead of taking additional precautions, such as making certain the power is off.

[@richardburnett2749]

Does a GFI c plug act is a grounded plug in case you get a power surge or does a three-prong outlet protect your equipment better at power surge

[@matthewjk9016]

We were okay before ...scam

[@FrawwfMedina]

Lies

[@flat-earther]

Medina I suggest watch a 13 part series called _What on earth happened_ by Ewaranon to learn that the earth is not a globe.

[@robertf6344]

Sure you weren't watching cable 'news' ?

[@cpt.oblivion]

Line and load could have been explained a little better, but other than that, a mediocre job👍

[@TobiasRaphael1]

Keep it simple (barrowing the lingo from the plumbing trade)... think male and female. Line is the male (has the living seed) , load is the female (receiver, what is to be fertilized, to give new life).

[@tylere.8436]

Line, power coming in; load, power to other receptacles that is protected too.

[@Liberallez]

Hey Kevin!!! It works better if you stick your tongue in the outlet!!!🤣