Where Should GFCI Outlets Be Installed?Īreas of the house that are required by law to use GFCI protected outlets include kitchen counters, bathrooms, garages, laundry rooms, unfinished basements, and within six feet of wet bars. A sustained surge of electricity to the human body is what can cause more serious problems and GFCI is designed to prevent. This response typically occurs within thirty milliseconds, so the person using the outlet may still receive a painful electric shock. When a fault is detected, the GFCI immediately shuts off the flow of electricity to the outlet. bathrooms, kitchen counters, etc.) is required to be outfitted with GFCI technology.Ī GFCI outlet contains sensors that continuously monitor the surge of electricity within the wiring. GFCI protection technology was invented in the 1970s and GFCI outlets began to be used in place of standard electrical outlets in certain high-risk areas of the home.Īny electrical outlet that is located in an area of the house containing a water source (i.e.
Thus, a safety measure had to be invented in order to significantly reduce the chances of this occurring. Standard electrical outlets have no safety features installed within them to prevent people from being electrocuted and these standard outlets were the only ones used in homes built before the 1970s. When the power source is turned on this can cause a person to become electrocuted which can lead to serious injury or even death. Unfortunately, wires can get frayed or damaged which can break the insulation keeping the electricity at bay. This prevents the electricity from escaping and flowing through a different conductor, such as water, the ground, or a person. In the home, electricity is contained within wires that are covered in an insulating material such as plastic or rubber.
This is why most lightning strikes the ground, because the ground is one of the best electrical conductors there is. See, when electricity is not in a controlled environment, it makes a beeline toward whatever is the best conductor in the immediate vicinity. What Is a Ground Fault?įirst, we should probably explain what exactly a ground fault is.Ī “fault” is an electrical term that describes an instance where electricity deviates from its intended path, and a “ground fault” is when electricity takes an unintended path to the ground. If your house has no GFCI technology embedded into your high-risk outlets, then there is a significantly increased chance that you could get electrocuted.īelow you can find our guide to GFCI outlets, including where they should be located in the home and what to do if one is malfunctioning. Standard electrical outlets provide no protection against ground faults, making them extremely risky to use, especially when they are located near water. GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, and it is a type of electrical safety precaution that was invented to decrease the likelihood of people suffering from electrical shocks while they are in areas of the house that contain water sources. People can get seriously injured by electrical shocks in the home.Įlectricity, water, and humans are a bad combination, which is why GFCI outlets were invented. Electricity is something people take for granted because of how prevalent it is in our daily lives, but electrical safety is no joke.
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