GFCI protection is the cheapest life-safety upgrade in a house. It watches for current leaking where it should not go and cuts power in milliseconds - long before your breaker would notice.
Where it is required
- Bathrooms - all receptacles
- Kitchens - all countertop receptacles
- Laundry areas and near any sink
- Garages and unfinished basements
- Outdoors, including under decks
- Crawl spaces
- Near pools, hot tubs and wet bars
If your Maryland home still has plain receptacles in those spots, that is a short, cheap outlet installation visit.
GFCI vs AFCI
GFCI protects people from shock. AFCI protects the building from arc faults - the tiny arcing in a damaged cord or a loose terminal that starts fires. Bedrooms and living areas increasingly call for AFCI, and dual-function devices cover both.
The two-prong problem
An ungrounded outlet has nowhere to send fault current. Two legitimate fixes: run a proper ground, or install GFCI protection and label the outlet as ungrounded. What is not acceptable is the common shortcut of swapping in a three-prong receptacle with no ground behind it, which leaves the next owner assuming protection that is not there.
Test yours this weekend
Press TEST on each GFCI. Power should cut. Press RESET to restore. If it will not trip, or will not reset, replace it - they wear out, generally in about ten years. If a GFCI trips repeatedly, something on that circuit is actually leaking and needs tracing.
Whole-house outlet upgrades across electrician in Baltimore, electrician in Bowie, electrician in Laurel and everywhere else in Maryland. Call (888) 592-6466.