GFCI Outlets: How They Work And New Requirements

GFCI receptacles have been guarding us against electrical shock since 1975. we all have them in our homes but how do they actually work where are they required by code and do they actually protect us from injury we're going to go over all of that starting right now GFCI is just an abbreviation for ground fault circuit interrupter and it's essentially A specialized circuit breaker designed to protect against ground faults a ground fault is defined as the inadvertent contact between an energized electrical conductor and ground now this could include using your body as a current path ground fault protection is typically installed in the circuit panel as a breaker or as the receptacle Outlet itself when electricity flows through a circuit it should follow a specific path now this path is critical for safety and for the effective operation of the circuit we're going to take some actual amp readings in just a second but first let let's take a look at this graphic on a typical 120 volt circuit shown here the current travels through the hot wire which carries the current to the cord connected load and then returns through the neutral wire which completes the circuit that means that the current on the hot and the neutral wire are equal during normal operation for demonstration purposes I have this GFCI receptacle set up in the Vise with the wires exposed so we can take some amp readings and I have a extension cord plugged in that connects to a heat gun on the other side so let's take some amp readings and see what we have you can see here that I have five amps on the hot wire of this circuit now let's check the neutral wire yep it also has 5 amps so this is a normally operating circuit but now let's check the hot and the neutral together notice that there's zero amps what happened to our 5 amps What's Happening Here is the magnetic fields on the hot in the neutral wires are canceling each other out so that's why we see Zero amps on the meter and this is exactly how a GFCI monitors a circuit if current on the Hop flows through any path other than back on the neutral the gsci will detect the imbalance and if it exceeds the 5 milliamp threshold the GFCI will immediately trip cutting off the flow of electricity to The Fault the 5 milliamp threshold of current difference is well below the level that can cause serious injury or death from electrical shock and is the reason why they're required by code in high-risk locations at 20 milliamps you start to have muscle contractions and at 100 milliamps your heart stops beating five milliamps is a very low level of current just for a reference a thousand milliamps is equal to just one amp of current flow and did you know that the consumer product safety commission estimates that 47 percent of today's electrocutions could have been prevented with GFCI protection but GFCI protection won't protect us against all types of electrical hazards they're specifically designed to protect against ground faults other devices such as afci protection and circuit breakers also play an important role in our electrical systems we'll go over where gfcis are required in just a second but first if you're finding this video helpful can you do me a huge favor and hit that like button it really helps the video spread to a larger audience thanks a lot for that GFCI protection has been expanding with every new code cycle for decades and it has expanded again in the 2023 code let's go over the 2020 requirements and then I'll explain the additional requirements for 2023. article 210a GFCI protection for personnel and this is in dwelling units section A all 125 through 250 volt receptacles installed in locations specified in 2108 A1 through a11 and supplied by single phase Branch circuits rated at 150 volts or less to ground she'll have GFCI protection for personnel all bathroom receptacles need to be GFCI protected garages and accessory buildings Outdoors crawl spaces at or below grade basements kitchens where receptacles are installed to serve the countertop surfaces now there's a change here in the 2023 code we'll go over in just a second sinks where receptacles are installed within six feet from the top inside edge of the bowl of the sink boat houses bathtubs and shower stalls where receptacles are installed within six feet of the outside edge of the bathtub or shower stall laundry areas indoor damp and wet locations there are three major changes to GFCI protection in the 2023 code let's take a look at those now now all 125 to 250 volt receptacles in kitchens require GFCI protection not just the countertop receptacles microwave ovens refrigerators and ranges any receptacle in the kitchen now requires GFCI protection a new location has been added that includes any area other than a kitchen with sinks and Provisions for food beverage or cooking preparations an example of this might be a coffee or food prep area outside of the kitchen now receptacle is located more than six feet from the sink will still need GFCI protection five new appliances have been added that require GFCI protection even when they're outside of the kitchen now all these appliances require ground fault protection even if they're hardwired or not connected to a receptacle now if you like electrical projects or other projects around the home I'll put up a few videos and playlists right here that you might find interesting and if you found this video helpful at all can you do me a huge favor hit that thumbs up button down below and of course if you have any questions or comments you can leave them down in the comment section and I'll see you on the next one

Channel: Backyard Maine

Views: 36,652

Keywords: gfci receptacle, gfci receptacle installation, gfci receptacle tester, gfci receptacle wont reset, gfci receptacle with switch, gfci receptacle wiring, gfci receptacle tester with lcd, gfci receptacle keeps tripping, gfci receptacle replacement, gfci receptacle not working, gfci receptacle outlet

Id: LYWUjq8ST4Q

Length: 6min 20sec (380 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 17 2023