What Is A GFCI Outlet? How Can The GFCI Electrical Outlet Help With Safety?

"They do now make a GFCI outlet with a USB and a USB C built into it so those are right now new on the market so if you've got a kitchen counter that you plug your phone or laptop or something they charge they do now make outlets with USB and USB C." 

- Gareth Kelly, Home Service Expert

 

Gareth Kelly, an advisor to Jim Klauck,  A.K.A. Check A Pro Joe and the Check A Pro Radio Show joins the program today.  Check A Pro Joe received a question from a radio show listener - "What Is A GFCI Outlet and how can a GFCI electrical outlet help with safety?"

Check out this episode of The Dream Team Plumbing, Heating, Electrical & Cooling Podcast to find out...

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Podcast Episode Transcript:

They do now make a GFCI outlet with a USB and a USB C built into it so those are right now new on the market so if you've got a kitchen counter that you plug your phone or laptop or something they charge they do now make outlets with USB and USB C. This is the check a pro radio show check a pro Joe has assembled a team of pre-qualified home service contractors to bring you the latest in services products and techniques now here's your host the man with a hard hat and tool belt check a pro Joe I want to talk electrical here and don't want to talk about electrical safety this is very important many of us have heard of a GFCI circuit or outlet but you don't know what it is well I've asked an expert in the electrical field to join me his name is Gareth Kelly from dream team air conditioning heating plumbing and electrical hey Gareth how are you I'm doing good job thanks for helping me on the show today yeah thank you for being here so a GFCI that's obviously abbreviated why don't you tell us what it is no problem Joe so GFCI stands for a ground fault circuit interupter and what all means is it turns electric off to look perfect or to the appliance or anything that you have plugged into that if it doesn't right but we sometimes in the electrical field refer to them as shock profitable so preventing electric shocks with it things an imbalance in the circuit from late to ground or neutral to ground apple trip dot ground fault circuit breaker or outlet they're really important to have to drive their home create full circle bright or something underlines is there the eddies they're required pretty much most of the areas are home so and throughout your kitchen anywhere within six feet of water all of your bathrooms your lower levels beside your HVAC equipment so the guys see if this working on your HVAC equipment wired in your garage and they're required in on face areas of your house make down the basement you know maybe you have a sump pump or something up but still requires a GFCI outlet basically outdoors GFCI that are required in all over S hillside tours they're really handy and they're very safe to have and you need them by code in certain areas like Gareth said including outside your laundry room the basement like you said garage I'll tell you though it gets tricky everybody sometimes there'll be an outlet in your garage or your bathroom or a closet that doesn't work anymore so you go over to the panel and you're like oh I switched everything back and it still doesn't go on well these are put in series quite often and there might just be one outlet that needs to be reset isn't that true you know it's true a lot of times when the homes were wired and the builders you know then an effort to save money they would put the GFCI receptacle at the very start of the circuit so they wouldn't have them on each one that requires it sometimes no say though to start working those GSA trip somewhere or in the garage that they just stopped working something is outlet most likely is located beside the panel it depends on whoever wired at that time they could be in the bathroom it could be behind a a chair or piece of furniture you know so sometimes you know locating exactly where that GFCI trip can be challenging because you have to search every wall and every area every room sometimes to find it and these ground fault circuit interrupter outlets are not a normal outlet and over time they may need to be replaced why is that a lot of the others know how the soft house function on them as like anything you know the parts inside of wear out you know nothing's built to last forever so there is a recommended time that they should be replaced some of the newer GCI does have a lot of light on it and it tells you when it's tripped so lights up LED in the bottom corner and it tells you that this side of this trip and then you can set the reset button on it one