GFCI outlets 101

If your home was built in the 1970's or later, chances are you'll find these outlets with buttons outside, in the bathrooms, the kitchen and in the garage and laundry room. They became mandatory in all these locations by 1987 per the National Electrical Code. The reason...safety and prevention of shock or electrocution. That's why you find Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI) next to faucets and outside the house. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity and if you happen to be standing barefoot on the wet patio and plug in your old phone charger that has a frayed, exposed wire that's touching your skin, you'll know it instantly. Best case, you only get zapped on your finger. Worse case, you could die. The GFCI is there to prevent that. Within 1/6000th of a second, it detects the electricity has deviated from its normal path and is traveling through you so it shuts off the flow at the outlet and all additional outlets wired downstream. Hopefully this never happens to you but testing your GFCI outlets every year is crucial. That's why there's a TEST button. Plug in a hairdryer or lamp and push TEST and "click." That light should instantly turn off. After testing, push RESET and "click" the outlet will work again. GFCI can and do nuisance trip occasionally so before calling me when you lose electricity in a room, go around and reset all the GFCI outlets you can find. That may restore power. GFCI's don't last forever so any that fail the TEST procedure should be replaced by calling me at (805) 867-7744. Your family members lives depend on working GFCI outlets!