Ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI’s) help to prevent electrical shocks by shutting off the current as soon as an imbalance in the hot & neutral is detected. Current codes require GFCI protection on all kitchen & bathroom outlets & in other potentially damp locations like basements & garages.

If you are building a new home or retrofitting an older one you can use either an outlet or circuit-breaker GFCI device.

A GFCI outlet, which costs 10-15 dollars, has it’s own built-in circuit breaker as well as a reset button. When installed properly, a GFCI outlet will protect all other outlets on the same circuit as long as the GFCI outlet is the first one on the circuit.

A GFCI circuit breaker, 30 + dollars, is an easier way to ensure that all the outlets & fixtures on any given branch circuit will be protected. GFCI breakers also function like standard breakers to protect against overloaded or short circuits.

Thanks for reading my article titled, "GFCI Protection- Receptacles or Circuit Breakers?. I hope that you enjoyed reading it.

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