Common Questions About GFCI Outlets

Most people have heard of GFCI outlets, but may not know how they work, or why they are sometimes required. As electricians at Lake of the Ozarks, we know they really do play an important safety function in your home's electrical system. Any outlets that are located within a few feet of a water source, or locations that are prone to high moisture, should be GFCI outlets. It’s a very simple upgrade that creates and added safety features and peace of mind that your family deserves. If you’d like to learn how they work, why you need them and where you should have them for your home and family’s safety, just read on.

What are GFCI Outlets?

The purpose of GFCI outlets is to prevent electrical shock if anything causes water to come in contact with your outlet and create an electrical short. They should be located in your kitchen near the sink, in your bathrooms near water sources, your laundry room, and your outdoor outlets as well. If you’re not sure how to tell the difference between a regular outlet and a GFCI outlet, just take a look between the two plug-ins. There should be two buttons - one that says test and one that says reset. If you see those two buttons you know you have a GFCI outlet

How are They Different?

GFCI outlets are made with a sensor that is able to detect when there are electrical surges or imbalances. If there is a surge or imbalance, they automatically disconnect power to the outlet. Your outlet will react even more quickly than your circuit breaker and provides added protection to help prevent shock or fire.

Where Should I Have Them?

You only need GFCI‘s in moisture prone areas or near water sources. This is not a complete list, but it will give you a good idea where you should have these outlets installed.

    - Outdoors

    - Bathrooms

    - Pool Areas

    - Kitchens

    - Wet Bar

    - Coffee Bar

    - Unfinished basements

    - Laundry room

    - Garages

    - Outbuildings

Testing

You’ll be surprised how many people who have GFCI Ellas don’t realize they are supposed to be tested regularly. If you have had a power surge or an electrical strike, you want to check your GFCI outlets to make sure they are still functioning properly. Even without power surges, it’s a good idea to test them every few months. To do so, plug in a lamp or cell phone charger to the outlet, and then hit the test button. When you do that the power should go off immediately. If it does not, call your trusted electricians in Osage Beach. If the power does go off as it should, just press the reset button to reactivate the outlet.

Stay Safe with Catalyst Electric! 

If you discover that your home does not have GFCI outlets where they are recommended, no worries! Catalyst Electric can help you get that taken care of right away. Just give us a call and get on our schedule. If you have any other electrical service needs we can help with those, too. We handle everything from new builds to remodels, entire house rewires, upgrading fixtures, and everything in between. To hear more tips and helpful information about electrical work at Lake of the Ozarks, don’t forget to follow us on social media. We have links to all our channels below. 

Quality Work With Integrity

 Catalyst Electric: Best electrician service at the Lake of the Ozarks  


1106 Runabout Drive
Osage Beach, Mo 65065
(573) 552-8488 -Phone
(573) 552-8248 -Fax



FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK ðŸ’¡ TWITTER ðŸ’¡ GOOGLE+ ðŸ’¡ LINKEDIN 

Location: Osage Beach, MO 65065, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Safety Tips for Christmas Lights

Image
December is upon us and if you haven’t hung up your Christmas lights, we hope you get to it soon! Christmas lights are such a beautiful way to celebrate the holiday season and you should make sure that you’re doing it the safest way possible. When you decide to hang your lights, it’s important to keep in mind the electrical safety aspect. Exterior lights, especially, can be hazardous if they are hung incorrectly. Catalyst Electric in Lake of the Ozarks is here to help you with your electrical needs. In this blog, you’ll find some of our most valuable safety tips for hanging Christmas lights. Tip 1: Inspect Your Lights If you’re reusing lights from the previous year, make sure that you check them thoroughly for cracks, broken lights, or frayed ends. These types of issues could lead to serious fire hazards involving your home. According to the National Fire Protection Associate, United States fire departments respond to an average of 780 house fires caused by holiday decorations a
Read more

Electrical Safety Tips to Keep You Safe at Home

Image
It can be easy to overlook common electrical hazards on a day-to-day basis when you don’t think about the potential consequences. Today’s blog is about staying safe with electricity at home. A lot of the tips we are sharing with you are common sense, that’s true. But we think it is always good to have a reminder of things to look out for and why it matters. When it comes to electricity, having a malfunction or issue can lead to fire, electrocution, or even death. As professional electricians at Lake of the Ozarks we have to be highly aware on a constant basis about the dangers we are working with. Every once in a while, we like to share some reminders with our readers to help keep them safe at home, as well. Just keep reading to learn some practical ways to keep your family and home safe with electricity. Plugs and Cords -Avoid placing extension cords where they will get stepped on regularly like under rugs or in doorways -Always use an extension cord rated for outdoor use when using
Read more

Considering Some Electrical Upgrades? Here’s How Catalyst Can Help!

Image
As professional electricians at Lake of the Ozarks , we get to help clients with a lot of very cool electrical upgrades. Some of our customers ask us to do updates to improve functionality. Others are looking at having electrical services at Lake of the Ozarks done to improve safety. Homeowners interested in improving their home's appeal to buyers have electrical upgrades made as well. If you’d like to hear about 3 types of fun and practical upgrades that we help our clients with on a day-to-day basis, we have lots of examples in this week’s blog. 1) Upgrades for Safety A lot of the work we do for clients has to do with improving safety or eliminating safety hazards. Having dedicated breakers installed for things that draw a lot of electricity is cheap insurance when it comes to preventing a short or overloading your electrical system. Examples where you would need this include hot tubs, and if you use electric space heaters on a regular basis. We also replace a lot of outlets tha
Read more