Thinking about swapping GFCI outlets with GFCI breakers


  #1  
Old 09-22-19, 06:21 AM
M
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: USA
Posts: 164
Received 3 Upvotes on 3 Posts
Thinking about swapping GFCI outlets with GFCI breakers

Our house is three years old. When it was built, the electrician put GFCI outlets in the oddest places (garage, closet, etc.). Occasionally one will trip and then the hunt is on, especially at night!

I'm toying with the idea of locating the circuit each GFCI outlet is on and replacing the standard breaker with a GFCI breaker, then replacing the coordinating GFCI outlet with a standard outlet. This will allow me to immediately locate a tripped circuit without "the hunt".

I know it will cost in the ballpark of $100-$200, which is not a factor.

Is this an acceptable solution? Am I missing/forgetting something?

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions/comments are welcome! Thanks!
 
  #2  
Old 09-22-19, 06:27 AM
J
Member
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: welland ontario
Posts: 8,038
Received 515 Upvotes on 420 Posts
I my opinion a better solution would be to replace all the receptacles on the circuit with GFCI receptacles and then do NOT use any of the LOAD connections. That way only the problem device will be dead on a trip.
 
  #3  
Old 09-22-19, 08:09 AM
T
Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 1,569
Received 74 Upvotes on 69 Posts
I just did last week exactly what jo said. There was one GFCI in the garage that fed both baths and one outside recept. Now all have their own GFCI. Plus, that gfci was some 20 years old.

Get a four pack from your fav distributor.
 
  #4  
Old 09-23-19, 10:50 AM
CasualJoe's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 9,871
Received 185 Upvotes on 166 Posts
I'm toying with the idea of locating the circuit each GFCI outlet is on and replacing the standard breaker with a GFCI breaker, then replacing the coordinating GFCI outlet with a standard outlet. This will allow me to immediately locate a tripped circuit without "the hunt".
Without the hunt? Maybe if the trip is strictly a nuisance trip, but if you have something plugged in with a ground fault you'll still have to hunt that device down before the circuit breaker can be reset.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: