Safety & Special Topics

A ground-fault circuit interrupter protects people from shock by opening the circuit when it senses a small current imbalance (leakage) between hot and neutral.

A Class A GFCI trips at a ground-fault current of about 4–6 milliamperes.

GFCI protection is required for receptacles in bathrooms, kitchens, garages, outdoors, crawl spaces, unfinished basements, and near sinks, among others.

An arc-fault circuit interrupter detects dangerous arcing faults in wiring and opens the circuit to help prevent fires.

GFCI protects people from shock (ground leakage); AFCI protects property from fire (arcing). They address different hazards.

AFCI protection is required for most 120 V, 15 and 20 A branch circuits supplying living areas such as bedrooms, living rooms, and similar rooms.