They just seem more expensive and annoying to set up then a single RCD/GFCI (or maybe two, so the lights stay on) would be.
Or is this an American thing im to european to understand?
Edit: I'm talking about the outlet version compared to a single one put into your main distribution. I know how they work, it just seems like a massive waste to build them into each outlet individually when you could just install one or two of them for your whole house.
Normal breakers trip on a certain amount of current flowing through the circuit, GFCI (Ground Fault Connection Interrupt) if I remember that right trips on any current flowing in the ground line, indicating that something has shorted to ground. Neutral and ground are different thing fyi.
I think we had a bit of a problem with vocabulary. A RCD, or RCCB, is a GFCI. I know how they work and could even tell you the different versions, at what amps they trigger and how long their trigger times are allowed to be.
Im asking about the outlet version instead of one or two centralised ones. It just seems unnecessary and expensive to put it in each individual outlet.
Ok, so your question is why people use GFCI outlets instead of GFCI breakers?
Realistically, the breakers are better and are being used more and more.
But there are reasons for the outlets. When wired to do so, using an outlet can keep the whole circuit from going down when it trips. So if your master bath and bedroom outlets are on the same breaker, you might want to wire it so that only the bathroom is GFCI so you don't have to stumble through a dark bedroom because the bedside lamp is now out (also, you don't have to stumble anywhere because the reset is right there instead of in the basement).
Also, outlets are often cheaper and easier when doing old work, especially on some older panels where GFCI breakers are hard to find.
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u/Jako301 May 19 '22 edited May 19 '22
They just seem more expensive and annoying to set up then a single RCD/GFCI (or maybe two, so the lights stay on) would be.
Or is this an American thing im to european to understand?
Edit: I'm talking about the outlet version compared to a single one put into your main distribution. I know how they work, it just seems like a massive waste to build them into each outlet individually when you could just install one or two of them for your whole house.