This section may be the single most important page of this website.  Please read and pay very close attention.

It was over thirty years ago and we were living in St. Louis, MO when we heard on the news that a young mother put her two baby girls in the bath tub.  She was concerned that it might be bit cold for them.  So she propped up a space heater on the toilet seat right next to the bathtub.  She then left for just a moment to get some towels.  When she returned she found that the girls tried to adjust the the heater and knocked it over into the bath tub.  The two girls would be who both died in this horrible accident would be alive today if the mother or landlord had put in a GFCI which is required by law nearly everywhere in bathrooms and kitchens near water.

The mission of the GFCI is to constantly monitor the incoming “hot” current  on the right lead of the outlet in the image to the right against the outgoing neutral current returning to the electrical company on the left lead of the outlet.  If ever the incoming current is not equal to the outgoing neutral line current this means that the is an active risk that some electricity is escaping somewhere and someone may be in mortal danger.  And if this actually occurs the GFCI will instantly cut off the current and potentially save someone’s life.  But that is not all.  There are two screws for hot on the right side and two screws for neutral on the left hand side.  So the incoming power will connect to one of the hot leads on the right and one of the neutral leads on the left.  But lets say that in addition to the GFCI there is another normal outlet “downstream” from the GFCI (eg the outlet is connected to the other hot and neutral screw getting its power from the GFCI and assuming this is wired correctly) the downstream outlet is also protected by the GFCI.  In short the GFCI will protect device on the GFCI and the downstream outlet from the GFCI and would be able to save the life of a person being electrocuted by a device connect to either the GFCI or the downstream outlet.