Hi, I'm Whitney Bennett with Landmark Home
Warranty and today we're going to be talking
about GFCI outlets.
GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter
outlet.
It's a type of outlet that is usually found
in your kitchen or bathroom.
A GFCI outlet is an important safety feature
in most kitchens and bathrooms.
It will immediately turn off electrical current
when it comes in contact with water.
Now, if your kitchen or bathroom does not
have GFCI outlets installed, it's OK.
We're going to teach you how to install it
yourself with this video.
For this project you will need: an electric
outlet tester, a phillips screwdriver, a flat
head screw driver, needle nose pliers, and
of course, the GFCI outlet and new outlet
plate.
The first step in this project is to make
sure that the outlet you want to change to
a GFCI does not have current running through
it at this time.
To begin, you'll want to plug in your outlet
tester.
Next, turn off the appropriate circuit on
your circuit breaker box.
Once you have turned off the appropriate circuit
on the circuit breaker box, your electrical
outlet tester should show that there is no
electrical current running through the outlet.
The next step is to take off the outlet plate.
Next, you'll need to unscrew the old outlet
from the outlet box.
Once you have unscrewed the outlet, take it
gently out of the outlet box.
To take off your old electric outlet, you
want to start by releasing the hot wire first.
The hot wire, or the wire that brings the
electricity from the circuit breaker box to
the outlet is always going to be the one with
the brass or gold screws.
This one has black insulation on the wire.
After you have your hot wire or black insulated
wire off of the plug, you're going to take
off the neutral wire, which is the wire that
brings the electrical current back into the
circuit breaker and completes the electrical
current.
So, unscrew that.
Finally, you'll want to unscrew the grounding
wire.
The grounding wire may have green insulation,
or it may be bare.
This one is bare.
Unscrew that.
Here is your old plug, you've released it
from the outlet box, and here is the GFCI
plug that you're going to be replacing it
with.
You can see a lot easier on this that this
is the brass or gold screw and the silver
screw.
That is the green screw, where you will put
the grounding wire.
It's important to note, that when you flip
this over, most GFCI outlets are going to
have a piece of tape over the load lines.
These load lines or second screws that you
can kind of see under the tape, are not to
be used unless you are a qualified electrician.
Since this plug we are replacing has three
electrical wires, this is the perfect GFCI
plug to use, and we're only going to be using
the line screws.
You're going to put your GFCI outlet back
in the opposite way that you took it out.
So, when you took the grounding wire out last,
you'll put that in first.
Now, most GFCI outlets have a hole in the
bottom for that wire to go into.
We're going to be inserting the grounding
wire in that hole, and tightening the green
screw.
The next wire to connect is the neutral wire.
You'll insert it into this hole and then tighten
the screw.
The last wire you're going to attach to your
GFCI plug is the hot wire, or the one with
black insulation.
Just a reminder:the black insulation or hot
wire always connects to the gold or brass
screw.
Insert it into the hole, and tighten the brass
screw.
Next, plut the GFCI outlet back into the outlet
box and screw it in.
Take the new plate and put it on.
Your new GFCI outlet should now be working,
so to test it, plug in your outlet tester,
and go flip on the ciruit breaker box.
As you can see, your GFCI outlet should be
working.
Now, let's test this to make sure it's actually
functioning as a GFCI outlet.
As you can see, our outlet tester is showing
that electrical current is indeed running
through this outlet.
Now, to test to make sure it is acting as
a GFCI, you'll just need to push the test
button.
You can see that electrical current has stopped
flowing through this outlet.
That's how to replace a normal outlet with
a GFCI outlet.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact
a local electrician.
You can also get more home tips and tricks
at www.landmarkhw.com.
Thank you for watching!
