Most homeowners don't give much thought to the electrical system humming away behind their walls. Until something goes wrong, ...

Outdoor electrical outlets or receptacles in your bathrooms or kitchen should be GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) protected. This type of circuit will prevent accidental death from electrical ...

Most outlets have a limit of 1,800 watts, with 1,500 watts cited as a safe maximum. This is enough for multiple device ...

A recent hint from a Heloise reader suggested that a ground-fault circuit interrupter could prevent a fire. The reader was concerned that her slow cooker, when left unattended for many hours, could be ...

Q. We just bought an old house, built in the 1950s, so the electrical outlets are not grounded. We'd like to add GFCI outlets near the bathroom and kitchen sinks for shock protection, but our home ...

Have you ever heard people talking about "GFCI outlets" and wondered what sort of gobbledegook is coming out of their mouths, let alone whether it's relevant to you? If so, you're not alone: many ...

Q. This week: The safety outlet in the kitchen of our 1940's Cape Cod house doesn't seem to be hooked up correctly. When we use the toaster and microwave oven at the same time the circuit breaker in ...

Don't put your old home's safety at risk because you don't want to get this specific feature checked out a by a professional.

Q. Before we listed our house for sale, we hired a home inspector because we wanted to provide full disclosure to all prospective buyers. Now we have a buyer who is disputing the inspection report ...

Few things are more convenient than an in-wall smart outlet when you want to turn a lamp or small appliance on and off, and the devices have been around almost as long as smart switches. But you haven ...