For the longest time, the garage was kind of placed on the back burner when it comes to building codes, including electrical. Considered to be a non-living space, the garage doesn’t even qualify for more than level 2 drywall completion.
In 2008, the NEC (National Electric Code) was updated to require that garages be protected with GFCI outlets. A garage doesn’t need an RCD unless you live in the UK. In the US, it’s GFCI and AFCI, even though AFCI isn’t required in garages.
The US does use RCD protection but it’s usually relegated to massive construction platforms and generally at the industrial level only. As far as the NEC is concerned, garages that are manufactured (whether as a part of the home or as a detached unit) are required to have GFCI protection.
What is the Difference Between GFCI and RCD?
For one, RCD protection is a technology and protection mechanism that is predominately in the UK. Over there, the average person has probably never heard of a GFCI or AFCI outlet.
Although RCD is utilized in America, it’s the same way, with the average American having no earthly clue what an RCD is. In terms of what makes them different technologically, it all boils down to sensitivity and functionality.
What is an RCD?
An RCD is almost exactly the same as a GFCI, in terms of outlet protection and it is a safety device that cuts power to the outlet in case something goes wrong.
An RCD is typically (though not always) set to trip at 30mA or milliamperes. An RCD is not a safety device that detects a short circuit or an overload of amps.
What an RCD does, is protect against leakage to the ground. It’s also not a ‘downstream’ protection device. Normally, when you set a GFCI on the first outlet in a circuit, that GFCI will protect all of the remaining outlets on that circuit.
An RCD doesn’t do that. That means that RCDs have to be established on every outlet in a home. RCDs are apparently faster than GFCIs, but the difference in terms of how long a human being can take a shock with either an RCD or GFCI before it trips is nearly irrelevant.
Last but not least, RCDs function a little differently than GFCIs in that they are plugged into the outlet, rather than being built into the outlet. An RCD plugs in first, then whatever you need power for plugs into the RCD.
What is a GFCI?
A GFCI outlet is going to look like an RCD outlet, with the exception that UK plugs look a little different than ours. A GFCI is almost like having a standard circuit breaker built right into your outlet.
A GFCI monitors the flow of the current. If the current exceeds a 5 mA difference, then the breaker trips and there is no more power to the outlet. You have to press the reset button located directly on the outlet to restore the power since you will have reset the GFCI.
The difference is in the outflow and inflow. A GFCI is designed to trip if that difference exceeds 5mA. Because of how it functions, if you were to ever get shocked by an outlet, the GFCI ensures that you won’t get any more than 5mA.
The only place that the NEC does not recommend installing GFCI outlets is in ceiling outlets for the operation of garage door openers. Other than that, there is typically going to be a GFCI breaker, and all of the outlets are protected by GFCI as well, at least in homes constructed after 2008.
Why Are GFCIs Required in Garages
It took the NEC quite a while to come around to updating their code to reflect the necessity of GFCI outlets in a garage. Ground faults make up 80% of all electrical failures in the home and sometimes, they can result in a severe shock or worse.
With that information in hand, the NEC updated its code to reflect an improved safety rating, requiring GFCI protection for all of the outlets in a garage, with the aforementioned exception of outlets designed for the garage door opener.
For homes that were built before 2008, the odds are good that the garage outlets are not GFCI protected. However, you can rectify that by either replacing the outlets with GFCI outlets or replacing the circuit breaker with a GFCI breaker.
In fact, if you know which outlet is the first one on the circuit in your garage, you can simply replace that one with a GFCI, since it is designed to protect downstream, covering the remaining outlets on the circuit.
Where are RCDs Used?
RCDs were originally used as an anti-theft device that power companies could take advantage of when non-customers found a way around power cutoff.
RCDs do have applications in the US, however, they are primarily the shock protection of choice in the UK and Europe as a whole. They are used for a variety of applications, including outdoors and they are even built into hairdryers.
Their primary function, however, is as an attachable circuit breaker for three-pin outlets when they are combined with MCBs (Miniature Circuit Breakers), which are more in line with what GFCIs do stateside.
When an RCD is combined with an MCB, it is called an RCBO (residual-current circuit breaker). These RCBOs more closely reflect what a GFCI does in the US, except they have the additional functionality of the RCD, which a GFCI lacks.
Although the UK and European nations stick with RCDs, MCBs, and the combination RCBO, the GFCI is the dominating “miniature” circuit breaker in use in both the US and Canada.
Final Thoughts
RCDs aren’t required for garages in the US, even though GFCIs are, so long as the home and garage were manufactured after 2008. However, RCDs aren’t necessarily required in garages in the UK, mostly because it’s a different level of interaction.
GFCI requirements are required for detached garages that are built after 2008 as well. So, if you have a DIY garage project in mind, be sure to stock up on GFCI outlets.
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