My wife and I are buying a house. We just went through the inspection and the inspector pointed out that everything, and I do mean everything, in the house is running through the same GFI circuit. The inspector mentions that this could cause the GFI to trip repeatedly when we have too much plugged in/turned on at once. Anyone know how much this is going to cost to fix? If a lot, I will request that the seller fix before close.

Thanks.

What is the amperage of this single GFCI breaker? Regarding the real estate question you can ask the seller to do anything you want but they are not required to do anything, its all negotiable.

It is difficult to believe someone did that wiring in that manner unless it is a very small house. How many circuits are hooked to the GFI breaker? How many circuits in the breaker box?
I am not a licensed electrician but this certainly must be against the code. Have a qualified electrician inspect the house and give you an estimate to bring it up to code.
Then deduct his estimate from your bid if you want the house. If the wiring is that screwy I would want to have the rewiring done by someone working for me, not the present owner.

So, are you saying you have 1 breaker in panel, a GFI and it protects ALL recepticles?
If you turn off that 1 circuit, all lights and recepticles go out?
Do you mean all outside recepticles?

I also have a hard time believing this. There HAS to be more to it.

Also, your inspector is very wrong. GFI's DO NOT trip on an overload. They trip on a ground fault.

Tell him to do some more research on this so he does not look foolish when he reports such things.

I know when I get a report such as this to work on I make it very clearly known when there is a mistake like this. If these guys don't know this stuff they have NO place reporting on it.

Stanfortyman, I think you mean GFCI trip o ground faults and overloads. The inspector, who I think may be in error, was saying that if the breaker trips everything will go out. I agree with what everybody else is thinking, this just can't be correct but we need to hear back from jsmalls.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Stanfortyman, I think you mean GFCI trip o ground faults and overloads.

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No. If I meant that I would have written that.

A GFI does NOT trip on an overload!

The Consumer Products Safety Commission does not agree. " CIRCUIT BREAKER TYPE

In homes equipped with circuit breakers rather than fuses, a circuit breaker GFCI may be installed in a panel box to give protection to selected circuits The circuit breaker GFCI serves a dual purpose - not only will it shut off electricity in the event of a "ground-fault," but it will also trip when a short circuit or an over-load occurs. Protection covers the wiring and each outlet, lighting fixture, heater, etc served by the branch circuit protected by the GFCI in the panel box."

Thanks everyone, I obviously do not have enough information. Sorry about that. I was able to find out that the GFI circuit is 20 amp. I guess I was hoping this was more simple, but in a bathroom with a GFI plug you often trip the electricity in the room by plugging in a hair dryer or something. The Inspector felt that with everything (bathroom, kitchen, finished basement, and outdoor) all on the same GFI, the circuit would be overloaded regularly and the circuit would have to be reset constantly.

Thanks again for the help and what can I say? I'm out of my element here.

So, they put outlets (indoor and oudoor) requiring GFI protection, all on the same GFI breaker, not all the receptacles in the house on the same breaker. A much smaller problem, if any.

That makes sense smearcase. I was thinking of this as a convenience issue as opposed due a "not up to code" issue. I think it is just poorly designed.

jsmalls74, You could have on a couple of ciircuits. Leave existing for longest/most difficult
Location and refeed as necessary. If all outside recepticles were on 1 circuit, it may not be a problem, you can only weedeat one side of the house at a time, however if you expect a lot of Christmas lights, more than one circuit would be handy.

This is a stretch for a single 20 amp GFCI bit like smearcase points out much less of a problem than we originally thought. You will likely have two problems; the GFCI can pop from unplugging things like a hair dryer so you are correct but with this many outlets on a single circuit it will freqently overlaod too. A hair dryer and a toaster at the same time might be just too much. You could have a qualified person inspect the circuits as they come through the house and they will probably find a spot or two where the feeds come together. You could separate some of these feeds and make a second circuit if your panel has room.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

The Consumer Products Safety Comission does not agree. " CIRCUIT BREAKER TYPE

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Apples to oranges.

A GFI breaker serves two functions. The GFI function of this DOES NOT, repeat, DOES NOT, trip on an overload. The circuit breaker portion does.

A GFI receptacle does NOT trip on an overload at ALL.

Just to begin with, you cannot mix bathroom outlets with kitchen counter outlets.

Can you find or map this breaker for us?

Bathroom outlets should be on a independent circuit. They also should not be part of the bathroom lighting circuit so that if the breaker trips, you are not left in the dark.