At Fault

Ask Umbra on power-strip alternatives 8

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Q. Hi Umbra,

I know that the little trickle of electricity that so many appliances use even when they are “off” adds up to a significant amount of power. I also know that a power strip with an on/off switch can help. But there are places in my house where a power strip is pretty inconvenient. In the kitchen, I’ve begun using the test and reset buttons on the GFI outlet as on/off switches for the coffee maker and its little clock. It seems very handy—but I can’t help but wonder if in doing so I’m going to wear out the GFI outlet or undermine my efforts somehow. “They” say to test GFIs monthly, but if I effectively test it every day, am I going to be replacing it frequently? Might I conceivably mess it up through overuse to the point where it becomes an electrical fire hazard? Or have I stumbled across a quick and easy way to deal with trickling electricity?

Jonathan T.
Norwich, Vt.

A. Dearest Jonathan,

“They” do say to test the GFI or GFCI monthly, and as far as I can tell it’s because “they” don’t want you to be seriously electrocuted. “They” love you.

outletOh noooooo!grendelkhan via flickrGround Fault (Circuit) Interrupter outlets are those outlets in kitchens, bathrooms, and other potential wet locations that have the Test and Reset buttons between the two pluggy spots. They monitor electrical flow through the outlet when it is in use. Under normal conditions, the electricity should complete a circuit, with a certain number of milliamps leaving out one hot prong hole and returning through the neutral prong hole. The GFCI is predicated on the notion that if any of the milliamps leaving the outlet fail to return to the official neutral/ground within, they must have found a ground somewhere else.

That somewhere else could conceivably be a person, perhaps a person standing in a spot of water (as I once was when operating a dangerous secondhand toaster—zoinks). A tiny difference in the amount of amps leaving vs. returning activates a coil inside the GFCI, which then passes the bad news on to various other bits, ending in the physical severance of the electrical connection within the outlet. The outlet stops working, the appliance in question stops receiving electricity, and any nearby persons are spared horrible pain. GFCIs are calibrated to trip at about 5 or 6 milliamps—before you even feel a shock, much less cardiac arrest.

To wend our way to your actual question, there are a few potential problems with your use of the Test button as a phantom load reducer. As you say, you will wear the thing out more quickly than if you just tested monthly as we are meant to do. The part that will wear out is the part that senses a loss of amps in the circuit and shuts off power to the outlet. It might become way more sensitive to wee variations in current, and start shutting off when nothing is wrong, and perhaps shut off altogether if it is an outlet of recent vintage—in other words, become annoying and need to be replaced. Or, worse, it will stop sensing variations in current, but still let you access electricity. You may not notice that it has stopped, and be killed in a stupid accident involving a humdrum kitchen appliance and a puddle of toddler pee underfoot. (There is a way to determine if your GFCI is failing: a little diagnostic GFCI tester plug found at hardware stores.)

Other issues with this theoretically excellent idea is that some GFCIs may be wired so as to cut off power to other outlets down the line, monitoring not only themselves but their neighbors for a power imbalance. You’ve been shutting yours off and having no noticeable problems in other outlets, but other persons might shut off the power to three outlets in a row, maybe interrupting the baked beans down there in the crockpot.

So, to sum up: On the minor side, you would wear out your GFCI outlet and need to buy and install a new one. On the major side, you would be dead. I prefer you non-dead.

Stay tuned for my next column, which looks at some more promising alternatives.

Affectionately,
Umbra

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Send your green-living questions to Umbra.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

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  1. mihan's avatar

    mihan Posted 9:38 am
    03 Aug 2009

    Umbra, "Amps" is shorthand for "Amperes." The Ampere is a unit of current. Thus, one does not have an "amount of amps" any more than one has an "amount of eggs"--- one can have a "number of amps" or an "amount of current." Having gotten grammar and physics out of the way, I have fretted about this issue. I have (otherwise) no phantom loads but my landlord has installed outlets that have little LEDs to indicate that they are functional. I look forward to your future words of wisdom.

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  2. hank Posted 11:24 am
    03 Aug 2009

    One plea -- please recommend METAL power strip boxes, not plastic.Here are some for example:http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/product-series.cfm?txtSeriesID=366&EID=12
    The small one has 3 outlets, in a metal box, with a switch.  That's the kind I've been putting in around our house.
    And you can find similar ones with a switch for each outlet, also in metal cases. Don't fail to look at the problem reports on fires:http://www.google.com/search?q=home+electronics+fires+fire+marshal
    Even the supposedly safe plastics actually burn.  And that would be assuming the manufacturers never spoofed the fire-safety tests by sending in specially crafted materials then selling the cheaper and more flammable materials once they got their UL stickers. The fire marshals page used to warn that this stuff usually burns up completely in home fires, so there's no evidence statistically to show. But they tested it and videotaped plastic cases on home electrical/electronics catching fire and supporting enough fire to fill a room.A coworker had one catch fire at night a week ago, set the bedspread on fire -- a few minutes after she'd gotten up in the morning, luckily for her, rather than overnight. 

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    1. Zain's avatar

      Zain Posted 2:28 pm
      03 Aug 2009

      I kinda agree, it would help a lot. Nice answer though.

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  3. sttr Posted 12:03 pm
    03 Aug 2009

    Thanks Umbra, good informations.Specially I love the picture so much :) tekstil aksesuar 

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  4. Tasermons Partner Posted 4:15 pm
    03 Aug 2009

    Why not just unplug the coffe maker when not in use?  Along with the toaster, the microwave, the blender, and all those other items that really are used only 1% of the time or less.  Plug 'em in when they're needed, and then unplug 'em when you're done.  Simple.

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    1. gristle Posted 9:42 pm
      03 Aug 2009

      Definitely unplug the toaster. I learned that lesson well when I was, fortunately, at my mom's house, alone, and her toaster decided it didn't need to be turned on to heat up six hours or so after she'd left for the day. Her toaster cozy caught on fire and would have burned the house down. I've seen other people stack papers and other things on their toasters. In our own home we just decided to do without after the last one died. More room, less worries. Microwave was the next thing to go.

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  5. spaceshaper's avatar

    spaceshaper Posted 8:29 pm
    03 Aug 2009

    Plug/unplug the appliance is maybe a better solution than constantly stress-testing the GFCI, but there is a simpler fix. Place a piece of black electrician's tape over the coffee-maker clock. That way you'll quit fretting about the 1/4 Watt or less of phantom load and get on with your life.Seriously, unplugging an appliance like a large TV that has significant standby loads makes sense but don't sweat the small too-tiny-to-measure stuff. A typical digital clock can run for years on a battery the size of an aspirin. Borrow a Kill-a-watt meter and see if you can even get a reading on your coffee-maker (when it's not brewing, that is). And if you're still concerned, the overall safest option (constantly pulling/replacing the plug can stress the appliance cord) is to replace the outlet with one that has a switch. Just a few $$$ at a home improvement store.

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  6. Dave Brook Posted 6:13 pm
    08 Aug 2009

    People - I agree that we all have a responsibility to go after energy waste but many of the people I talk to (as part of my job) are vehement about reducing phantom loads but still haven't air sealed and insulated homes they own, even though they appear to have plenty of money. Come on people get your priorities straight.

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