Thank You, HGTV!

I've been considering installing GFCI outlets in my house for a while now. For those unfamiliar with the outlets, they sense changes in the electrical current and shut off the current to prevent damage to people and to equipment.

My old house has old electricity. I'm lucky in one respect -- it's copper wiring, not aluminum -- but unlucky in others. All I have are two-slot outlets except in the kitchen and bathroom. Worse yet, the three-slot in the bathroom isn't even grounded. (Good thing I'm not a dryer-and-curling-iron gal. I would have killed myself by now.) My computer is running on an extension cord, which is far from safe, and the last thunderstorm took out my cable modem, attached to a plain 'ole two-slot plug. As you can see, an electrical upgrade is in my future.

My Black and Decker home repair book first introduced me to GFCIs, but it never specifically said I could replace my old outlets with them. I've looked at several sites on the web trying to find a definitive answer -- something that directly discussed old houses instead of general safety.

(This search is what lead me to hate the This Old House website, incidentally. After reading all the free material on the site I found an article with a promising title, but I couldn't access it without paying $5.00. I paid, and discovered that the material was the EXACT SAME as the free material, and didn't answer my questions at all! I wrote to complain, and never even received a form letter, let alone a real reply. This Old House sucks!)

So today I decide for the first time to seriously explore the HGTV website. Becca told me it was more than an archive of the shows, so I decided to check it out. I did a search for GFCIs, and found an article titled "Replace a Two-Slot Outlet." Finally, real reassurance that I can do this!

While code regulations only require GFCIs in the kitchen and bath, I intend to replace every plug in my home. I can't foresee where I'll need to plug in an expensive piece of electronics, and I don't want to risk damaging the equipment -- or myself. GFCIs aren't expensive, unless it gets to the point where I have to replace the electrical box, too.

I think I'll ask Dad to come over and help me install the first one, and after I'm sure I can do it I'll be able to tackle the rest.