TIL the hard way that cheap GFCI outlets will cost you more in the long run

I put in about 15 of the $8 GFCI outlets from a big box store into a new basement rough-in last year. Fast forward 8 months and 4 of them had already tripped for no reason or just stopped working altogether. I spent almost 3 hours tracking down which ones were bad and swapping them out. That's time I could have been on another job making real money. The replacement cost for the good commercial grade ones was around $22 each. Now I only buy the heavy duty ones from the supply house. Has anyone else had bad luck with the cheap home center GFCIs?

2 comments

2 Comments

joel_young1mo ago

Man I put in 6 of those cheap $8 ones from Home Depot in my own house and had to replace 3 of them within a year. One started buzzing really loud before it finally died, scared the crap out of me. Never again, the extra money for the commercial ones is worth it just for the peace of mind alone.

the_sandra1mo ago

I read somewhere the cheap ones have thinner copper inside, which makes sense now.