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Cake day: August 2nd, 2023

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  • GFCI protects against a difference in current between the hot and neutral lines. This is intended to sense that the energy is going to the outlet, but returning through a different path, like through a meat bag full of mostly water.
    This is usually for wet locations like bathrooms and kitchens, to stop water from completing a circuit.

    A short circuit would be too much current going through the circuit, and would be stopped by a standard circuit breaker.
    These would be for every circuit, to protect against overloading the wires and outlets.

    An AFCI would detect if arcs are being generated in a line, like if there was a loose wire causing sparking somewhere. This would typically cause a very hot spot in the line which could cause a fire, but not necessarily cause a short circuit or an electrocution risk.
    These are usually only required in bedroom spaces to reduce the chance of a fire happening in the room you are sleeping in.

    Those are all different from a surge protector, which is intended to stop high voltage spikes, which typically occur from issues outside the house.
    These are typically used, in various types, to protect sensitive electronics and expensive appliances.

    Four different types of protection, for four different types of problems.