Kirsty

Brian, thank you for your comments. I appreciate your taking the time to respond. We're planning to have the wiring rechecked by another contractor. I'll post a follow-up here, in case anyone's interested. No! Anything but that!

We had some new GFCI outlets (and circuits) installed recently. I noticed that the outlets usually seem slightly warmer than the areas around them, also with nothing plugged in. Is this something that happens more with the newer GFCIs? We have two older ones (maybe 3-4 years old) that never feel warm. Also, the temperature of the new GFCIs seems to fluctuate between "normal" and slightly warm, also when nothing is plugged in. After noticing the warmness, I was a little concerned and did a search. The following is from this site: http://www.handymanusa.com/index.html GFCI Slightly Warm Is it normal for a GFCI outlet to become slightly warm (not at all hot)when nothing is plugged into it? This is normal household wiring with no big loads on circuit; 12 gauge copper on a 15 amp breaker. It isn't normal for the outlet to get warm, especially when nothing is plugged into it. But if you have a rather large load wired further down from it, it would explain it. Your wiring size is in excess of required, so that isn't a problem. Just to be sure, you can check the connections on the breaker,. (make sure the circuit is off at the time, of course) . Heat=resistance. Because GFI's have "load" terminals on them- to feed downstream circuits- the GFI could indeed become "warm" with nothing "plugged in". In other words, although the outlet itself doesn't have a load on it (something plugged in), it could be supplying current to other outlets with a load on them. Coupled with loose/poor connections at the GFI which = resistance, you could have a "warm" outlet. Better check the connections on the GFI. id="blue"> Is this something to be concerned about? I'm not sure how to check the connections on the breaker! The work was done by a qualified electrician, so the gauge and amps should be appropriate, one would think.