Debate: Are GFCI breakers worth the hassle over deadfronts in kitchens?

I've been doing residential for about 8 years now, and I swear every kitchen reno I get into has an argument about this. Some older guys say put a deadfront GFCI under the cabinet and save the breaker slot, but I've seen too many nuisance trips on ranges and fridges with that setup. The new code in 2023 pushed for more AFCI/GFCI combos on 20A small appliance circuits, and my supply house in Denver is pushing the dual function breakers hard. So what's your go-to for a standard kitchen remodel - breaker or outlet?

3 comments

3 Comments

nora_walker571mo ago

Dual function breakers are the way to go, plain and simple. Nuisance tripping on a deadfront under the cabinet is a real pain, especially when the homeowner calls you back at 7 PM because the fridge went off. Breakers in the panel are easier to reset and you don't have to crawl under a sink to do it. The extra cost for the breaker is worth the headache of a callback in my book.

the_eric1mo ago

Nora, you're spot on about the deadfront under the cabinet being a pain. A buddy of mine did a kitchen reno for a customer a couple years back and put in one of those under-sink GFCI outlets. The homeowner's kid splashed water on the counter and it tripped the fridge outlet at dinner time. He had to drive back twenty minutes to flip it. He swapped it to a dual function breaker the next morning and never heard another peep about nuisance trips. That one callback probably ate up his profit on the job anyway.

ryan3691mo ago

Man that's rough. Twenty minutes each way just to flip a switch? I bet that guy was kicking himself the whole drive back. Did your buddy ever say if the dual function breaker completely stopped the nuisance trips or just made them less frequent? I've seen some guys swear by them but others say you can still get random trips if the circuit's got too many things on it. Just curious how that played out long term for him.

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