Electrical – How to wire a switch-controlled GCFI but retain downstream protection even with switch off

electricalgfciswitch

I'm wiring an outbuilding and would like to put GFcI first for downstream protection. Only catch is that the first outlet (the one I want to be a GFCI) needs to be controlled by a switch because its in the ceiling for a bank of LED lights to plug into. Here's the run I'm trying to do:

SOURCE……..ceiling GFCI (a bank of LED lights plugs into this)…….wall switch(that controls that GFCI)…..regular wall outlet…..other downline outlets, etc.

Is it possible to wire this run such that the regular outlet (downstream) isn't controlled by the switch but remains GFCI protected (even with the switch off, preferably)? I'd love to see a diagram for this if possible.

Thanks!

Best Answer

GFCI breakers are easy to manage and will protect the entire circuit. It's the safest way to provide protection to multiple uses on a circuit. One small hitch is you'll need to identify the intended circuit's neutral wire from among those attached to the neutral bus. That neutral wire must be attached to the GFCI breaker, a short white wire included with the new breaker attaches to the neutral bus. And the load (usually black) wire will attach to the breaker also. Then the breaker snaps into the panel in the appropriate slot.