How can you tell if your GFCI outlet is 15 amp or 20 amp?

Answer 1

I'm guessing you mean 120 volt, 20 amp receptacle. Look at the receptacle. If the grounding prong is down, the flat slot on the left is your neutral. In a 120v/15 amp receptacle, this slot will be parallel to the hot slot next to it. In a 120v/20 amp receptacle, this slot will be shaped like a sideways 'T'. The reason it is designed this way is so you are able to put either a 15 or 20 amp plug into a 20 amp receptacle, but you can not put a 20 amp plug into a 15 amp receptacle.

Answer 2

A couple of ways, shut the receptacle off at the breaker panel. If the circuit becomes de energized then look on the end of the breaker handle, if it says 20 then it is a 20 amp circuit. Another way is to take the protective cover off of the wall outlet and read the data off of the receptacle It will tell you the rating of the receptacle. The outlet should be wired with a #12 copper wire. The left side of the receptacle will have a vertical straight blade opening (neutral) and the right side (hot) might have a T slot or a horizontal blade opening.

Answer 3

Outlet voltage is determined by the nation that you happen to be in, and will be consistent from building to building. Further, outlets with different voltages will generally have different shaped plugs, and outlets with non-standard voltages will be clearly marked with whatever voltage they are offering.

Answer

The easiest way to tell if you have a 240volt outlet would be to use a voltmeter, and "read" the voltage directly from the outlet.

Not having a voltmeter handy, doesn't preclude you from figuring out the voltage coming to the outlet, you can know by the type of outlet you see. Also, by knowing where in the world you are located (being in the US, the standard household outlet is 110v, in Europe, you will find220-240volts.)

Please, if you can't tell whether your outlet is 240 volts, please don't "read" the voltage directly from the outlet with a voltmeter. And FYI, Homes in the US often have two types of outlets, as big appliances -such as dryers, use higher voltage.

Another way to tell is to look at the rating of any appliances, light bulbs, etc plugged into the same circuit, but make sure it's the same circuit! And why the big NO NO about reading the voltage with a meter ? Safety aspect, I suppose.

Answer 4

Remove the GFCI receptacle from the wall box. On the side of the device it will state what the amperage is. If the blades are parallel when looking straight at the device it will be 15 amps. If the right side blade of the receptacle is a "T" slot the rating on the device will be 20 amps.