How to Hook Up a GFCI Breaker

Put on the safety glasses to protect your eyes. Turn off the power by opening the main breaker for the electrical panel. Confirm the power is off by touching the non-contact voltage detector to the insulation on several wires. Double-check that the power is off by making sure no devices in the home have power.

Loosen the screws that hold the cover on the electrical panel with a screwdriver. Remove the cover and set aside.

Locate the breaker you want to change and open its switch. Loosen the terminal screw on the breaker and pull the black wire out.

Remove the breaker by laying a screwdriver flat along the center of the panel to use for leverage and using another screwdriver to pry the breaker from the center of the panel.

Place the GFCI breaker's switch in the "off" position. Install the breaker by tilting toward the center of the panel, inserting it into the middle of the panel's bus bar and then pushing down on the outside of the breaker until you hear it click into place.

Insert the black wire into the breaker's "hot" terminal and tighten it down. Run the pigtail white wire from the GFCI breaker to the neutral bus bar (white wires). Loosen an empty terminal in the neutral bus bar, insert the wire and tighten the terminal down.

Trace the black wire from the breaker back to its entrance into the panel. Locate the white wire that is associated with the black hot wire. Follow that wire to the neutral bus bar and remove it from its terminal. Run the white wire to the GFCI breaker and connect it to the neutral terminal on the breaker.

Install the cover back on the electrical panel; then turn the power back on.