FAQ

No, not at all! The $69 cost is a one-time investment which includes two free smart plugs. There are no ongoing monthly fees. Our excellent GFI Notify software on our website does all the monitoring on a 24/7 basis.

A few ways a GFI outlet may fail are: having an overloaded circuit or ground fault occurrence, conductive dust or debris, worn out insulation on electrical wires, or having moisture in the receptacle box or a close lightning storm.

Yes, you can set up the SmartPlug in any convenient electrical outlet before you eventually plug it into one that’s in series with any circuit you want to monitor. It does not have to be a GFI circuit. The initial set-up requires you to see flashing lights on the plug. Do this where you are comfortable.

Yes, your Dual-Band WiFi SmartPlug is generally used to monitor a GFI circuit. SmartPlugs can be used to monitor any circuit. With licensed plugs, GFI Notify will notify you when any monitored circuit loses power or if your entire house has lost power. You can also order additional SmartPlugs at an excellent price that will also include a license.

We cannot guarantee the proper functioning of the GFI Notify detection and notification system if you use your own plug. We have rigorously tested the SmartPlugs that we are providing FREE with your order. We are confident that they will do the job they’re intended to do on a consistent basis. We are providing additional plugs, as an option, at an excellent price. We cannot provide any customer support if our provided SmartPlugs aren’t used.

Yes, this is another important benefit of GFI Notify that is included with your purchase. GFI Notify’s server will let you know of that whole house power loss generally within 6 minutes, even if there is a loss of your wifi signal. We intentionally wait 6 minutes to avoid false alarms as much as possible such as would occur with a router reboot. And, GFI Notify’s server will also inform you when power to your entire house is restored.  

Yes, you can plug any device into the SmartPlug that draws up to 10 amps of current. However, because there are so many other open outlets that are available in series with the GFI outlet, we recommend plugging the smartplug into an outlet closest to the wifi router. However, if you also want to use the smartplug to turn the appliance (or whatever is plugged directly into the smartplug) on and off remotely, that you can certainly do that using the GFI Notify app on your cellphone; this will not affect your getting notifications from GFI Notify. Our system works even when the plug itself is in the off status.    You may want to turn the plug, and hence, the appliance (computer, vending machine, etc.) plugged into it, off and then on to reboot it, for example. Rebooting many times can clear an error occuring in the plugged in-device.

The free SmartPlug that you will use along with the GFI Notify App to notify you when your GFI outlet trips can be plugged into any electrical outlet that is in series with the GFI outlet that you want to monitor. Generally, there can be up to 7 electrical outlets in series “downstream” from this GFI outlet.   Also see previous question which discusses why you may want to plug something directly into the smart plug.

You will receive a total of 6 in 20 minute intervals up to 1 hour. You will be able to input up to 3 cell phone numbers and up to 3 email addresses to simultaneously receive those notifications. Of course, if power is restored in the meantime, you will be notified of that once and all notifications will stop.

No, and you wouldn’t want to. As you saw on a previous page, a GFI outlet is a sensitive circuit breaker and there are several reasons why a GFI can trip. You would want a trusted person to check things out personally.

In some cases, the GFI can be reset by simply pushing the reset button. If it keeps tripping, there could be a more serious problem.

If you have a freezer or refrigerator plugged into an electrical outlet on a GFI circuit, we suggest that you keep a long extension cord available so that, if the GFI cannot be simply reset, at least your freezer or refrigerator can be plugged into a live outlet elsewhere until you will be available to deal with the problem that is causing the tripping.

Remember that two SmartPlugs are free and come with your order. The first SmartPlug should generally be plugged into the GFI circuit that you want to monitor where you have a freezer or refrigerator or other crucial device plugged in.

The second SmartPlug can be used to monitor any other circuit.  The GFI Notify App will monitor all licensed SmartPlugs to give you excellent information.

For example, if you receive a notification from all monitored smart plugs that power has been lost, you can conclude that power to the entire house has been lost and the GFI did not trip. When power is restored to the entire house, all smart plugs will report the restoration through the GFI Notify App. If, on the other hand, the SmartPlug monitoring the GFI circuit reports a power loss while the other SmartPlug do not report a power loss, you can conclude that only the GFI outlet has tripped and you need to take remedial action.

You may also want to purchase additional SmartPlugs to monitor any other  critical circuits you may have in your home or business. Also, many homes have sump pumps and swimming pool pumps plugged into GFI circuits. Note: Our SmartPlug is suitable for outdoor usage as long as it is covered.  One GFI Notify App will monitor each and every licensed SmartPlug linked to it even if smartplugs are in different physical locations.

Yes. That can happen if your Internet service is not working. You must have a continuous wifi signal on the premises for GFI Notify to function properly. If not, you will receive a notification that the monitored SmartPlugs have lost power. When the Internet service is restored, you will receive a notification that power to the monitored SmartPlugs have been restored. We have attempted to minimize such false alarms by intentionally not reporting a power outage by checking the plugs’ status for up to 6 minutes. This should be adequate time if you desire to reboot your router or modem, for example. That rebooting results in a temporary loss of your wifi signal.

Always use area codes when entering the cell phone numbers that you want to receive the notifications. In addition, we have discovered that, in certain parts of the country, that you also have to enter a “1” before the area code. If you are not sure, try it both ways.

Remember that the smart plug can be plugged into any open electrical outlet that is in series with the GFI outlet you want to monitor. So, the first thing to try would be to use an outlet that is closer to your router, the source of your wifi signal. If that doesn’t solve the problem, you need to buy a wireless signal booster. They are inexpensive.

Yes, you can. The other locations must have wifi. You simply install 2 smart plugs under the same GFI Notify mobile account you set up at your home. At the new location, you will use the User Name and Password for that location’s router.  All of your installed plugs will appear in your GFI Notify account.

Make sure that you have unplugged the smartplug from the circuit you are monitoring.  In the setup process, once you have identified that plug, perhaps put a physical mark on it. Also, on the Dashboard, the icon for that plug will have a large, red X through it after about 2 minutes. Refresh the screen to see it.

Make sure that you keep the smartplug unplugged until you receive the notification.

Yes, as long as it is protected from the weather.  Our GFI Notify round smartplug has a diameter of 1 7/8 ” so it fits perfectly into the outside box.. There is no need to plug the pump (or whatever appliance is outside) directly into the smartplug; use another open outlet. The smartplug will not have any current draw, so it will not get warm even if covered.  If there is another outlet “downstream” or in series with the GFI you want to monitor, you can use any of those.  If the GFI trips, they will all lose power and GFI Notify will notify you.

Other than using a regular wifi router for your direct wifi signal, using other methods may or may not work well.   Other wifi connections can get quite involved. You can certainly try them; notifications from GFI Notify may be false due to a fluctuating wifi signal. For a low wifi signal from a router, you can use a wifi range extender.

Having said the above, we have several customers using a wireless access point with GFI Notify. Everything is working perfectly.

Give it a try.  We offer a full, money back guaranty.