ACCA Offers Guidance as GFCI Exemption Expires

A rule affecting outdoor air conditioners and heat pumps just changed. Electrical code has required GFCI protection — an outlet safety device that shuts off power if it senses a ground fault — on outdoor outlets since 2020. Outdoor HVAC equipment had a temporary pass from this rule while the industry looked for a fix to "nuisance tripping," where the GFCI cuts power even though nothing is actually wrong with the installation. That exemption expired September 1, so in areas that still follow the standard code, new outdoor HVAC equipment may now need GFCI protection. Some states have already delayed or dropped the requirement on their own, so what applies depends on where you live.

The tripping problem hasn't been fully solved. Some single-speed and inverter-driven equipment still trips standard GFCIs without any real fault. Newer "high-frequency" GFCI devices are showing up on the market, but they haven't yet been tested through a full cooling season across the range of equipment types in use.

For homeowners, this mostly matters if you're getting new outdoor AC or heat pump equipment installed and live somewhere the exemption has lapsed — you may see GFCI protection added as part of the job, along with the possibility of nuisance trips during hot weather while the technology catches up. Industry groups, including the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, are pushing the electrical code authority for more time to sort this out, so the rule could still change again.