The garage is attached
With all the supply line issues I'm surprised it's not required all the time seperation of grounds & neutrals. Probably only a matter of time. Our code changes like underwear safety first I get it but it's still legal to use quick connects on the back of switches and receptacles. Lost count of how many short or burn. Quick and easy trumps safety. Makes you wonder how much influence big companies who make them have. Even the Sylvania & Phillips of the world making everyone swallow those CFL bulbs now people think LED is another scam. Sorry Sore subject for another day. Still a sparky forum so I can still bitch Did you ever try to explain to a 80 yr old woman she has to have TR receptacles and $40 arc fault breakers, and that her job now costs an extra $200 They think your making it all up, not to kind in this new review world.
our job gets tougher and more expensive to keep up with & plumbers job gets easier materials cheaper sling plastic everywhere flex gas pipe sling it anywhere don't even have to strap it down walls, yet they make even more money. Bastards ahh that felt good. Thx lord knows the little wifey poo don't wanna hear it.
Separation of grounds and neutrals beyond service equipment is nothing new, until 2008 NEC it was mostly only allowed to run a single grounded conductor to separate buildings or structures, and everything else needed separate conductors. Then back until 1996 NEC (I think it was 1996) we could still use one conductor on ranges and dryers as neutral and EGC.
Quick connects on receptacles has never been an NEC issue - those items are listed for that purpose, they may not be all that well designed but are listed.
I don't feel CFL's or LED's are a scam. They do use less energy then an incandescent lamp that puts out same amount of light. They may or may not always be worth the investment depending on the conditions of use. If you want to complain about something in this area, complain about how the Department of Energy made standard incandescent lamps somewhat obsolete. They still do have some uses that many feel are better then what is replacing them.
Problem with lighting technology is things are changing fast, where we had same things with minor changes for over 100 years. T12 fluorescent lamps were around since maybe 1940's, maybe were more popular once we got into the 1950's. They stayed mostly the same with only minor increases in efficiency up until 1990's and even into 2000's before T8 started to dominate, but only for a short time, then they kept coming up with something more efficient, but cost was high on most of the new products. Now prices are starting to come down as some of these things are increased in production and sales, until the next new development comes along.
TR receptacles don't require you to know much about electricity to see how those can enhance safety, whether worth the extra component and cost, could be debatable though, but it isn't adding a horrible amount of cost to a new home.
AFCI - the concept is great, the practicality of what is out there meeting that concept is not here yet, the scam is them forcing us to use something that is not ready yet so some big businesses can see some return on their R & D they put into what they do have.