To me this is like installing a red light at an intersection that the electronics to make the red light change has not been developed yet, an extra cost for the tax payers with no visible safety to perform, very against the laws of our country and should have never made it into law as when the NEC is adopted it is law!
Indiana took the stance that if it doesn't do what it says it does then it can not be enforced, and Indiana has deleted 210.12 in all our adopting of the NEC ever since the NEC has required AFCI's
Ok wait.....you guys are killing me here.
First, while their are limits to an AFCI that are fairly discussed here, I think we fail sometimes to see good in terms of achievements. AFCI's were NEVER, and I repeat NEVER something pushed by the manufacturers. The inception of AFCI's were to meet a call of need by the CPSC. All the manufacturers did was answer the call so they should not be victimized here. Also another law of the land is "opportunity" and the manufacturers who could, did, and seized on it.
While some will not like the 75A Peak for Parallels or the 5 A Peak for Series arcs and say...what about the glowing arcs?..well what about them?
There has been clearly enough testing to show that extinguishing an arc at the 75A peak will result in reduction of potential fires as with the 5 A for series arcs. Now I will concede that a glowing contacts is a concern that possibly GFP previously addressed, the fact was that UL 1669 did not and still does not require this in their testing process. In fact, the original GFP was done to help manufacturers get past the infamous "cotton ball" test, the only way they could pass it was with GFP.
Now, some manufacturers have stated that they have a way now to pass all of the tests in UL 1669 without the need for GFP built in, I assume they have because they are listed and on the market for sale. I am not here to "wave the I LOVE AFCI flag" I will however say in my unbiased opinion they do bring worth for known conditions that we do have a product that can help save lives and property. I know of some recalls for luminaries that were directly a result of AFCI devices detecting a problem and forcing a recall on the luminaries...enough proof for me.
It's like smoke alarms to me, I would not begin to build a home without them yet I know that they don't prevent anything, in fact the fire has already started before they tell me anything, I know that the majority of people do not maintain them, clean them, replaces batteries in them or test them, yet we keep installing them until that faithful day they work. I just happen to believe that the cost of an AFCI Device does not outweigh the good that they can do, even if that's a leap of faith, I bring the faith.
Then lets talk cost again.....in my house alone my wife opted for granite, media room, 10' ceilings, yada..yada...yada.....all running into thousands of dollars i did not want to spend but she wanted to spend (she won, secret to happy life BTW). Point is, the cost for the AFCI circuit breakers was about $ 740.00 and to be honest i feel worth every penny. The cost things is what it is....safety costs money. Those new cars with airbags in every nook and cranny cost money....safety costs money.
As for a contractor...the playing field is level and the consumers know they are going to pay for safety so I happen to feel that the benefits of what the AFCI can do outweigh the concerns of what some feel they can't do.
Just my two cents on the issues...and yes I do know your feelings on AFCI's my friend and you are entitled to that opinion.:happyyes:
