afci's tripping

[don_resqcapt19]

AFCI is a great idea as were GFCI, and smoke detectors.

I just don't agree with that and I fully believe that time will prove me correct. I am not saying that the requiment for AFCIs will go away, but I am saying that we won't see the type of benefits that the manufacturers say there will be.

How do we get AFCI protection in homes that are over 20-years old if we do not require them to be installed in houses as they are being built.

My point about the 20 years is two fold...first it will be a long time before someone can prove a real benefit and more importantly, I doubt if the AFCI device will still be functional in 20 years as it is not a fail safe device.

Sure, but they have been proven to be of value.

How and where has this been proven??

Come join the rest of us in the 21st Century, you will like it here.

I am in the 21st and am one of the few people who have acutally looked at the fire cause and origin information and the AFCI information with a critical eye. There is no way that the AFCI rule could pass a real cost benefit analysis. Yes they may prevent some fires and save some lives, but the cost to get this small gain is excessive. Now some will say you can't put a price on life, but it is done every day in the design of products. We could eliminate most traffic deaths if we had to have vechicles build like tanks, but the cost would be excessive.
Don