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 Arc
Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI) protect against a fire
being started from an unintended arc. Annually, over 40,000
fires are attributed to home electrical wiring. These fires
result in over 350 deaths and over 1,400 injuries each year*.
Arcing faults are one of the major causes of these fires. An arc fault occurs
when a current-carrying conductor has an arching condition
to ground or another conductor. Damaged insulation, for
example, can lead to an arc fault, which may not generate
enough fault current to trip a circuit breaker.
An AFCI device is intended to
provide protection from the effects of arc faults by
recognizing the characteristics unique to arcing and
de-energizing the circuit when an arc fault is detected. The
arc generated will cause the AFCI to trip. Arcs normally
generated from electric equipment such as a light switch or
power drill will not cause the AFCI to trip.
Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter
protection was first introduced in the 1999
National Electrical Code®.
NEC® Article 210.12.
NEC 2008
210.12 Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection.
(B) Dwelling Units. All 120-volt, single phase, 15- and 20-ampere branch circuits supplying outlets installed in dwelling unit family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, or similar rooms or areas shall be protected by a listed arc-fault circuit interrupter, combination-type, installed to provide protection of the branch circuit.
This type of
circuit breaker could be used on all 120v circuits in your
home. This device would also be great in older homes where
the wiring junctions and old devices may have bad
connections whether at wire nut joints or device screw
terminals. Here's the drawback, the cost of a regular
circuit breaker is less than $5, the cost on a single pole
AFCI breaker is over $40. This could get very expensive.
See also: GFCI Ground Fault Circuit
Interrupter
& Circuit Breaker Types* Ault, Singh, and Smith, “1996 Residential
Fire Loss Estimates” |
