ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues AFCI on a furnace

By "above the closet," do you mean above the ceiling of the closet? If so, I would say that it is not in the bedroom. The bedroom stops at the walls, floor, and ceiling.

I just had another inspector call me with a question along the same lines. He asked if a window air conditioner fed with a separate circuit and a single outlet required AFCI protection if it was located in a bedroom. My answer was yes but what if it was a 240 volt cord connected unit? Food for thought.

Tony T.

240v outlets are not addressed in 210.12.
I am not even sure they make a 240v AFCI but I did hear a rumor about a 2 pole for multiwire circuits so I imagine that would work.

George
I didn't think a Furance was allowed in a bedroom via the building code??

I always thought a furnace in the attic was a Jean Sheppard joke but I guess it happens. Around here it is an A/C air handler and not all that unusual. Some AHJs had said they had to make this air conditioned space for a while but that went away with the unified FBC.
The justification was somewhere between "waste energy" and "sweat like a pig"

It's my understanding the intent of the AFCI requirement was to reduce the # of fires starting in bedroom. IE, it's not $$$-justified, but life-justified. So, they didn't require AFCI elsewhere in the house, because smoke alarms would go off with ample time to escape, but in bedrooms, fires in the walls or room are of more immediate danger.

It's up to the AHU for the final call, but were it my decision, I'd take a step back and question "Would an arc-fault in this wire/outlet/etc cause a fire that would let smoke into the bedroom before setting off a smoke detector elsewhere in the house?"

A fire in the closet is just as deadly as if it started on the other side of that unsealed 1.5" hollow-core door. By the letter of the law, one might argue against it, but by the intent of the law, AFCI should be required.

In the 2008 NEC, the AFCI has spread significantly from the 'bedroom' requirement. It's well on its way to being required virtually everywhere in the dwelling.

A Couple of things.
In Ma. They have required smokes in ALL bedrooms for several years, This was to address some of the issues at hand.
Some Mfgrs. do make 2 pole AFCIs' while some have openly expressed that they have no itntentions of making them.Forcing us to a limited choice of equipment.
Fair enough, Free market.

RE: 05, All 120V 15A & 20ckts require AFCI. ANY OUTLET in a bedroom,some removed smokes from this requirement.

I think we're headed for a "quagmire". No one can give or get a straight answer on the intent or bennefits of this.

Unfortunately, I think (and can forsee) A lot of these "safety items",being removed shortly after inspections.In my opinion.. This will create a greater hazard than the one we are trying to prevent.

Skeptic? Yes. Understanding? Yes. Realist? Yes.

Am I alone?

One of the problems I have encountered as an AHJ is a design problem with builders of modular home is that the bedroom arch fault is down streamed to include the hallway lighting and stairwells, down to the basement if a archfault trips how do you find your way down the stairs. I have evan found it downstreamed to the bath fan/light.


Tom

As Tom said having AFCI protecting “too many things”. What happens if or when NEC 2008 we need AFCI everywhere? We have already had three call backs because a vacuum or saw has tripped the AFCI. Will this lead to home owner running a 100’ cord to a non ACFI outlet


TOM L