John (Hotline),
Being an "out of towner" I can't really say a lot about the reasons behind the use of AFCI's, in fact I'd never heard of them until I signed up here, this could be because the US uses a low voltage/high current supply system in residential places, the line current is double what it would be here with a 230V supply system.
However, I will say this, if series arcing is a REAL problem over there, more emphasis needs to be put on the installation standard of wiring, if wires are in a position where they are stretched, kinked or what have you, you really need to look at not only installation practices, but those that are doing this work.
If the problem is because of poor utilisation by home-owners with damaged flexes and what not, I cannot see an extra device at the panel being of any REAL use, it will not change their behaviours.
John, a few years ago I was a Fire Safety Officer, charged with taking the message of good Fire Safety to the community.
9/10th's of my work unfortunately was explaining WHY a fire in their house had happened.
IMHO,
An AFCI is short sighted, what you need is good modern Circuit Breaker protection and a GFCI backing that up.
Anything less is poor design.
Last edited by Trumpy; 02/04/12 03:43 AM. Reason: Typo
