One thing I find preplexing is inconsistent AFCI tripping, at least in my own home with GE AFCI's.
For example, I was using an electric sander you could see acrcing away from halfway across the house, and no trip. That same sander, when plugged into another circuit, would immediately trip. My miter saw, where I don't see any arcing, will instantly trip any AFCI in the panel. I hate having to run extension cords all over the house to reach a GFCI circuit, or even more rare "standard" breaker circuit.
By the same token, I don't buy the argument that nuisance tripping will cause homeowners to start opening up panels, exposing them to danger. (As has been said here, let Darwinism straighten things out.) That same argument can be made about GFCI breakers too. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to pull the GFCI out when my holiday lights wouldn't come on in the rain. Funny how for years I never got shocked by holiday lighting with plain old circuit breakers... a little tingle now and then when wet, but nothing to worry about.
Joe
