I am asking if any reliable statistics on incidents of fires show a directly attributable reduction of fires in areas that have enforced these as required in the code? Do we have any reliable proof of the effectiveness of these devices other than the proponents' theoretical claims? How many fewer fires in homes have fire departments, on average for the jurisdiction, NOT have had to respond to?
I wonder how to get those statistics? If an EC is called and Joe Homeowner is complaining about a #&$@ AFCI that keeps tripping. You go out and repair the circuit and then the AFCI holds, have you prevented a fire? Do you report it to anyone? Who do you make the report to, what agency is collecting the data?
IMO, we will never have statistics on the effectiveness of AFCIs. However, we may see the incident of fires decrease after the mandate of combination type AFCIs is required. Personally, I don't fell like the current (
no pun intended) AFCIs do much. I also do not believe we should use the Code to force new and unproven products onto the public.
