Just realized those AFCI breakers are actually necessary after a house fire in my neighbor's basement

I've been slapping in standard breakers for years on bathroom and bedroom circuits. Thought AFCI was just code bloat to sell more parts. Then Jerry down the street had a drill bit nick a wire in his wall and the whole place almost went up. Fire chief said a regular breaker wouldn't have tripped in time. Now I swap them out on every panel I touch. Anyone else change their mind after seeing one actually work?

2 comments

2 Comments

nina_jenkins9d ago

Are you basing that on one specific scenario though? I've talked to some older electricians who say AFCI breakers can be a pain with nuisance tripping on older homes. Seems like there's a balance between safety and practicality that a lot of folks overlook.

juliag108d agoOG Member

Plus side is newer AFCI designs have gotten way better at filtering out older home noise.