The last 20 years of Home Power Have Been Amazing
In the late 1990s I installed my first electric panels. Mostly for the sake of running a safe woodworking workshop but also to enable the multiple window units and my partner and my offices, plus the TV and stereo, of course.
At that time whole house surge protectors were available but not required. Being an IT guy in a storm prone area of course I went for it. Otherwise however breakers were rather similar to those from the original mid 1960s versions. I mean, I’m sure there were improvements in panel technology and how breakers were manufactured but for the home there were really only two aspects you needed to care about:
And for the home owner that’s were things stood for almost 40 years. In the last 20 years though much has changed. Arc fault (AFCI or CAFCI) first required in 2002 for bedrooms. Now (since 2017) they are required practically everywhere in a home. Whole house SPDs (surge protectors) are required from 2020.
Most recently, the 2023 NEC greatly expanded the use of Ground Fault (GFCI) protection. GFCI’s which were limited to kitchen and bath outlets are now required for your washer and dryer, microwave, range, dishwasher and (in my case) garbage disposal. Take a look at any modern panel. You’ll see 4 different types of breakers:
And outlets? Have you noticed weather resistant (WR, 2008) or tamper resistant (TR, 2008) requirements? In addition to GFCI requirements. Sheesh. It’s a marvel any electrician can keep them all straight, let alone a home owner.
Of all these improvements though the only one I'd suggest you rush out and get is the whole house surge suppressor unless your breaker panel is running 40 years old in which case a replacement may be a good idea soon.
I’m afraid I agree with @jea48 ’s assessment. I wasn’t going to say anything. An alternative of course is to use an in-panel version like the BoltShield, but the recommendation to mount it as close to the main breaker still applies. |
Per NEC 2023 all outlets in a kitchen shall be GFCI protected. With that said not all States have adopted the 2023 NEC. My state is still working under the 2020 NEC. (The AHJ has the final say.) https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/electrical/nec-enforcement-maps |
@jea48 I appreciate your comment. All of the household wiring that runs behind the plywood necessitated an additional piece of backing. As it is, we relocated a number of breakers to position the listening room breakers directly below the surge protector. Mounting it in the first breaker slot was not an option. We used about 1/3 of the wire connected to the device from the manufacturer. If an extra 6 inches of wire makes a difference, when electricity is travelling at 300,000 meters per second, then the surge protector is just a false sense of security? |
@carlsbad2 Appreciate the clarification, thx. |
