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 had my 10 year old dishwasher and new (last week) dishwasher on a combination GFCI/CAFCI breaker. No issues at all. I just converted my disposal to plug in, requiring a GFCI breaker (don't want a GFCI outlet due to location) and again, no issues at all. |
@bigtwin said:
. @bigtwin said:
I assume the SPD in your photo is a Siemens First Surge Type 2 surge protector, (SPD). From your photo the length of the PVC nipple looks like it is about 2ft. ??? Camera lens can be deceiving though. I only pointed out what the manufacturer of the SPD states in their installation instructions. From what I read on the Net the First Surge type 2 SPD comes with 36" leads.???. Is that correct? That’s nuts when in the installation instructions it says to keep the leads as sort as possible. (Well, that’s what you did for your installation). Siemens engineer’s know the length of the leads matter... I installed an Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA Type 2 SPD at my main electrical service panel, a few years ago. LOL, the main gripe from home owners that installed the Eaton SPD themselves was the leads were too short... It comes with 18" leads. (I didn’t have any problem. In fact I cut them of even shorter.) Unlike Siemens Eaton does not install extra long leads and tell the user to cut them off making them as short as possible. What a waste of wire. (FWIW, Eaton as well as Siemens warranty says the SPD must be installed by a Licensed Electrician.) .
In the event of a high voltage transient surge, a transient surge lasts less than a blink of an eye. Measured in microseconds to milliseconds... An SPD has to react fast. A good type 2 SPD will respond in a nano second or less. That’s Fast! Actual distance of SPD from panel bus test measurements. Go to time marker 3:20 With the SPD Bolted to the electrical panel bus the SPD clamped the voltage at 382V. With an SPD mounted next to the panel the SPD clamped the voltage at 495V. 113V higher. . FYI, the Siemens First Surge Type 2 surge protector has been discontinued. Replaced by: Boltshield FSPD 140kA, Single Phase, Type-2 Surge Protective Device The factory leads on the new SPD are 18 inches long. . Effects of Wire Lead Length on Voltage Protecting Rating . Looking at your photo again... Again the camera lens can be deceiving... It looks like there is room to mount the SPD against the side of the panel. Can you post a better picture of the panel area? Best regards, Jim . |
Well done Erik, installing a gfci under the counter technically violates the readily accessible rule. How can you conveniently access the the test buttons to do the monthly test required by the installation instructions?? |
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Thank you!
In this particular under-sink installation it certainly would have!! Forget testing though, in the event of a GFCI event the inconvenience of emptying the space and getting on my hands and knees with a flashlight to get all the way into the back of the cabinet did not sound like anything I ever want to do. I'll happily walk upstairs and reset a breaker instead. BTW, I did test the circuit with a plug-in GFCI tester before I blessed the whole thing, just to be sure. :) Also, before I purchased this house the second inspector tested all the outlets in the kitchen and noted three violations. All have been fixed now but they certainly helped lower my purchase price for the home. :) |
