A FRIEND WHO HAD JUST PURCHASED A 10-YEAR-OLD HOUSE ASKED ME whether he and his wife should spend money to have his electrical contractor install all the newest safety devices. We reviewed the existing equipment so I could help him determine what different safety devices he might need and their approximate cost. I told him to ask his EC's recommendation as well. The EC would better answer the cost questions. Two opinions are better than one, after all. I determined by the approximate age of the home that none of the overcurrent devices nor the electrical circuits in his service panelboard were arc-fault circuit-interrupter-protected circuits. Based on the newest edition of the National Electrical Code (NEC), I also determined many of the circuits that should have been ground-fault circuit-interrupter (GFCI) protected were not.
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