Although there has been plenty of discussion in the electrical industry recently about arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs), they are not a new residential circuit protection technology. NFPA 70, National Electrical Code (NEC), first required them in the 1999 edition, and by 2005, the NEC required the installation of combination AFCIs, which respond to both parallel and series arcs, for all electrical circuits that supply electrical outlets in the bedrooms of new homes by January 1, 2008. The 2008 edition of the NEC, published in September 2007, further expands the use of combination AFCIs beyond bedroom circuits to other areas of a home, such as the family room, the dining room, the living room, closets, and hallways.
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