Residential electrical fires occur around 70,000 times a year. A significant portion of these fires can be attributed to arc faults. An arc fault is the flow of electricity over an unintended path. These arcs can exceed temperatures of 10,000° F and easily ignite combustible materials in the home. AFCIs are devices that protect your home by detecting dangerous arcs and safely de-energizing the circuit. Arc faults arise from a number of situations, including:
- Damaged wires
- Receptacle leakage
- Neutral leads pinched to grounded metal box
- Worn electrical insulation
- Loose electrical connections
- Shorted wires
- Wires or cords in contact with vibrating metal
- Overheated or stressed electrical cords and wires
- Misapplied/damaged appliances
A device intended to be installed at the origin of a branch circuit or feeder, such as at a panel board. The branch/feeder AFCI provides for detection of arcing faults that can occur line-to-line, line-to-neutral and line-to-ground. To be able to handle shared neutral circuits (a common application in older homes), a two-pole AFCI can be used. This will accommodate the three-wire circuit arrangement used in shared neutral applications.
