AFCI in 1947 built home
#1
11-27-11, 01:43 PM
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 101
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
AFCI in 1947 built home
Hello
We recently purchased a house in St Paul for our daughter who is in college. The home is very dated, so we decided to replace all of the lighting, switches and receptacles. Not having the time or money to replace every single strand of the old wiring, which appears to be rubber coated 12 gauge copper in a cloth sheath, I'm thinking about replacing some of the breakers with AFCI type. I'm just curious as to weather or not they may pose any problems, particularly in the kitchen. Being wired in 1947, there are not dedicated circuits for the refrigerator, GFCIs on the counter tops, etc. We will be purchasing a new refrigerator.
Thanks
We recently purchased a house in St Paul for our daughter who is in college. The home is very dated, so we decided to replace all of the lighting, switches and receptacles. Not having the time or money to replace every single strand of the old wiring, which appears to be rubber coated 12 gauge copper in a cloth sheath, I'm thinking about replacing some of the breakers with AFCI type. I'm just curious as to weather or not they may pose any problems, particularly in the kitchen. Being wired in 1947, there are not dedicated circuits for the refrigerator, GFCIs on the counter tops, etc. We will be purchasing a new refrigerator.
Thanks
#2
11-27-11, 05:43 PM
An AFCI will nuisance trip on that old a wiring set up. You don't have grounding either, do you? Rather than AFCI, I would go with GFCI's on the first receptacle in the circuit and protect all downline receptacles from the load side of the GFCI, marking all downline receptacles with the enclosed stickers "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground", replacing the receptacles with 3 prong receptacles for convenience sake.
While you probably won't be forced to retrofit to today's codes, it is a good practice to install GFCI's in bathrooms and in the kitchen circuit(s)
While you probably won't be forced to retrofit to today's codes, it is a good practice to install GFCI's in bathrooms and in the kitchen circuit(s)
#3
11-27-11, 06:13 PM
An AFCI will nuisance trip on that old a wiring set up.
#4
11-28-11, 05:25 AM
Good point. I would relegate the AFCI's to bedrooms and living areas, and leave the kitchen and baths to GFCI's. And at $40 a pop it could get expensive.
#5
11-29-11, 07:54 AM
Forum Topic Moderator
AFCI protection may not be available if the panel is older.
If the receptacles were changed out GFI protection would need to be installed where required by today's code like kitchen countertops, bathrooms, outside etc.
If the receptacles were changed out GFI protection would need to be installed where required by today's code like kitchen countertops, bathrooms, outside etc.
