Cost-effective alternative to rewiring
After discussions with his electrician and insurance company, Griggs was assured that his compliance would be signed off if he installed a new mains board with the AFDD-RCBOs as part of it – a very welcome alternative to full rewiring.
“This installation was what we decided to go for, as the AFDD system would identify any issues in any one electrical line, meaning rewiring was always then limited to only problem areas,” he says.
“Further to this, we had the peace of mind that with installing the AFDDs we would have full insurance on the building and that any issues within the electrics would be immediately isolated by the AFDD closing off that individual line.”
Peter Matthews of PPM Electrical Services in Christchurch (an electrician and Electrical Inspector) carried out the installation and says the combination device is a useful tool for homes.
“Arc fault detection is still a relatively new concept for New Zealanders and it’s a good one. They [arc faults] can happen in a newer site too, so it’s a very good idea.”
Peter Matthews was also impressed by how easy the AFDD-RCBOs were to install and the fact they detected an issue straight away. “It ‘red flagged’ it, so as soon as I turned it on it wouldn’t set,” he explains. “Through more investigation I found that particular circuit hadn’t been rewired as I’d been led to believe, and it was tripping on the residual function of the AFDD.”