Wolfkamp's Villa Reno

The game-changing AFDD

Paul Sievers owner of Devonport Electrical and a licensed electrical inspector himself, checked out the property soon after its purchase and recommended new wiring throughout, given the building’s age and lack of maintenance, along with a new PDL switchboard.

Having worked with PDL products on The Block NZ, Wolfkamp visited the PDL Vision Studio Showroom in Auckland, where Home Solutions Consultant Robert Knight explained all the electrical safety options available.

“This house is in a heritage area and when you do have a fire in an old house it tends to spread really quickly,” says Wolfkamp. “I wanted to be absolutely sure that I was using the latest and best technology to ensure the safety of this house and everyone in it.”

Already familiar with circuit breakers and residual current devices (RCDs), he was intrigued to learn about PDL’s Arc Fault Detection Devices (AFDDs) – essentially an early warning system that can be installed into new or existing distribution boards to help prevent electrical fires.

Who needs AFDDs?

Arc Fault Detection Devices are ideal for homes of any age where a number of devices are left plugged in, where there may be squashed or damaged cables, locations with higher probability of rodents, or simply where the wiring may be old.

PDL’s AFDD Product Manager, Martin Scottorn, says they are particularly useful for those renovating, or for rental properties.

“New Zealand has a high number of older homes that contain old cabling. Renovations or even earthquakes can disturb these cables causing higher risk of electric arcs. To rewire a home can be costly, depending on the construction of the home itself. An alternative to a total re-wire can be the use of AFDDs, which have been approved by many insurance companies as a way of mitigating risk.

“They’re also good in rental properties where a landlord has no control over what tenants are plugging in, or the condition of the equipment or multi-boxes that are in use.”

Scottorn also recommends considering the use of AFDDs in other locations such as where there are irreplaceable goods or emergency evacuation could be difficult or slow.

Peter Wolfkamp agrees that AFDDs provide great peace of mind for those renovating. “If you’re in a house that’s had a renovation or a series of additions over time and you don’t know everything about all of those electrical circuits, then adding these AFDDs to the distribution board will give you some security around the safety of those circuits.”

As an electrician and an electrical inspector Paul Sievers recommends discussing AFDDs with your electrical contractor early on, as the installation is straightforward but AFDDs do require extra space in a switchboard.