3 ms·
I don't think you have to go that far. I think the NEC is beholden to the people who make this stuff. Right now I have a 14-50R in my garage (I don't even use
by exmadscientist 2y ago
I don't think you have to go that far.
I think the NEC is beholden to the people who make this stuff. Right now I have a 14-50R in my garage (I don't even use it, I have it shut off at the panel; I don't have an EV, this is just new construction). The standard breaker is $18.98 right now at the big orange store. The GFCI version they're trying to make mandatory is $190.68.
I think that says all you need to know.
(And before anyone says they must cost that much more to make... they do not. I have designed GFI and AFI devices. You need to add a circuit board, yes, a pretty rugged one. The ordinary breaker is all mechanical. But that does not cost $170 more to do.)
- Ekaros 2y agoThat is amazing price for something that millions of will be made each year. Just calculate how many of them are needed in total and then take replacement even every 50 years or something. It scales to large number needed.
- eecc 2y agoIndeed, and this mass-produced stuff is pretty simple compared to an IC chip. Who are handcrafting these devices, blonde virgin maidens at night under the shine of a full moon? :D
- michaelt 2y agoHere in the UK, we call them RCDs or RCBOs, and they cost £18: https://www.toolstation.com/bg-compact-rcbo/p81865 https://www.toolstation.com/bg-compact-rcbo/p81865
- exmadscientist 2y agoBasic GFCIs are also around the same price in the US. The discussion in the article is about mandating that weirdo breakers also contain GFCI/AFCI components. Unsurprisingly, manufacturers charge a lot more for the oddball parts. (My load center's vendor also seems to be particularly bad with the price gouging, but I didn't exactly choose it, so in that respect it's perfectly representative of what gets chosen for people.)