2011 Code Changes

We are almost near the end of 2011, however a lot of our customers are starting to ask and be effected by the Electrical Code Changes of 2011. Rather than re-write everything I’m just going to post some links and input were I find it relative to the majority of our customers & electricians.  You can also offer some input on our Facebook Page, you can find here [Hank's Electrical Supply].

Anytime there are code changes many of the electrical product manufacturers publish tidbits relevant to their products, to advertise their, & showcase applications of there products relevant to that particular change.  So here are some I found helpful…. (Keep in mind most are also filled with ads)

• Thomas & Betts (Large Download ~ .pdf) 
• Leviton 2011 Pocket Guide
• EC&M Magazine
• Legrand [Pass & Seymour, Wiremold, Etc..]

Noted Changes with our interpretation

>Section 210.12(B) basically says you need AFCI protection every outlet in a dwelling (w/ some exceptions) and that when available, AFCI devices installed as the first device feeding downstream devices may be used.

>Section 404.2(C) requires a grounded circuit conductor of the lighting circuit at the switch location.  (This is to provide proper operation of devices requiring low level current, like Occ. Sensors)  Exceptions include conduit so that in can be installed after the fact…

>Section 404.14(F) Requires Switched receptacles or ‘half-hots’ to be controlled by a switch of the same rating as the over current device feeding the circuit. Properly not a big deal unless you are using a stack switch, or on a 20amp circuit.

>Section 406.4(D)(6) requires listed ‘weather-resistant’ receptacles (including (GFCI) be used in wet & damp locations. Seems obvious, but we previously didn’t have “WR” listed devices.

>Section 210.8(A)(B)(C) must now be installed in ‘readily accessible locations’ as to promote once monthly testing that no one ever does anyway.

> Section 210.8(A)(7) [Page 20 of T&B guide linked above]. Clarification of GFCI requirements to be within 6′ of the outer edge of a sink that may be in a room other than the kitchen or bath. In other words the Kitchen and Bath were already covered by the code, however, if for some reason a sink were installed in a room other than a kitchen or bath, they would have the same requirement.

> Section 210.12x starts requirements for yet to be available AFCI Devices(outlets) to be installed similarly to GFCI devices. See section for details. [Side-note: this is good indication that AFCI device will be available soon]

>Section 314.24 large device(s) (dimmers, Occ. sensors, etc..) have to be taken into account in box fill/depth.

>Section 314.27(A) was clarified but needs more clarification. It says ‘Ceiling outlet boxes boxes’ unless labeled should be able to support 50lbs. However it doesn’t take into consideration older boxes that may offer less support that are not labeled and refers again to ceiling outlet boxes but also vaguely refers to outlet boxes. This one still needs some cleaning up, however it does list exceptions and specifications for luminaires support from device boxes and p-rings to 6lbs. Tread carefully…

> Section 210.52(C)(5) requires outlets be located on or above but no more than 20″ from a counter-top. An example is given of pop-up receptacle in an island counter-top.  But also note the 20″ requirement for a lot of you using plug strips mounted under cabinets.

>Section 210.52(E)(3) Balconies, decks, & porches, accessible from inside the dwelling,  regardless of size must have at minimum 1 receptacle not to be more than 6.5′ above the balcony.  Previously there was an exception for minimum size that was removed.

>Section 225.27 Raceway Seal, underground fed conduits are now required to be sealed in accordance with 300.5(G)

>Section 410.20 allows calculations for wire space to include the canopy, given the volume of the canopy is marked. Real application would be a commonly called ‘pancake’ box now being allowed more wire space allowing ‘daisy-chaining’ given enough listed volume in the canopy(s).

>Section 410.103(G)(1) When replacing a ballast you are supposed to now install a ‘luminaire disconnect’ on the line side terminals. These are the little orange or yellow snap together disconnects you see in all new fluorescent fixtures. This is ludicrous because there is no NEMA standard, and each mnf. uses a different style where as making the ballast change that much more difficult or just as dangerous as not having one, unless you happen to have every type of ‘Luminaire Disconnect’ on the market.

 

Reminder, the Code is the Code and interpreted differently by everyone. We all try to read into it what makes our situation work, but at the end of the day it’s guide and intent is safety first and foremost. Likely we don’t have a say over the inspectors interpretation anyway. Please read and verify carefully as the above comments are only my interpretation!

…Dimming LED’s.

So every day we take calls about people trying to find the right dimmer for their LED product. This can get very confusing and why we only stock a select number of LED products and manufacturers of LED products that we have experience with and know their abilities and limitations.

Apples vs. apples, doesn’t apply. We have seen a huge number of LED lamps, bulbs, retro-fit recessed kits, and linear LED. Some of which are dimmable others do not dim. Those that dim, dim well or not so well…. If you are in the market for a LED product and want it to dim, make sure it says specifically that it is. The good thing is those that dim are proud of the fact and usually market the fact, those that don’t dim neglect to mention the fact. Another off-topic point to mention is some LED’s are more efficient than others. We’ve seen 4watt MR16 LED’s put out a significant amount more light that 6watt versions from certain manufacturers. So we can’t really compare Watts or even lumens, we should look at the lumen-per-watt spec. if we are looking for the most efficient lamp.

Percentages… Like fluorescent dimming LED typically only dim down to a certain range. Some of the LED are incredibly pathetic in their dimming range, others get down to 15% or better. Lutron has luckily come out with a product to solve and improve on some of these attributes and if nothing else, improves the end-users satisfaction & perception. The newer Diva dimmer has a trim adjustment to you can slide the dimming slider to it’s lowest point and adjust the trim setting to the lowest stable low light level your LED or CFL can produce.  This makes use of the full range of the slider to within the stable dimming range of the product you are trying to dim.  This is a great dimmer for 90% of us trying to dim LED or CFL. Please note the maximum wattage is 150watts, which is roughly 10 LED recessed lights. This dimmer is also single pole and 3-way for a very reasonable price.

Smart Dimmers & Loading.  Smart dimmers are like the Lutron Maestro series and others like it that typically have LED level indicators and/or ‘fade-to-on’ & ‘fade-to-off’ control. The electronics in these type of dimmers typically have a ‘Minimum wattage’. They always have but until recently it hasn’t been much of an issue, and these numbers weren’t typically published. Most normal smart dimmers require minimum loading of about 50watts. and this typically needs to be over a fair amount if you are planning on dimming into a low end. Some newer dimmers are beginning to pop up called phase-adaptive, or phase compensating. These are an extension of the smart dimmer to adjust it self to the load type to compensate for some of these issues. Other ways to combat the minimum load is using electronic low voltage dimmers. The ELV dimmers inherently have a low minimum but aren’t necessary the best or right type of dimmer depending on your power supply, transformer or driver.

Over loading, perhaps a poor choice of words, but another problem facing dimming LED loads is in-rush current. Thus the diva above can only handle 150watts of LED. The drivers of these LED products can have huge in rush and certain dimmers can handle them better than other. This problem is just being recognized by some manufacturers and company’s like Lutron are publishing their findings n products they have tested. Have a look at Lutrons LED page [Click Here]. Here you will find a lot of information on dimming LED’s what dimmers can handle what in terms of minimum and maximums, light levels to expect etc… You can also click on some of the tested products to see what Lutron calls their ‘report card’ for those product so you can know what to expect.

Low Voltage Dimming. Or dimming the low voltage side of the LED system. This problem started popping up when some LED manufactures with non-dimmable power supplies or drivers said they could be dimmed. They simply added a potentiometer to the low voltage side of the driver or a 0-10v control to their constant current drivers. These are usually in the form of some ugly black box with a knob that is intended to be surface mounted.

So what to do?? Before you buy I would ask to see the product dim and ask what they are using to dim it. I would be very hesitant to purchase anything super cheap right now and I would surge you to purchase from manufacturers and stores that you knw and trust. One last thing, check the warranty, I’ve seen a few LED warranties that are longer than mortgage paperwork….

New Residential Requirements for 2011

Here we are at the end of March already and we have some new requirements to make you aware of for 2011…

Check back soon for more information on new requirements for:

• Smoke & Carbon Detector requirements – July 1st 2011 - Click for more info (.pdf)
• Tamper Resistant Receptacle requirements – NEC 406.11 or Click for NFPA TR Fact Sheet (.pdf)
• expanded arc-fault requirements
• Weather resistant receptacle & gfci requirements – NEC 406.8 or Click for Leviton Brochure on WR Devices

…and probably a few other I forgot at the moment…

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As of writing this article the (03/29) We have only heard notice these new codes are to be implemented on plans approved as of Jan. 2011 in most of our local cities. You should be aware because all of these are not only going to complicate and confuse some of the newer jobs this year, it will also add significant cost(s).

TR – Tamper Resistant, This is a required marking on all receptacles (yes including GFCI and the eventual AFCI outlet) complying with NEC 406.11 ~ Which basically says that all dwellings are required to have them on 15 & 20amp receptacles. Our initial quotes on the most common 15amp outlets are only slightly more expensive. 20amp saw a more significant increase.

WR or TWR – Weather or Tamper and Weather Resistant. Basically as above, for all exterior locations 15 & 20amp (all exterior not just Dwelling as above). As applied to Dwellings it should be both Tamper and Weather for exterior Receptacles. Cost increase is slightly more on 15a and 20a saw even greater increase. ~ Don’t forget along with this you are still required an ‘in-use’ or ‘bubble’ cover on all exterior 15 & 20amp outlets.

CO – Carbon Monoxide Detector.  As of July, this are said to be required in specific locations in ALL dwellings. Though you will see them as stand alone sensors, most will be a combo smoke and Carbon sensor. These units are about 3x what a typical smoke only sensor costs, so you should account carefully in your future bids.  Battery operated units are said to be allowed in existing homes, however new & remodel will require wire-in versions.

AFCI – Still waiting for clarification on this one, but will essentially extend the arc-fault requirement beyond the bedroom to the rest of the home.  Means significant increase in breaker cost and space requirements. Not only will the breaker cost you about 8x a normal single pole breaker, but you’ll be needing a sub panel or 2 to fit them in… Good news, Seimens/Murrray has a new 200amp service with a FULL 40 space distribution (but it’s a bit larger than the current 200a service). Also, Cooper wiring devices received UL approval for the first ACFI ‘Device’ (not yet available)

Summer is finally here in time for winter.

Well we just got our first Heat Wave, it seems to have lasted all of a couple days but with it brought lots of blown fuses & motors to check.

If you’re not on a regular PM schedule or service you should take a look at your AC units. Big or small the same principles apply.

Before you open your AC for Service be sure to disconnect it from power or wager your life or lively-hood for the sake of your reluctance for safety.

Keep it Clean.
Check the filters, coils everything… Dirt, Dust, Debris on the cooling system will reduce air flow, which in turn creates a lot of other problems. That may not be evident if you’re just using the fan.

Check simple stuff first.
If you’re experiencing a problem, check the simple stuff first. Is you Thermostat in the right mode/program/etc..? If you are having a mechanical or Electrical problem have you checked this supply voltage/phases? Control Transformer? Relay? Fuses? Finally the motor. Many times the motor is the suspect but it’s really the aforementioned or even a simple capacitor. Here again you should clean the Fan Blade, any venting on the motor itself and lubricate the motor only if a motor that requires lubrication and don’t use an infamous spray lubricant.

Be Pro-Active not Re-Active.
It cost little or nothing to have your system regularly checked and cleaned. But wait until there is a problem and see how fast the repair bill will add up. Run your systems periodically especially if they are not continually used.

Note: Hanks Does not service or sell AC units but we do sell most of the serviceable parts. We encourage you to contact the manufacturer of your specific AC or HVAC system for Preventative Maintenance  procedures and recommendations.

New A/V Products…

Even our counter sales customers don’t often get to see the full offering of products we have.  At last count (several years ago) we had over 70,ooo different parts in stock. When we get a new one it is often difficult to let everyone know about it, so we’ll try this blog to get it out….

Our A/V installation products are by far the fastest growing line we have. We probably have a dozen different recessed boxes from Arlington, Leviton, Midlite, as well as very robust and inexpensive TV panel mounts. We’ve been stocking a very good entry level speaker for some time but many don’t know about. The customers that have them are extremely happy with the performance and value. Oh, and HDMI cables, we have a very reasonable CL2 or better rated HDMI cables up to 50′ in stock as well as some HDMI and othe AV wall jacks and pass through’s.

Here are some of the manufacturers links:

Arlington’s TV boxes – http://www.aifittings.com/whnew137.htm

Arlington also has a ton of great new electrical products, including the new grounding bridge we’re seeing our customers start to get called for…
Grounding Bridge: http://www.aifittings.com/whnew150.htm
Arlington’s Other new Products: http://www.aifittings.com/wnft.htm

We have some wall plates and power products from a company called Midlite that has also become fairly popular with our low voltage (A/V) customers.
Check out their line of products at:

http://www.midlite.com/products.aspx

We also have some products from Leviton, Carlon, and others. Please email us any questions
( blog@hankselectric.net)

Please be patient as we add some of these products to out website, however you can always call, fax, or just come on by to place an order….

Lighting your holidays

First off, Happy Holidays. Some of us are fresh back from vacation and others from and extended weekend but let’s rush right into the holidays and talk about Christmas lights.

Somehow in the last few years several companies pop up this time of year to install and hopefully remove your holiday lighting. It’s amazing to me that this has become a niche market for some, but considering our location in Southern California I guess I shouldn’t be surprised the people able to afford these coastal homes would be perfect clients for these installers.

Hanks does not sell Christmas lighting or other type of Holiday lighting but we do offer the support equipment for it, and cater to the needs of these Holiday lighting installers. So let’s talk about a few products you can use to make your Holiday Lighting work better for you and your neighbors as well as safety, and types of Christmas Lights.

Fuses & Length We start getting calls early in December for the tiny fuses for Christmas lights and people wanting bigger fuses. You don’t want bigger fuses unless you’re trying to start a fire. Read the directions that came with your lights. The wire size is only large enough to support 3 sets of lights most of the time, then you’ll need to find and extension cord. We also get the call for the ‘sex change’ plug or coupling because someone didn’t pay attention and strung their lights in the opposite direction and know instead of doing it right they will spend days looking for this device that doesn’t exist which may leave a powered exposed plug for someone to shock themselves on.

Install outlets in the eaves. I take it as common knowledge because we’ve been doing this so long, in fact it is standard practice for some of our contractors on new builds to include this feature. Still every year I over hear someone say how cool this is or why they didn’t do this years ago. It should be pretty easy at some point in your home to add an outlet from an existing internal outlet or run power through your attic, garage, or even straight off your electrical service. It might cost you $100 to have someone do this, but you’ll be able to use it year after year and not have to drape an extension cord across your house or lawn again. Better yet, have them add a timer and/or photocell to control this receptacle….

Timers… This time of year we sell more timers than any other month and we have plenty of choices from basic plug in timers to sophisticated electronic timers and everywhere in between. This is a great way to automate your holiday or any lighting. Most all the electronic timers today have non-volatile memory and have become more intuitive to program. But we still offer some electro-mechanical timers that are the most simple to operate. Timers are offered in 24hr, 7day, 24/7, astronomical and countdown types. The least expensive are the 24hr and just repeat the same function(s) everyday. 7-day allows different settings for different days. 24/7 is basically still 7-day but may add more programming options. Countdown type have to be initiated manually every day and may run for just minutes, hours or some will do longer intervals. A neat safety feature to point out is a random feature that Intermatic offers. You program your ‘on’ times and set the program to run the random feature and the lights come on + or – 20min. from that set point differently each day.

Christmas Light Types Christmas lights have traditionally been incandescent, but now we see LED version popping up. The LED is a great alternative, saves electricity and becoming somewhat affordable. The problem I’ve seen is that they tend to list the number of LED lamps prominently as opposed to the actual length. I saw a set that displayed 24 (you’d assume feet) but upon further inspection of the tiny print was only 70 inches, that’s just shy of 6 feet. So look carefully before you buy and hopefully they have a working sample, as many of the “white” LED’s are still appearing bluish….

WTF, Which Type of Fluorescent

Look at the Light, not the Light!!!

Fluorescent lighting really has a bad reputation. It’s unfortunate because it can be one of the more cost effective forms of energy efficient lighting. So what happened???

I can only speak from my perspective as a electrical parts salesperson of more years than I care to count, and as an advocate of fluorescent lighting (well at least until we get better and cheaper LED options). Fluorescent of old was loud, flashed or would blink when starting and we get a lot of complaints about color. Well a lot has changed in ballast technology so your newer fixtures shouldn’t blink when they start, instead they instant start and slowly come to full brightness. Color on the hand is purely a matter of preference. Hopefully with the requirement of high efficacy lighting you are seeing better displays at lighting showrooms and even box stores showing you at least 3 different color of lamps. To really understand we should decipher the coding of their descriptive part numbers.

A typical fluorescent lamp may be called out by something like this: F32T8/741. (really common 4 foot linear fluorescent lamp) So what does all this mean…

F = Fluorescent (typically linear)

32 = Wattage (in some cases, typically older, longer T12 type this maybe the length in inches)

T followed by number) = Tubular and number is any one tubes diameter in 1/8′s of an inch so T8 is Tubular 1″ Diameter, T12 is Tubular 1-1/2″, and T5 is tubular 5/8″.

741 = Two part color code. 7 is a code for the CRI (Color Rendition Index) and 41 is a code for the actual color temperature.

We need to spend some time on this last one because it’s tricky and confusing. Color Rendition Index and Color Temperature combine to make up this code that we through around.

Color Rendition Index is a simple concept, with a poor representation. Commonly fluorescent lamps are referred to as 700 or 800 series in reference to their CRI. However the CRI scale is from 0-100. So the 7 or 700 really is a code in this case for 70, which is common for a generic use lamp. So in this case 70 is average and we strive for 100 for things to be as true to rendering colors as natural light. In a lot of cases it is not important to have a high CRI, however it is required by some agencies for high efficacy retrofits and other applications that are color sensitive like photography, jewelry display, advertising, etc… In a lot of instances it may be more comfortable to have and average CRI and low color temperature, say to set a mood. So before I jump into color temperature let me wrap up by saying the CRI is how true to natural light an artificial light source can reproduce from a scale of 0-100, 100 being natural light (Bigger is better is more expensive), also it should be mentioned that most commonly available lamps are 70 or 80 CRI and you may find some sources into the 90′s, remembering that they are referred to as 700 and 800 series to a lot of people and manufacturers.

Color Temperature is open to debate due to personal preference but is a science as well or at least a perceived approximation or comparison of a scientific method in reference to fluorescent lamps or artificial light. Color temperature is derived from the color of light at a certain temperature as compared to a black body radiator, or without over complicating it lets just say it’s a standard and compare it to something we can all relate to a little better, fire. Looking into a fire, an especially hot fire, you will see blues and whites at the source and oranges, yellows and reds at its tips. So it has higher temperature towards the source but is a described as cooler color temperature, great way to confuse us. It’s better described by a chart, but basically the lower temperatures are warmer colors (yellows, oranges) and the higher are cooler (Whites and blues). So what’s best? Whatever makes you happy….

Lets look at you everyday regular incandescent and halogen light bulbs. These have perfect 100 CRI (see above) yet are warm in the color temperature (2500-3000k). To duplicate this we need a warm white fluorescent light of around the same color temperature. Most people are use to their incandescent or halogen lamps and may want to match those, so purely on color temperature you should have a warm white or 2700k-3000k. Now is where people start getting upset. Perhaps it’s to orange or even pink to some? Most will just go to the next higher commonly available higher color temperature which in most cases is 4100k or Cool white. This will have made most people happy, but then there is the rest of us. To calm the rest of us most will find the 3500k a happy medium and specified by majority of designers. These may be a littler harder to find but now we may have made 85% of us happy. Lets go back a step, we wanted to get close to our incandescent lamp at 2700k right? but we started with a typical 70 CRI of the shelf lamp. We may have just wanted to get a higher CRI at the same color temperature. But we still can only easily find 70 CRI lamps. Well somewhere we are going to have to compromise something. So we step through to maybe a 3500k 80 CRI light or 835 to a lot of us. This should take care of the majority. But still we should discuss the ‘Diamond Standard’ – or at least that’s what I’m calling it. The more clear & colorless a Diamond the better right? Well how great is that 5 carat diamond with a ultra clarity and color(less) under warm light? This is where you want the high Kelvin High CRI light, but would you want this in your bedroom? Maybe in your closet, or area where one may fard (no I didn’t misspell that it’s an actual word). To the same point you could control how well certain paints will look. You know when you picked the paint out at the store those swatches were under high color temperature, high CRI rated lights or you may have even took them out side, but there never going to look the same unless you duplicate that light source. Some of the nicer paint displays now have warm and cool white sources to sample under. So I’m just rambling now, the point is with a clear understanding of the light source, what you are trying to duplicate, and the environment you can be happy with fluorescent light.

Some final notes. It should be noted with a lot of lamps there is something called a mortality curve. What this tells you is how much light and how well the light performs over the life of the lamp. Over it’s lifetime the light output will decrease and the CRI and Color temperature will also degrade. The better the lamp (higher CRI) typically will hold out longer over it’s lifetime in both these aspects and why they are required for high efficacy retro fits. There are a lot of other aspects to fluorescent lamps and many can be found linked from the few wikipedia links cited here. This is by now means a guide guarantee or prediction, more of an introduction so you can make an educated guess at what you may suit your needs the best. There are still a lot of factors that will determine the final result, reflectiveness of the source and surrounding areas, available natural light, etc…

So when I said look at the light, not the light. Thats exactly what I meant, stop fixating on the actual lamp and concentrate on the effect you just created. If the color of the actual lamp is buggin you stop starring at it, get a different fixture or trim, try a different Color Temperature lamp or check back for a future blog on direct vs. indirect lighting.

LED, LED, LED…

OK, so I’ve been asked a million times about LED and by default & interest have become our L.E.D. guy…

The short of it is right now there is still a lot of development going on in this area. There are a few products Like Halo & Juno’s recessed lighting available now that are good. But we hope to see better and cheaper in the new year, note: I said ‘hope to see’

The long of it… There is a tsunami of LED lighting companies creating this huge swell of products and new companies flooding the market. All creating their own version of colors, types, styles, sizes… most of which aren’t worth much. However standards and requirements for these products are also in the works and when these come into play, I think we’ll see this wave crash. Some of these companies will stay afloat and others will go back out to sea or sink. Either way decent replacement lamps and fixtures are still 6-10 times the cost of a typical incandescent product and 2-3 times that of a fluorescent. So unless you’re willing to cough up for one of these recessed lights I would hold out on any screw in replacement for another year or so…

For now we have a lot of great LED products for landscape lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting at reasonable prices. We have been selling our own LED linear ‘Tape’ light in 3 wattages for more than 2 years now with no problems and tons of happy customers…

If you decide to invest in these products you can figure saving about 75% electricity over standard incandescent lamps and maybe 25-35% from similar fluorescent products. The ROI is there because you also have to figure the lamps replacement of LED is assumed to be 30,000-50,000 hours for most companies compared to incandescent & Halogen averaging at 1500-2500 hours and fluorescent at about 10,000-15,000 hours. We can look at this in so many ways, from lamp replacement costs, labor to have the lamps replaced, proper disposal for fluorescent lamps, energy savings, etc… All make LED seem like a great alternative, and we think it will be as well, only the future will tell…

Don’t forget we have other emerging high efficacy product on the horizon as well. Products like cold cathode and induction lighting, but more on that later…

I’ll touch more on this later, but another great way to go green is to just replace a standard switch with a dimmer. Lutron says even if you don’t dim it on average you save $7.36 a year. That pays for the dimmer in just over 2 years in most cases, and you have also just extended you lamp life!! If you dim slightly the ROI is much quicker. More on this in a future blog…

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