Sorry if already addressed and I’m not really sure if the questions should be posted here or as a general question.
I received an email from my HOI carrier offering a “free” Ting smart plugin that works similar to a AFCI, but is tied into a phone app that monitors the electrical system for arc faults etc. for potential fire issues.
I’ve seen that the system appears to be legit somewhat in monitoring and maybe used as a insurance discount.
Has anyone ever used or come across one during an inspection?
I have never heard of it. However, a quick search and I see it is offered by certain insurance companies. It’s not free, from what I found it is around $50/year per unit. I also found where some had privacy concerns about it. Looking at the data collected with the app, I can see why.
In other words…
I saw all the data collecting testimony, but I trust what the mainstream fakenews media tells me, not common sense projectors show facts that contradict what lamestream tells me.
We use soup cans and twine between our neighborhood of bunkers with no addresses or utilities. Our news only comes from newspapers that we purchase with cash at various gas stations. We travel by skateboards and pedal cars. No way they are getting us.
I get that the resident ‘nutjobs’ see conspiracy at every turn, but I also see that companies are seeking more and better way to pass responsibility onto their customers… I mean when did it become my responsibility to check myself out at Walmart, or to make me responsible for recycling their shitty containers? This could easily become something you are not only paying for but become responsible for it’s maintenance too, and if something should go go wrong you may be on the hook or called into question, so.
I haven’t come across this yet. I would be wary of anything an insurance company offers though. They are usually looking out for THEIR bottom line, not yours.
My concern would be that the carrier finds out that one’s electrical system is hazardous, ie. too many “sensed” arc faults, using said sensors and the carrier drops one’s insurance without proper (expensive) repairs being conducted.
Seems like it’s basically a plug in arc detector. I believe you would need two of them, one on each leg of the service. Also, tracking down where the arc is occurring would involve shutting off each circuit one at a time and then waiting to see if another arc occurs? Sounds like a pain, and I may be wrong, but the arc might not even be in your own home.
My recommendation would be to skip this gizmo and just install AFCI breakers.
I don’t believe that the waveform monitored by these devices can propagate onto the main bus bar and into a different circuit, meaning this thing would only detect an arc fault on the circuit in which it is plugged.
I figured I’d try it out about a year ago. There have been some positives to it. It has detected several issues that stemmed from our local co-op power company. On two occasions I’ve received notice of brownouts with one leg being around 60 volts and the other 125. Both times I contacted the utility and they had transformers going out. Both times they said they weren’t aware of it until I called them. I have a lot of expensive electronics so it’s nice having another monitor.
Anything free raises my spidey senses.
