I have been called to a few faults that have been caused overheating and burning of accessories although they have never got to the burning fire stage. I'm not sure any of them would have been detected any quicker than the RCD by an AFDD or even if the AFDD would have detected any of them at allGood read. There has been a certain whiff in the air regarding AFDD, s which has not been pleasant to the nostrils. The manner they have been "marketed" has, nt helped. Now in time as you say we may be provided with a bit more background supporting the reasons for their introduction. But for now I think in many sparks mind, the jury is still out on them.
I have never had direct experience of an electrical fire. The cases I have heard of were either down to overloading at the DB (rare) or caused by appliances (most common) I have never heard for instance of a case involving arcing in the fixed wiring of an installation
The problem with consumer units is most of the loose connections and overheating are on the wrong side of an AFDD protected circuit and I doubt an upfront AFDD would be allowed for the same reasons an RCD isn't allowedThere are definitely other cause, including loose connections. A colleague of mine attended a consumer unit last week which had overheated and caused smoke damage and charring. Suspected loose connection at bus bar or main switch which had become worse over time.
To sight worn switches in a domestic setting as a cause of fires is somebody desperately clutching at straws to justify a expensive product IMO.Agreed. When I used "overloading" in my post, I should have said overheating. All the cases I am aware of were caused by overheating due to high resistance points resulting from either loose connections or worn switches etc
To prevent CU fires we were pushed into using metal CU's now we are gently (at the moment) being pushed into the fitting of AFDD's to prevent fires and the only common factor I can see is a cover up of poor workmanship and training