Halogen-free electrical cable
Does anyone have experience using halogen free electrical cable in residential buildings? I’m going to have to do some rewiring in the house, and I’d prefer to keep it low halogen (for less toxicity if it burns and because I’m not a fan of PVC). I know that LSZH is used extensively in industry for certain applications, but I can’t find much information on it for use in homes. I suppose I could just buy a roll of it and hope the building inspector doesn’t mind that instead of one cable, I have three and then return to GBA and report my findings, but I’m hoping that someone else has been crazy enough to try this before I do.
Here is one company with an extensive lineup.
https://www.houwire.com/lifeguard-cables/
Plus GBA has this link, but no comments.
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/product-guide/prod/ez-wiring-modular-wiring-system
keywords : LSZH or LSOH or LS0H or LSFH or OHLS
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Replies
Kathryn,
You need to talk to two people: (1) the licensed electrician who will be installing the cable in your house, and (2) your local electrical inspector.
The opinion of both of these experts matters to you. My opinion (or the opinion of any other GBA reader) doesn't.
That said, I'm interested, of course, in hearing whether any other GBA reader shares your concern or had embarked on a project like yours.
I can think of three routes to getting this approved:
1) Find a manufacturer who makes halogen free cables that are rated to the same standards as conventional residential cable, i.e., NM cable. (e.g. Romex brand) I don't know of any, but if you find one, it's a drop in replacement, and your inspector should allow it, although it's worth checking.
2) Find a jacketed cable that meets different, but more stringent standard, and see if your electrician and inspector are comfortable using it and approving it, applied the same way.
3) Run conduit and run individual wires in the conduit. Again, you'll need to either get wires that meet standard specs, or get approval for wires that meet different but more stringent specs.
If you end up giving up on that, you can take comfort in the fact that Romex brand NM-B cable no longer uses lead in the fire retardant in the insulation, and now meets RoHS specs. So it's better than it used to be.
Is all of your wiring exposed or in the walls like a normal house? Imagine a data center or a power generation facility. All of the wire is open and exposed. Unless you limit plastics inside your home, including carpeting etc., by the time romex is on fire you should be far away from the house. If your still worried about it, MC cable or emt are your only likely options.
Thanks for the suggestions. It's early days, so I haven't spoken to an inspector yet, but I wanted to be able to give them a number of suggested alternatives to the standard. I believe that the Houston Wire cabling should have much more stringent standards than the normal residential cable, but I'll certainly have to be persuasive.
Generally the only time LSZH often called “plenum cable” is used is if a wire must be run inside the HVAC duct work and most codes limit those to low voltage communication cables in return air ducts.
High voltage cables that meet plenum specification will be a rare and expensive specialty product.
A fire is an unlikely event in one given home. This expensive wire will only get you a few more seconds of time to escape before the air will be too toxic to breathe.
If you want / need more time to escape spend the money on fire sprinklers, fire rated doors with closers, more fire alarms, arc fault breakers or 5/8 inch drywall.
Walta
Kathryn,
I think Walter has given you good advice.
Kathryn, please update if you are able to find something that gets approved. I have also looked in the past and unable to find a halogen free romex type cable. I am actually surprised a manufacturer has not produced this considering the lengths to which many people will try to make their homes as green as possible. Just because you should be away from the location if it does catch on fire does not mean we shouldn't look for products that are inherently greener.