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Ok I will do my own research in the future! Big mistake relying on an internet forum anyways. Anyone can respond anyways......sooooo!
Right, so people who have looked into this already, don't count, you prefer to make your own mistakes to learn from, rather than learn from those who have already tried it. I believe someone said, "there's one born every minute".
If you want a safer home without worrying about new breakers, considering examining or replacing existing receptacles and switches, making sure none of them have backstabbed connections. Chances are you have a bunch that do, as electricians looking to save a minutes worth of time per connection will use them. My home had 2 separate receptacles with deteriorating backstab connections that could have caused fires down the road. Barring that, old plastic will eventually turn brittle... a couple of the receptacles broke into pieces when I was replacing them all, so if you have 30+ year old stuff, why not replace them? Keep in mind NEC code requires tamper proof receptacles basically everywhere. Spend a bit more and use spec grade stuff at least for the receptacles that you use the most so the plugs don't eventually get loose on them.
You can also get ACFI receptacles to put at the beginning of circuits which I had done. My breaker box is undersized with a number of tandem breakers (cheaters) in it so the only way for me to add AFCI breakers would be to basically replace the whole thing, which I'm still thinking about doing down the road, along with splitting up a couple of the circuits in the house to add a couple. There's nothing federal pacific in my box though so the issue is not pressing. My 1977 wiring, removed of all backstabbed connections, has not triggered any AFCI yet.
To require ACFI breakers in NEC codes but still allow connections to be backstabbed screams to me big money interests are probably present in some of these decisions.
I wish I would have taken a picture of my grandmother's breaker box she had in her basement (she had her home built new some 40 years ago and has lived there the whole time)... I was just over visiting 2 days ago (she lives 500 miles away) ... a pristine looking federal pacific breaker box complete with a ton of stab lok breakers... it actually looked like a really quality job for it's day.. plenty of circuits and everything was neatly done... too bad the breakers are known to be defective. I didn't think to take a picture. Now that I've bought a house and learned so much about certain components I find myself wanting to see what other people's look like, lol.
I actually prefer forums when researching stuff. Less clickbait interest and more people who seem to know their stuff versus random websites on top of google search from china with half understandable text copied from other sites. I'll often add "forums" to my google search criteria when researching.
If you want a safer home without worrying about new breakers, considering examining or replacing existing receptacles and switches, making sure none of them have backstabbed connections. Chances are you have a bunch that do, as electricians looking to save a minutes worth of time per connection will use them. My home had 2 separate receptacles with deteriorating backstab connections that could have caused fires down the road. Barring that, old plastic will eventually turn brittle... a couple of the receptacles broke into pieces when I was replacing them all, so if you have 30+ year old stuff, why not replace them? Keep in mind NEC code requires tamper proof receptacles basically everywhere. Spend a bit more and use spec grade stuff at least for the receptacles that you use the most so the plugs don't eventually get loose on them.
You can also get ACFI receptacles to put at the beginning of circuits which I had done. My breaker box is undersized with a number of tandem breakers (cheaters) in it so the only way for me to add AFCI breakers would be to basically replace the whole thing, which I'm still thinking about doing down the road, along with splitting up a couple of the circuits in the house to add a couple. There's nothing federal pacific in my box though so the issue is not pressing. My 1977 wiring, removed of all backstabbed connections, has not triggered any AFCI yet.
To require ACFI breakers in NEC codes but still allow connections to be backstabbed screams to me big money interests are probably present in some of these decisions.
I wish I would have taken a picture of my grandmother's breaker box she had in her basement (she had her home built new some 40 years ago and has lived there the whole time)... I was just over visiting 2 days ago (she lives 500 miles away) ... a pristine looking federal pacific breaker box complete with a ton of stab lok breakers... it actually looked like a really quality job for it's day.. plenty of circuits and everything was neatly done... too bad the breakers are known to be defective. I didn't think to take a picture. Now that I've bought a house and learned so much about certain components I find myself wanting to see what other people's look like, lol.
I actually prefer forums when researching stuff. Less clickbait interest and more people who seem to know their stuff versus random websites on top of google search from china with half understandable text copied from other sites. I'll often add "forums" to my google search criteria when researching.
Been an electrician for 20 years never backstabbed and most electricians don't. The diy'ers are the ones who like to use them.
If you want a safer home without worrying about new breakers, considering examining or replacing existing receptacles and switches, making sure none of them have backstabbed connections. Chances are you have a bunch that do, as electricians looking to save a minutes worth of time per connection will use them. My home had 2 separate receptacles with deteriorating backstab connections that could have caused fires down the road. Barring that, old plastic will eventually turn brittle... a couple of the receptacles broke into pieces when I was replacing them all, so if you have 30+ year old stuff, why not replace them? Keep in mind NEC code requires tamper proof receptacles basically everywhere. Spend a bit more and use spec grade stuff at least for the receptacles that you use the most so the plugs don't eventually get loose on them.
You can also get ACFI receptacles to put at the beginning of circuits which I had done. My breaker box is undersized with a number of tandem breakers (cheaters) in it so the only way for me to add AFCI breakers would be to basically replace the whole thing, which I'm still thinking about doing down the road, along with splitting up a couple of the circuits in the house to add a couple. There's nothing federal pacific in my box though so the issue is not pressing. My 1977 wiring, removed of all backstabbed connections, has not triggered any AFCI yet.
To require ACFI breakers in NEC codes but still allow connections to be backstabbed screams to me big money interests are probably present in some of these decisions.
I wish I would have taken a picture of my grandmother's breaker box she had in her basement (she had her home built new some 40 years ago and has lived there the whole time)... I was just over visiting 2 days ago (she lives 500 miles away) ... a pristine looking federal pacific breaker box complete with a ton of stab lok breakers... it actually looked like a really quality job for it's day.. plenty of circuits and everything was neatly done... too bad the breakers are known to be defective. I didn't think to take a picture. Now that I've bought a house and learned so much about certain components I find myself wanting to see what other people's look like, lol.
I actually prefer forums when researching stuff. Less clickbait interest and more people who seem to know their stuff versus random websites on top of google search from china with half understandable text copied from other sites. I'll often add "forums" to my google search criteria when researching.
Thank you for this very solid answer and taking the time to respond in depth.
And why pray tell are you doing this?
What problem are you hoping to solve (or avoid) now?
Not looking to solve or avoid any problems other than the original receptacles look like crap for being old and discolored. Some were even painted over to match the particular wall color the previous owners chose for a particular room. I figured since I am changing out roughly 75% of the receptacles I might as well do them all
Right, so people who have looked into this already, don't count, you prefer to make your own mistakes to learn from, rather than learn from those who have already tried it. I believe someone said, "there's one born every minute".
Actually as a homeowner who is very interested in learning to do new things for himself I am very much interested in making my own mistakes as that is the best teacher. More expnsive? Yes.....do I really worry about that? No! Internet forums are just a small part of the information pool of resources I draw from. I take what people say on forums at face value and back check it. Like I said before....people on a forum can say anything or claim to be experts.
I wouldn't bother with AFCI breakers. We remodeled our kitchen and added a number of new circuits, which required a new box with AFCI breakers for a number of circuits, including the 2 wire circuits that we didn't have to replace (1952 house). We had no end of trips due to the microwave, the vacuum cleaner, and a couple of other small appliances. Finally, they electricians just replaced the AFCI on those circuits with GFCI breakers, and everything works. Like others have said, don't overload your circuits, and don't abuse extension cords, and you will likely be fine.
If you want a safer home without worrying about new breakers, considering examining or replacing existing receptacles and switches, making sure none of them have backstabbed connections. Chances are you have a bunch that do, as electricians looking to save a minutes worth of time per connection will use them. My home had 2 separate receptacles with deteriorating backstab connections that could have caused fires down the road. Barring that, old plastic will eventually turn brittle... a couple of the receptacles broke into pieces when I was replacing them all, so if you have 30+ year old stuff, why not replace them? Keep in mind NEC code requires tamper proof receptacles basically everywhere. Spend a bit more and use spec grade stuff at least for the receptacles that you use the most so the plugs don't eventually get loose on them.
You can also get ACFI receptacles to put at the beginning of circuits which I had done. My breaker box is undersized with a number of tandem breakers (cheaters) in it so the only way for me to add AFCI breakers would be to basically replace the whole thing, which I'm still thinking about doing down the road, along with splitting up a couple of the circuits in the house to add a couple. There's nothing federal pacific in my box though so the issue is not pressing. My 1977 wiring, removed of all backstabbed connections, has not triggered any AFCI yet.
To require ACFI breakers in NEC codes but still allow connections to be backstabbed screams to me big money interests are probably present in some of these decisions.
I wish I would have taken a picture of my grandmother's breaker box she had in her basement (she had her home built new some 40 years ago and has lived there the whole time)... I was just over visiting 2 days ago (she lives 500 miles away) ... a pristine looking federal pacific breaker box complete with a ton of stab lok breakers... it actually looked like a really quality job for it's day.. plenty of circuits and everything was neatly done... too bad the breakers are known to be defective. I didn't think to take a picture. Now that I've bought a house and learned so much about certain components I find myself wanting to see what other people's look like, lol.
I actually prefer forums when researching stuff. Less clickbait interest and more people who seem to know their stuff versus random websites on top of google search from china with half understandable text copied from other sites. I'll often add "forums" to my google search criteria when researching.
i remember back in the 1970's when i was a federal pacific distributor and the crap hit the fan . they were bought out and the company that bought them found out they were paying off UL for approvals .
while the federal pacific replacement breakers are fine today the prices are insane . my son bought a house with an old federal panel in it and even though it had the newer breakers the insurer would not issue them a policy until the panel was swapped out and replaced.
federal was very popular in ny since they were a local company and were in long island city .
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Now that I've bought a house and learned so much about certain components I find myself wanting to see what other people's look like, lol. 
