Debate: Should we still use conduit in residential or is romex fine?

I was reading through the 2023 NEC updates last night and found out that around 40% of residential fire calls traced back to damaged NM cable in attics. That stat surprised me because around here most guys just run romex everywhere without a second thought. On one hand conduit costs more and takes longer to pull, especially in finished spaces. On the other hand it gives way better protection against rodents and future drywall screws. A master electrician I worked with in Raleigh swore by EMT in any exposed area even if code said romex was okay. But Ive also seen plenty of jobs where the conduit was only half filled and looked sloppy. What do you all think, is conduit overkill for a standard house or is it worth the extra hassle?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.elliot1mo ago

Oh man, tell me about it. I once spent a whole weekend in my own attic pulling out chewed up romex and patching holes after a family of squirrels decided my wiring was a fancy snack bar. Idk, I think about that stat now every time I grab the staple gun and feel like I'm tempting fate. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather spend an extra hour on conduit than explain to my wife why the living room lights keep flickering because a mouse got hungry.

finley_price241mo ago

Not gonna lie, I hear you both but I kinda wonder if we're overthinking this. How many houses out there have romex stapled to the studs with zero conduit and are totally fine for 50 years? I mean sure, if you've got squirrels nesting in your attic, that's a problem you gotta fix anyway. But wrapping everything in conduit because of what might happen feels like overkill to me. You can't rodent-proof everything in an old house unless you're gonna live in a metal box. I'd rather just check my attic once a year and deal with it if something shows up.

the_eric1mo ago

Yeah, that attic stat really got my attention too. In my experience, romex is fine until it isn't, and once you start patching holes or dealing with critters, you wish you'd spent the extra hour. It's one of those things where code is the floor, not the ceiling, and I lean toward conduit in any high risk spots just for peace of mind.