Uncertified Electricians Unite: Class 4 Power Is Here
I installed a five-zone heat pump in my 1952 Craftsman. At work, I'm helping deploy Class 4 Fault Managed Power in commercial buildings. Turns out the skills aren't that different.
Last fall our 20-year-old AC condenser finally gave up. Most people call an HVAC company. I called my wife and said "I think I can do this."
Coming from a blue-collar family, I didn't know any different growing up. Need a new addition? You built it yourself. Replacing tile floors? Get the fam and get it done. So when our condenser failed, I saw an opportunity to design and install a five-zone 24 SEER split heat pump system in our 1952 Craftsman.
In the smart building world, we talk constantly about high-efficiency systems and occupancy-based zone controls. Now I get to practice what I preach... literally. Each room gets only the heating or cooling it needs, when someone's actually in it. With energy prices climbing nationally, the ROI math is straightforward.
The kicker? I spent about 50% less than a commercially quoted premium 16 SEER single-zone forced air system. And I got a bunch of new tools and my EPA 608 certification out of the deal.
From Home Projects to Commercial Power
The same week I was running refrigerant lines in my attic, my team at Cisco was presenting on something that felt surprisingly similar in concept: Class 4 Fault Managed Power.
If you haven't heard of it, here's the short version. The NEC codified Class 4 power in 2023, and it's changing how we think about power distribution inside buildings. We had a blast at Panduit's consultant forum in Chicago breaking down what this means in practice:
- Safe delivery of high power over long distance. Up to 2km over twisted pair conductors.
- Reduced complexity. Faster design and deployment, typically no conduit requirements.
- Native DC integration. Plays perfectly with on-site solar generation and battery storage.
- Better efficiency. Fewer AC-to-DC-to-AC conversion stages means less wasted energy as heat.
- Lower capex and opex. Simpler infrastructure, smart operations, lower-skilled labor for installation.
That last point is the "uncertified electricians unite" part. Class 4 FMP is UL listed and arc-safe. You don't need a licensed electrician to pull the cable. For building owners trying to retrofit or expand power distribution, that's a massive reduction in cost and complexity.
Why This Matters
The convergence of my home projects and my day job isn't a coincidence. We're entering an era where energy efficiency, DC power distribution, and smart controls are moving from commercial buildings into homes and vice versa.
My five-zone heat pump at home uses the same design principles as the smart HVAC systems we deploy for enterprise customers... zone-based control, occupancy awareness, efficiency optimization. The scale is different. The thinking is the same.
And Class 4 FMP is doing for commercial power distribution what mini-splits did for residential HVAC. Making it modular, efficient, and accessible to people who aren't specialists.
Whether you're wiring up a home project or designing a building microgrid, the fundamentals are converging. And as someone who spends weekends in his attic with a crimper and weekdays talking to CRE executives about energy networking... I couldn't be more excited about where this is heading.