Mike Holt speed test (review 4)

The Setup

Ran a side by side test on a commercial tenant finish last week. Mike Holt's app on one phone, Ask BONBON on the other. Foreman timing with a stopwatch. Five real questions that came up during rough in.

Mike Holt has been the name in code training for decades. His videos trained half the guys I came up with. The app is an extension of that library, built around his teaching style and his search index. It earns respect for what it is.

But respect and speed are different things. On a job site with the GC breathing down your neck, you need an answer in under thirty seconds or you stop asking.

Question 1: GFCI in a Commercial Kitchen

The question: do the receptacles behind the reach in coolers need GFCI protection? Answer lives in NEC 210.8(B), specifically the 2023 expansion covering receptacles within six feet of a sink and those serving kitchen equipment.

Mike Holt app: 41 seconds. Keyword search pulled up three video results first, then the article text. Had to scroll past the video thumbnails to get to the code language.

Ask BONBON: 11 seconds. Plain English question in, cited answer out with the 210.8(B) reference and the six foot rule stated directly.

Question 2: EGC Sizing for a 400A Feeder

Pulling 500 kcmil copper to a sub panel. What size equipment grounding conductor? NEC 250.122 and Table 250.122 handle this.

Mike Holt: 28 seconds to land on the table. The table renders as an image, which is fine on a tablet but rough on a phone in gloves.

Ask BONBON: 9 seconds. Asked "EGC for 400 amp feeder copper" and got 3 AWG copper with the table reference. No pinch zoom needed.

Field tip: always verify the overcurrent device rating, not the conductor ampacity, when sizing the EGC from Table 250.122. Guys get burned on this when the feeder is upsized for voltage drop.

Question 3: Box Fill for a 4 Square with a Mud Ring

Standard question, gets asked on every rough in. NEC 314.16(B) and Table 314.16(A). Counting conductors, devices, clamps, and grounds.

Mike Holt: 1 minute 14 seconds. The search returned a video walkthrough first. Good content, but I needed the table values, not a 12 minute lesson.

Ask BONBON: 14 seconds. Got the cubic inch values for a 4 11/16 square, 2 1/8 deep, with the mud ring volume added if the ring is marked.

• 4 square 1 1/2 deep: 21.0 cubic inches
• 4 square 2 1/8 deep: 30.3 cubic inches
• 4 11/16 square 2 1/8 deep: 42.0 cubic inches
• Mud ring: add marked volume only

Question 4: Working Clearance in Front of a 480V Panel

NEC 110.26(A)(1). Condition 1, 2, or 3 determines the depth. The question was about a 480V, 600A MDP in a mechanical room with a block wall behind the worker.

Mike Holt: 52 seconds. Found the article, had to read through the condition definitions to match the scenario.

Ask BONBON: 13 seconds. Asked in plain English, got the three foot, three and a half foot, or four foot answer mapped to the condition, with the condition explained.

Question 5: Conduit Fill for 12 THHN in 3/4 EMT

Annex C, Table C.1. The kind of lookup you do twelve times a day during a tenant build out.

Mike Holt: 33 seconds. The Annex tables are there, but buried two taps deep.

Ask BONBON: 7 seconds. Typed "12 THHN in 3/4 EMT" and got 16 conductors maximum. No table navigation.

Field tip: that 16 conductor number assumes all same size. If you're mixing wire sizes, you're back to Chapter 9 Table 5 and Table 4 for the math. The speed advantage only holds for clean scenarios.

The Honest Verdict

Mike Holt's app is a library. It's deep, it's accurate, and if you're studying for the Master's exam, it's probably still the best tool on the market. The teaching content is unmatched.

Ask BONBON is a lookup tool. It's built for the guy with his hand in a panel who needs one number, right now, in code compliant language with the article cited. Different tools, different jobs.

Five questions, five wins on speed. Average time to answer:

1. Mike Holt app: 53.6 seconds per question
2. Ask BONBON: 10.8 seconds per question

If you're running work and billing for your time, five times faster on code lookups adds up. If you're learning the code from scratch, Mike Holt's library is still worth the subscription. Most working electricians need both, but only one goes on the tool belt.