Mike Holt speed test (review 7)

The Setup

Mike Holt's materials are the gold standard for NEC training. Books, videos, online courses, and a reference app. If you came up through apprenticeship in the last 20 years, you probably sat through at least one of his tapes.

But training materials and field reference are two different jobs. I ran a speed test against Ask BONBON on seven common lookups you actually hit on a jobsite. Phone in one hand, voltage tester in the other, foreman asking why the rough is held up.

Here's the honest breakdown.

The Test

Same iPhone, same LTE signal in a basement mechanical room. Stopwatch from tap to answer on screen. I ran each question three times and took the median. The questions were the kind of thing that comes up between coffee and lunch on a commercial remodel.

1. GFCI requirements for a kitchen island receptacle (NEC 210.8(A))
2. Minimum bending radius for 3/0 THHN in a pull box (NEC 314.28)
3. Ampacity of #6 copper in a 40C ambient with three current-carrying conductors (NEC 310.16, Table 310.15(B)(1))
4. Working clearance in front of a 480V panel (NEC 110.26)
5. Box fill calculation for a 4x4x1.5 square with six #12s and two devices (NEC 314.16)
6. AFCI requirements for a finished basement bedroom (NEC 210.12)
7. Grounding electrode conductor size for a 400A service with copper (NEC 250.66)

The Numbers

Mike Holt's reference app averaged 38 seconds per lookup. That's not bad for a PDF-style NEC reader with bookmarks. It got me to the right article every time. The problem is it gets you to the article, not the answer. You still have to read the section, follow the exceptions, and do the math.

Ask BONBON averaged 9 seconds per lookup. You type or say the question in plain English, it gives you the code cite and the answer for your specific situation. On the box fill question it did the math. On the ampacity question it applied both derates.

That 29 second gap doesn't sound like much until you multiply it by a dozen lookups a day, five days a week, forty weeks a year. That's roughly 32 hours of your life back.

Field tip: If you're reading code on a ladder, the faster tool wins every time. Not because the slow one is wrong, but because you stop looking things up when it takes too long, and that's when mistakes get buried in the wall.

Where Mike Holt Still Wins

I'm not going to pretend this is a clean sweep. Mike Holt's platform does things BONBON doesn't try to do. If you're studying for your journeyman or master's exam, the illustrated textbooks and video walkthroughs are unbeatable. The man explains grounding and bonding better than anyone alive.

His continuing education courses are also accepted in most states, and the exam prep simulators are tuned to the way licensing boards actually write questions. BONBON doesn't do any of that. It's a field tool, not a classroom.

If I'm a second year apprentice trying to understand why 250.30 says what it says, I'm opening Mike Holt. If I'm on a service call and need to know whether a receptacle behind a refrigerator needs GFCI protection under the 2023 code, I'm opening BONBON.

Where the Speed Actually Matters

The slowest lookup in the Mike Holt test was box fill. Not because the app was bad, but because NEC 314.16 is a multi-step calculation. You count conductors, add allowances for devices, clamps, and grounds, and compare to the table volume. Reading the rules takes time. Doing the math takes more time.

BONBON handled that one in 7 seconds. I typed the box size, the conductor count and gauge, and the device count. It returned the required cubic inches, the available cubic inches for that box, and a pass or fail.

Same thing on the ampacity question. Table 310.16 is not hard to read, but applying Table 310.15(B)(1) for ambient and 310.15(C)(1) for conductor count, in sequence, trips up journeymen who have done it a thousand times. One tool gives you the table. The other gives you the answer.

• Box fill: 31 seconds faster
• Ampacity with derates: 44 seconds faster
• GEC sizing: 19 seconds faster
• Working clearance: 12 seconds faster (this one is a simple table lookup)

The Honest Verdict

Mike Holt is a teacher. BONBON is a field reference. They're not really competitors, even though I set them up that way for this test. If I had to pick one to keep, and I was still working in the field instead of writing about it, I'd keep BONBON on my phone and Mike Holt's books on the shelf at home.

The speed test is a proxy for something bigger. The question isn't which app is better. It's which one you'll actually pull out when the inspector is standing next to you and the GC wants to know if the rough passes.

Field tip: The best reference tool is the one you use. If you're not opening it because it's too slow, it doesn't matter how accurate it is.

Run your own test. Seven questions, stopwatch, median of three. Whatever wins, use it.