Mike Holt what they do better (review 5)

Mike Holt has been training electricians longer than some of us have been alive. His company put out NEC training materials when most of us were still learning to bend pipe. So when we talk about competitors in the code reference space, you have to give Mike Holt his due. Here's an honest look at what they do better than anyone else, including us.

Depth of Code Explanation

Mike Holt's illustrated guides break down code articles in a way that no app currently matches. When you read his explanation of grounding and bonding under Article 250, you get the why behind the rule, the history of why it was written, and the failure modes it prevents. That kind of context takes decades of teaching to develop.

Take NEC 250.122 sizing of equipment grounding conductors. Mike Holt walks you through the table, the exceptions, the upsizing rules when you increase ungrounded conductors for voltage drop, and shows you the math with worked examples. An app gives you the table. Mike gives you the understanding.

Field tip: when you upsize ungrounded conductors for voltage drop, you must proportionally upsize the EGC per 250.122(B). Forgetting this is one of the most common rough-in fails.

Continuing Education Infrastructure

If you need CEUs for license renewal, Mike Holt is approved in most states and has the paperwork dialed in. His online courses, in-person seminars, and exam prep materials are a complete ecosystem. You can take a class, get the certificate, and submit it to your state board without thinking about it.

This matters because most working electricians need CEUs every renewal cycle. The states he's approved in include the heavy hitters like Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and many others. If you're chasing license maintenance, this is hard to beat.

• State approved CEU courses with documented credit hours
• Journeyman and Master exam prep with practice tests scaled to actual state exams
• Code change classes every cycle when a new NEC drops
• Business and estimating courses for guys running their own shops

Exam Prep That Actually Prepares You

Mike Holt's exam prep program is the gold standard for a reason. The practice questions mirror the structure and difficulty of state journeyman and master exams. The calculations workbook drills you on load calcs, conductor sizing per 310.16, box fill per 314.16, voltage drop, and motor circuits per Article 430 until the math becomes automatic.

An app can give you searchable code text and quick lookups in the field. It does not sit you down for 40 hours and walk you through every type of calculation that might appear on a four hour exam. Different tools, different jobs.

Print Materials and Visual Learning

The illustrated NEC and the spiral bound code books with tabs and Mike's commentary are genuinely useful on the truck. Some guys learn better with a physical book they can mark up, dog ear, and highlight. Mike Holt's print products respect that.

The illustrations themselves deserve credit. Showing a service entrance with proper bonding jumpers per 250.92, a transformer secondary with 250.30 system bonding, or a feeder tap per 240.21(B) in a clean diagram beats reading the article cold every time. Visual learners get a lot out of these books.

Field tip: keep a tabbed code book in the truck for sit down review and use an app for quick field lookups during rough in. They serve different purposes and complement each other well.

Where the App Approach Wins

None of this means you should not use a code reference app. Mike Holt's strength is depth, training, and certification. The strength of an app like Ask BONBON is speed when you are 14 feet up a ladder with a phone in one hand and a meter in the other. You need 210.52(C)(1) countertop receptacle spacing and you need it now, not after you find the right page.

Apps also update fast. When the 2026 NEC adoption hits your jurisdiction, the app pushes the change. A printed book is whatever cycle you bought. Both have their place.

• Field speed: app wins for quick lookups on the job
• Depth and theory: Mike Holt wins for sit down learning
• CEU credit: Mike Holt wins, apps generally do not provide CEUs
• Cost over time: apps are usually subscription, books are one time but date out each cycle
• Search and cross reference: apps win, especially for chasing references between articles

Honest Take

If you are studying for your journeyman or master, buy Mike Holt's exam prep. If you are knocking out CEUs, take his classes. If you want to genuinely understand why Article 250 reads the way it does, read his illustrated guide. Those are jobs his materials do better than any app on the market.

For day to day code lookups in the field, that is where an app earns its keep. Use the right tool for the right task. Most working electricians benefit from having both a Mike Holt book on the shelf and a fast code app in the pocket.