refrigerator power requirement 15A or 20A?

[Abby Normal]

[Ralph Mowery]

So now the fellow that wants a frig in his basement has to run a dropcord upstairs to the kitchen receptical :-)

[Andy Hill]

As long as he ain't getting inspected, it don't matter. Hell, I run my 'fridge offa two bare wires running from my washer outlet. Only took the baby a couple of times before she lernt to crawl around the wires.

BTW, ;-}

[Abe]

----------- That's right. 12-2 for 20 amp is code. 14-2 is 15 amp max by code.

[George E. Cawthon]

Ok, so far everyone is talking nonsense or around the point. You are right, what one needs to know is the running power usage.

My old whirlpool (no ice maker) says the running power requirement is 330 to 420 watts. That between 3 and 4 A. Newer machines undoubtedly use more electricity, but I can't imagine one using 10 A except at start up and a 15 A breaker allows for temporary overage at start up.

My house built in 1976 has no dedicated circuit for the refrigerator. The reason refrigerator and freezer manufactures emphasize using a dedicated circuit is so that another device doesn't trip the breaker and you loose all the food. Imagine having a half a beef in your freezer (or a 1/4 in a refrigerator/freezer unit) and some other appliance popping the breaker, especially while you are on vacation, and no one notices for a week. A dedicated circuit has nothing to do with safety, it has to do with economics.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Don't be suprised if the new ones use less. I got rid of an old 10 cu. ft fridge and replaced it with a new 18 cu. ft. frost free and my electric bill went down $10 a month. It has a nameplate rating of 4.75 A The kitchen fridge has a Full Load rating of 6.5A for a 21 Cu. ft. side by side.

Searching a few web sites, they don't give any power requirements aside from

115V so doing any comparisons is not going to be simple. . In any case, a 15A breaker can certainly handle that load.

I'm not so sure. My house built in 1978 has a separate circuit. The safety issue is not what the fridge will draw, but what other kitchen appliances will do along with it. I'm not up on the code but I believe there is specifics for counter receptacles as they can easily carry coffee makers, toaster ovens, microwaves, all going at the same time.

[George E. Cawthon]

New units of the same size may use less electricity, but many of the new ones are much larger and have way more features that older models which I expect would offset any increased efficiency. Certainly your 4.76 and 6.5A ratings are larger than mine. BTW, my figures came off the circuit page for the frig.

I'm sure that safety isn't a factor. The circuit(s) are protected by the breakers. The only thing that putting the various appliances on separate circuits does, is reduce the likelihood that the breakers will trip. Tripping isn't a safety problem, just an inconvenience or loss of food if it goes unnoticed.

[scott_z500]

It would have to be a pretty big refrigerator to need a 20A breaker. I think mine uses something like 8A.

[a guest]

I agree. My current main refregerator (25 cu ft) is on a 15A circuit that is shared with some lights and rangehood. It never tripped the circuit breaker.

However, browsing the net, and you see specifications like:

and maximum amps is 20. I was wondering if the newer refregerators requires larger circuit.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I think the maximum is for a safety factor to assure the breaker will trip from a serious overload. I don't wee any amperage information on any of the web pages I looked at for a few brands, just what is on the nameplate on mine.

[Andy Hill]

Color me curious, but why would you be running a 15A breaker on a circuit wired with 12GA in the first place? Might as well let the circuit work up to its capacity.

[john]

because most appliances are 15 amp or less. if one goes haywire and smokes itself the 15 amp breaker will trip before the 20

[Edwin Pawlowski]

OK, the refrigerator I mentioned before was not 10 cu. ft, but 7.2. We have it at work and I just checked the tag. It says I takes 5.5A. It has such luxury features as a lightbulb inside. The freezer is inside the main door, not a two door model.

The new 18 cu. ft. takes 4.5A and is frons free so a defrost cycle must run as well as a fan. Two and a half times more in size, more features, less power. The missing factor is how many hours they run to maintain the same temperature, but as I said, my electrri bill went down $10 a month. Improved compressor design, better insualtion, better door seals all make a difference.

[chocolatemalt]

The cable might have its ampacity reduced due to bundling, running through a hot attic, etc. The rule of thumb of "14 AWG for 15 A" and "12 AWG for 20 A" is generally acceptable but not always -- the real NEC rules are quite a bit more complicated.

[chocolatemalt]

The dedicated circuit for the fridge (whether required or not) is a good idea for two reasons:

1) The kitchen circuits must be GFCI these days, and nuisance tripping of those outlets means your ice cream could melt. 2) All the high power draws of modern kitchen appliances are more likely to trip breakers, again causing your ice cream to melt.

It seems to me that a dedicated one-receptacle circuit for the fridge (allowable by NEC to be non-GFCI) is a small price to pay for peace of mind.