DIYbanter - View Single Post - refrigerator power requirement 15A or 20A?

wrote:
William W. Plummer wrote:

a guest wrote:

Those refregerators doesn't require much energy - the yellow tags

stated

that they run 400 - 600 KWH per year, which is $30 to $40 a year

(it

costs less than 7 cents/KWH here.)

Finally somebody pointed that out. I just bought a frig and it uses

less than a 60-watt bulb running continuously. I actually checked

this

with a Kill-A-Watt meter.

I presume you mean it uses less *total kwh* than a 60-watt bulb running
continuously. What was the starting current and the running current? I
don't think the breaker is sized according to average current draw,
which includes time when it isn't running.

%mod%

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.