Could not find in code book, kept refering to grounds and GFI.
Refrigerator circuit for a residential
apartment that is being updated.
I know that two 20 amp circuits are required for the counter top and need gfi protection.
But what about the fridge wire.
The fridge is on a shared circuit currently.
My background is HVAC so forgive my ignorance.
Rob, see 210.52(B)(1) and it's exceptions for your answer.
Roger
Rodger thank you.
I read it and exception No.2
Thanks again
Rob,
If it is any help, in all my kitchen remodels,I always start on of my small appliance circuits at the refrigerator with a non-GFI protected receptacle, then go to the next recept. and put in my GFI. It keeps the refrig from going out due to a GFI trip.
If you go with a 20a for the fridge you can also feed those receptacles in the eating/cooking area that do not serve the countertop, without a GFCI. It may be a questionable design choice though. Lupe plugs the vacuum in, pops the breaker, moves on to another outlet to finish and all the food spoils.
New construction or remodel, I believe that a dedicated refrigerator circuit is a good idea. Don't anyone get mad, but anything less, although it meets code, is skimping.
I always run a dedicated 20 amp, 120 vac, line for the refridgerator. When the fridge "kicks in" it draws about 10 amps depending the size of the fridge. Why would you not run a ded. line for it? The real question would be wether or not to use a single or duplex receptacle...
Dedicated line and single 20A non-GFCI receptacle here...
[This message has been edited by NJwirenut (edited 11-23-2005).]
How many fridge/freezers would be acceptable on a single dedicated circuit? I know fridges of today only draw a small fraction of what they did in years past- would it cause problems to put a kitchen refrigerator and a second fridge/freezer in the garage on a single 20A? Worst case scenario would be both kicking on at the same time, like after a short power blink. Is the in-rush short enough that it won't trip the breaker, even if it's slightly over 20A for a few cycles?
My own frigge draws 4 amps.
As to a fridge drawing 'about 10 amps' at start up that means little.
How much a motor draws at start up depends on how long you are taking the measurement for.
I bet a fridge at start will draw over 50 amps at start up if I set my meter for 100 Milli-second peak record.
Set the meter for a 1 second peak and you will see much less current.
Breakers are designed to deal with inrush currents.
I also try real hard to place the refrigerator on it's own circuit.
Part of the reason is that you really don't want something else to shut off the fridge.
Another reason is that, however the numbers may work today, refrigerators are getting HUGE.
When I was growing up, a typical fridge was about 5 ft. tall, 2 ft wide, and 2 ft. deep. A few ice cube trays took up almost half the freezer space.
I just had a customer buy an 800 lb monster, with double doors and bathtub-sized drawers. This thing was 6 ft. tall, 5 ft. wide, and 30" deep. My bedroom closet isn't that big.
Mark my words, it's just a matter of time before folks start installing walk-in coolers!
I am also seeing an increased use of upright freezers, in addition to the fridge. A "little old lady" I know has a "normal" fridge as well as a 4 ft. tall upright freezer, both plugged into the same place. That her apartment was carved out of a 100-yr old house suggests that her electric may be minimal at best.
So, though there is no code saying I must, I try to give the fridge its' own line.
Bob beat me to it but have any of you ever looked at the nameplate of a fridge? Dedicated 20 amp circuit is a waste.
Unless the fridge is a pig like a 48" Sub Zero it just isn't needed.
Here in Manitoba, code is dedicated 15 amp plug non gfi and if desired one recessed clock receptacle attached in the kitchen.
lock receptacle for the fridge? Now why didn't I think of that?
Clock recpts that I recall have no grounding means.
I think hydro meant a 'dedicated' circuit that they will allow a clock receptacle installed on.
Breakers are designed to deal with inrush currents.
More so... to my knowledge _no_ breaker trips at it's rated current. For example European B type breakers have to trip on 1,45 times their rated current within one hour (only regarding the overload protection). So there's no way anything just slightly over 20 amps would trip a 20 amps breaker. That would probably require a 60 amps spike which the breaker recognizes as a short circuit and trips instantly (0.2 seconds with most Euro breakers).
Most of the smaller American breakers may never trip with up to 1.25% of the rated load.
It is enlightening looking at the trip curves of the OCPDs we use.
The 'about 10 amps' figure comes from a Thomson/ Delmar learning book that I own. I have never personally done an amprobe reading on a fridge because usually the fridge isn't installed until well after I am done doing my electricial work. I know a dedicated line isn't required but it's still a good idea to run one whenever possible.
Speaking of the trip curves on the OCPDs we use here in America, I was sent to troubleshoot a tripping circuit breaker at a health spa recently. Seems that a sump pump was cord temporarily plugged into to convience outlet that was on the same circuit as a the swimming pools filtering system. The OCPD was a 15 square D and it was holding at 20.2 amps for about 15 minutes at a time before it would trip. I had no idea that a 15 amp breaker would hold that long.
Yes, that's usually pretty surprising! At school we have been loading a 10amp fuse with more than 15 amps for several minutes without knowing and it never blew. Might have gotten warm though I guess.
When we were doing residential work we always installed a seperate ckt for the frig. We did large houses and many times HO's would buy large double door sub-zero monsters. Even when they didn't, we felt that was a good policy.
mbhydro is correct. In Canada, the fridge must be on a dedicated circuit...the only other thing you can add to it is a clock receptacle. Since 99.9% of clocks now are battery-operated quartz, clock receptacles are a thing of the past. However, I've installed clock receptacles in cabinet space for a microwave, so the unit can go back a bit further.
The latest trend I see among the upscalers is to have two side by side sub zero refers in a kitchen. As far as load, those big built in types don't really draw much more than the regular ones, but the intallation booklets supplied with the unit usually request a dedicated 15 or 20 amp circuit.
My house has the fridge on the same circuit as the kitchen. It is RCD protected. My freezer is on the circuit for the two front bedrooms , lounge & laundry also RCD protected. My beer fridge is plugged into the 15 amp welder socket outside (RCD protected)