Household refrigerator circuit

[A/A Fuel GTX]

Ive heard do guys actually putting the kitchen frig or freezer in residential houses on the same circuit as the hard wired smoke detector. Reason being is this circuit would be noticeable alot quicker because of the chirping of the smoke. Most people would like to know if the circuit feeding their frig was tripped off as soon as possible because of the loss of food.

Not a good idea IMO. Smokes are required to be on an AFCI circuit and I wouldn't want my fridge on one.

 

[ptonsparky]

Ive heard do guys actually putting the kitchen frig or freezer in residential houses on the same circuit as the hard wired smoke detector. Reason being is this circuit would be noticeable alot quicker because of the chirping of the smoke. Most people would like to know if the circuit feeding their frig was tripped off as soon as possible because of the loss of food.

I used to put the Smokes on the same circuit as the master bedroom. Figured if they had to shut down the smokes because of nuisance alarms (20 years ago), they would have things fixed quicker if the lights were off.

 

[brother]

Not a good idea IMO. Smokes are required to be on an AFCI circuit and I wouldn't want my fridge on one.

This was mostly before that afci requirement. I'm told that most new afcis are better designed to handle that issue. As looks, the whole house may eventually be afci anyways.

 

[ActionDave]

... I'm told that most new afcis are better designed to handle that issue...

From my personal experience, albeit anecdotal, the new combo AFCI's are worse than any of the first generation ones. They absolutely nuisance trip with loads that have electronics in them.

 

[iwire]

I have to say that this whole paranoia about loss of food just goes right over my head and I love to eat.

Do you all have your refrigerators on a UPS and generator in case the utility fails?


It's just some food, they have more at the market.

 

[A/A Fuel GTX]

I have to say that this whole paranoia about loss of food just goes right over my head and I love to eat.

Do you all have your refrigerators on a UPS and generator in case the utility fails?


It's just some food, they have more at the market.

Yep....20KW Generac. I don't even know when there is a power outage.

 

[iwire]

Yep....20KW Generac. I don't even know when there is a power outage.

But what if that fails, what about the food!!!

 

[kwired]

Ive heard do guys actually putting the kitchen frig or freezer in residential houses on the same circuit as the hard wired smoke detector. Reason being is this circuit would be noticeable alot quicker because of the chirping of the smoke. Most people would like to know if the circuit feeding their frig was tripped off as soon as possible because of the loss of food.

Couple things here.

The (kitchen) refrigerator is a SABC circuit with exception allowing a dedicated 15 amp circuit to refrigerator only. No other outlets are allowed - including the smoke detectors.

When the smoke detectors chirp, it is because the battery is in need of replacement, not because of loss of AC power. Your refrigerator could be off for months and no chirping if you have a pretty fresh battery in the smoke detector.

 

[zapp64]

frig ckt

frig ckt

It is not required to be a dedicated circuit I don't believe but if you were wiring your own dwelling,,,,,,,would you make it a dedicated circuit? I did years ago, two of them in fact, house & garage,just curious?


Happy New Year

dick

I always put the frig on a separate circuit because even if a frig only draws 6- 8 amps if you put it on an appliance ckt unless you have a specific location for coffee pot and toaster the potencial for overloading the ckt exists. I realize the code is a min requirement but sometimes practicality has to come into play.

 

[George Stolz]

I always put my branch circuits on circuit breakers, so that the user can unplug the offending appliance and restore power to the fridge immediately.

Joking aside, I replaced my microwave in my house to find I can't brew coffee and microwave at the same time. Being lazy, I simply shut the pot off if I want to nuke something, or set the power to 70%.

 

[JDB3]

Like said above, I put ref. on its own circuit. I do not want something to trip the circuit the ref. is on & the owners leaving for a few days, to come back to spoiled everything. Had a call back to a spec. house wired with ref. on separate circuit. Complaint was that when the "new" ref. came on, the lights dimmed. Turned out that the refrigerator came on, it was drawing 44 amps. The refrigerator then aged from new to 3 years old!

 

[renosteinke]

Just to stir the pot ....

A fridge on a dedicated circuit is OK. SABC's shall, by code, have 'no other outlets.'

An 'outlet' is anything that lets electricity be used. Hard-wired appliances, lights, and receptacles are all 'outlets.'

So ... my question is .... would you allow whatever circuit that supplies the fridge to also power a light whose only purpose was to tell you there was power to the fridge? Like, say, one of those Allen-Bradley panel lights?

 

[A/A Fuel GTX]

But what if that fails, what about the food!!!

I have an underground bunker that is stocked with large blocks of ice just in case there is a natural gas interruption and my Generac quits operating. It's all about food preservation, Bob.

 

[ptonsparky]

Just to stir the pot ....

A fridge on a dedicated circuit is OK. SABC's shall, by code, have 'no other outlets.'

An 'outlet' is anything that lets electricity be used. Hard-wired appliances, lights, and receptacles are all 'outlets.'

So ... my question is .... would you allow whatever circuit that supplies the fridge to also power a light whose only purpose was to tell you there was power to the fridge? Like, say, one of those Allen-Bradley panel lights?

Well, No, that is forbidden, but you could certainly plug in one of those little made in China LED flashlight/holder charger deally bobs, that come on when the power goes off. Saw some in a Cabin we rented last summer in Colorado.

 

[brother]

Couple things here.

The (kitchen) refrigerator is a SABC circuit with exception allowing a dedicated 15 amp circuit to refrigerator only. No other outlets are allowed - including the smoke detectors.

When the smoke detectors chirp, it is because the battery is in need of replacement, not because of loss of AC power. Your refrigerator could be off for months and no chirping if you have a pretty fresh battery in the smoke detector.

I was told that hardwired smokes with battery back up will sound off when they first lose 'house power'. You are correct about the small appliance circuit according to the 2008 NEC. I only heard about people doing that in other areas, maybe they had a local amendment.

 

[curt swartz]

I was told that hardwired smokes with battery back up will sound off when they first lose 'house power'. You are correct about the small appliance circuit according to the 2008 NEC. I only heard about people doing that in other areas, maybe they had a local amendment.

Whoever told you that is 100% wrong. Smoke alarms do NOT sound when AC power is lost. The only times they sound are during an alarm condition or when the backup battery is low/missing.

 

[renosteinke]

Pton, I agree that such an indicating light violates the letter of the rules.

IMO, you want to know when the fridge loses power. This might be only when that circuit trips - the whole house need not lose power. So, plugging in the light you describe would also be a violation.

About the only 'cheat' I can see is placing the fridge receptacle in a visible location - watchout for the 3-ft. pigtail rule - and using a device that is a combination night light / receptacle. I haven't seen illuminated receptacles for some time. (Pity, as I want some for my house).

Looks like we need to rely on the 'special permission' loophole, as the NEC (again) interferes with good design.

 

[kwired]

Pton, I agree that such an indicating light violates the letter of the rules.

IMO, you want to know when the fridge loses power. This might be only when that circuit trips - the whole house need not lose power. So, plugging in the light you describe would also be a violation.

About the only 'cheat' I can see is placing the fridge receptacle in a visible location - watchout for the 3-ft. pigtail rule - and using a device that is a combination night light / receptacle. I haven't seen illuminated receptacles for some time. (Pity, as I want some for my house).

Looks like we need to rely on the 'special permission' loophole, as the NEC (again) interferes with good design.

If we want to split hairs, the combination night light / receptacle contains a lighting outlet that is not allowed on the SABC

But the user can plug their own night light into the unused portion of the duplex receptacle and everything is fine:happyyes:

 

[renosteinke]

Glad I got my point across

Hmm ... I wonder how the free market has reacted to folks' fears about their fridges? Here are a few things I found through Google:

http://www.diycontrols.com/p-6659-refrigeratorfreezer-power-outage-alert-set.aspx Still need to plug it into the circuit.

This might be the gizmo I imagine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016LFWFK?&tag=shopwiki-us-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325 That is, something that has a temperature probe inside the fridge and makes noise if things get warm.

There's no shortage of stuff that will call your phone or e-mail you if temps are off .... but they tie into complete alarm systems.

It took some digging to get this far; maybe folks really aren't all that worried about their fridge staying cold. No, they're spending their money in this bad economy on only things that are truly important to them ... like the latest I-Phone or edition of "Call of Duty."

 

[gadfly56]

Glad I got my point across

Hmm ... I wonder how the free market has reacted to folks' fears about their fridges? Here are a few things I found through Google:

http://www.diycontrols.com/p-6659-refrigeratorfreezer-power-outage-alert-set.aspx Still need to plug it into the circuit.

This might be the gizmo I imagine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016LFWFK?&tag=shopwiki-us-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325 That is, something that has a temperature probe inside the fridge and makes noise if things get warm.

There's no shortage of stuff that will call your phone or e-mail you if temps are off .... but they tie into complete alarm systems.

It took some digging to get this far; maybe folks really aren't all that worried about their fridge staying cold. No, they're spending their money in this bad economy on only things that are truly important to them ... like the latest I-Phone or edition of "Call of Duty."

I don't think that's true. I think the folks that do the Waterbug system have a temp sensor. It's certainly not a full-blown alarm system by any means.