We want to buy a deep freezer. We want to put it in a storage area between our dining room and garage. Here's the issue: The outlet in the storage area is on the same circuit as the 1/2 h.p. garage door opener (max 5 amp according to plate) and the dining room lighting fixture and 2 outlets- which only ever get used to charge cell phones. They are on a 120 V/20 amp circuit breaker. The dining room pendant light is connected to a dimmer switch, and are currently using two 60 watt light bulbs. Would a 7.0 cu chest freezer overload this circuit? (We looked into running a dedicated circuit but it cost too much.)
I checked the freezer I was interested in and it said 115V/1.7 Amps. Sounded really low to me, but heck, what do I know. It was a G.E. 7.0 cu freezer.
The one piece of info that is really needed to answer this question accurately is not given: the wattage or volt-amp rating of the freezer.
That being the case, let’s do this backwards.
The circuit is rated at 20 Amps.
20Amps = 2,400 Watts (volt-amps) at 120 volts
80% of the circuit is then 1,920 Watts (just for safety, let's use this number)
If the stated maximum current draw for the opener is 5 Amps, as stated on the name plate, that equals 600 Watts. You have 1,320 Watts left over.
Say your two dining room light bulbs are burning 24-7, that uses 150 Watts (120 x 1.25 for being a "continuous load" - being on for more than 3 hours)
You have 1,170 Watts "left" on that circuit.
The cell phone chargers are probably less than 2 amps, combined. Let's call them 250 Watts, just to "pad" that a little.
You still have 920 Watts "left" on this circuit.
If the freezer is rated at 8 Amps or less you are very safe. I would even go as far as saying that at 10 Amps I would trust the circuit; the chances of all of these loads being applied to the circuit at one time are between slim and none.
The opener is only running when raising or lowering the overhead door.
The Dining room lights are not always on.
The freezer better not run continuously or it has a bad thermostat.
You have all non-concurrent loads; if it is 8 or 9 Amps; plug it in, then, fill it up.
(I did this in my head as I was sitting here, so double check the math.)
6 users commented in " Chest Freezer on a regular circuit? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackIf that is all you have on that circuit, sounds ok. Check the draw on the freezer. When they give you the amp rating on the unit, that is their max draw which is at start up, not the whole time they are running. Your freezer wont be much more then the garage door opener..
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IT should be OK
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I *do* believe that you could safely hook up your new chest freezer to a wall-outlet circuit that is already carrying the electrical loads you have described without any danger. You very likely might notice a definite short-dimming of the dining room pendant light fixture, if lighted, whenever the freezer first starts up for its cooling cycle, but — after that — the motor for the freezer shouldn't continue to "drag down" the power on that circuit to cause a *tripping* of the breaker* [IMHO]!
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Many, *many* years of past experience!
You have more than enough amp space left to run the freezer and then some.
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That garage door opener is only used for very short times, and
the circuit will ride through momentary overloads.
5 amps for the door, and 7 amps. (est.), for the freezer,
still leaves plenty of 'head-room` on that 20A. breaker.
Go for it.
References :
Retired Electrical Consultant
The one piece of info that is really needed to answer this question accurately is not given: the wattage or volt-amp rating of the freezer.
That being the case, let’s do this backwards.
The circuit is rated at 20 Amps.
20Amps = 2,400 Watts (volt-amps) at 120 volts
80% of the circuit is then 1,920 Watts (just for safety, let's use this number)
If the stated maximum current draw for the opener is 5 Amps, as stated on the name plate, that equals 600 Watts. You have 1,320 Watts left over.
Say your two dining room light bulbs are burning 24-7, that uses 150 Watts (120 x 1.25 for being a "continuous load" - being on for more than 3 hours)
You have 1,170 Watts "left" on that circuit.
The cell phone chargers are probably less than 2 amps, combined. Let's call them 250 Watts, just to "pad" that a little.
You still have 920 Watts "left" on this circuit.
If the freezer is rated at 8 Amps or less you are very safe. I would even go as far as saying that at 10 Amps I would trust the circuit; the chances of all of these loads being applied to the circuit at one time are between slim and none.
The opener is only running when raising or lowering the overhead door.
The Dining room lights are not always on.
The freezer better not run continuously or it has a bad thermostat.
You have all non-concurrent loads; if it is 8 or 9 Amps; plug it in, then, fill it up.
(I did this in my head as I was sitting here, so double check the math.)
References :
Licensed Electrical Contractor; Municipal Building Safety Official; ICC Certified residential & Commercial Electrical Inspector; some basic Article 220 load calculations