Just checked the spec sheet on my 101 bottle Eurocave that I bought about 6 years ago. It is listed as 1.6 amps. The new little 50 bottle bargain unit that I just bought nameplates at 1.2 amps. The small one really should not have much in the way of power requirements. If they draw much more than these, they’re junk.
A Kill-a-Watt meter can be useful for questions like this. It plugs into the wall outlet, and measures electricity use of an item that is in turn plugged into it. Gives amps, voltage, watts, hertz, kwh.
That’s super helpful. Thanks. Those are great, efficient figures.
We just went through a similar situation in our 45 year-old residence when a kitchen circuit kept tripping off. It had our refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker and a new toaster oven on it. Apparently the total amp load tripped the 15 amp breaker if we were using both the microwave and toaster oven and the fridge compressor happened to cycle on. The guy who replaced the breaker also replaced all the outlets in that circuit because he said that sometimes loose connections to them (especially when they’re wired with push-on connectors instead of the kind that wrap around a screw and tighten down) can result in surges that trip the breaker even if the total amp load is below critical. Just a thought.
Here is the most likely situation that could cause a problem assuming that a temperature measurement will control the turn-on of the compressor, resulting in transient current spike that will relax to a steady-state current while the compressor is on. It’s pretty safe to assume none of the three will turn on at the same time. So if you have a 15 amp circuit and no other devices attached, twice the steady state current (2 units already on) plus the transient current has to be less than 15 amps. If the steady state is 3 amps and transient 5-6, you are ok. If steady state is 4 amps and transient 7-8, it’s dicey. You may occssionally trip the circuit breaker. If 3 times steady state is too high, which is what I think most of the posts are considering, it’s no good.
Peter,
Your “guy who replaced the breaker” didn’t do you quite the favor that you think.
By code, most microwaves, anything around 1000 watts, needs to be on its own 15 amp circuit. 1 breaker and one single outlet. A rather powerful toaster oven has the same dedicated circuit requirement. Coffee makers usually don’t draw as much, but the refrigerator could require a dedicated circuit, though not that likely.
Loose connections don’t cause surges, they cause arcs. These will pull more and more current as they heat up. That is what trips the breaker. It is doing its job by keeping your kitchen from burning down your residence. If you have a faulty circuit breaker, you get the fire instead of a tripped breaker.
Now I know I am not going to talk you into having your kitchen rewired, just please try not to use more than one out of the microwave, coffee maker, or toaster oven at any one time. Your just asking for trouble if you do. ![[oops.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/1/1f129ddad071ffe5db6c99817c3cab666035a70a.gif "oops"){kind=small}
Those are very livable numbers. I have good friends that are down sizing and will are planning on using wine cooling units. We will be there fairly soon as well.
Peter,
Your “guy who replaced the breaker” didn’t do you quite the favor that you think.
That might be true. My brothers are electrical contractors and that’s the business I grew up in. Some breakers are just crap, like those made by Federal, GE, etc. But if that’s the box you have, that’s the breaker you need.
OTOH, the local electrical codes are all over the place. Most of them hew more or less to the national electrical code, but they all have their own tweaks. In some places you need a dedicated circuit for a garbage disposal, in other places you don’t and in yet others, you can’t have disposals. Generally your kitchen circuits should be 20A and GFI. When I rewired my house, I just made everything 20A.
Garages are usually 20A, but not always. That’s because people plug in power tools, etc.
My suggestion would be to find somewhere in your house where you have the least number of devices on a circuit and use that one. You’d get your stuff out of the garage, which probably isn’t insulated, and you’d ease your mind.
Another thing to think about, even thought he load of each unit doesn’t seem like it’s too much, is putting them all on different circuits if you can, so that if one bombs out when you’re on a long vacation, you don’t damage anything else.
Interesting info. Since we rent, I doubt we’d have any luck getting three new circuits installed when the existing circuit has tripped off maybe 3 times in the year we’ve been here and the landlord is very ‘thrifty’. This last time there was the new toaster oven but we’ve now moved that to a different circuit. The breaker has never actually gone to the off position and, except for this last time, I just turned it off and then on again The breaker was replaced along with the outlets this time. I’m in no position to question your knowledge on the subject but your amp info is way higher than what the handyman said. Since he works on commercial buildings for our landlord I tended to believe him, but who knows. There are 2400 homes in this community, all around the same age, and presumably with similar circuit setups. I’d guess, though, that today’s appliances have very different requirements than those around in the '70s. If it means anything, the FAU IS on a dedicated circuit.
Man, you guys are thorough! Thanks again for all the great information. Glad to see it’s useful to others as well.
Incidentally, the garage where I have the two units faces north and sees relatively little temperature fluctuation. It’s a split level house, and there’s a bedroom above it. It gets a bit warm (but never hot) during the summer months, and I’m guessing it stays around 55 degrees or so during the winter (this is in Tennessee). It’s about the most ideal spot for wine coolers I can think of, at least at our place.
Paul – If you can find the amperage on one of your existing units (likely on a label on the back or underneath), I’d really be curious. It’s bizarre that none of the manufacturers do not list this in their specs online.
We just spent $$$ on a major upgrade for our place. Our older home had much of the house on just a couple of circuits, plus nothing was grounded.
Now we have new outlets for everything that’s costly to replace with whole house surge protection.
One thing we learned – don’t assume your existing work was done correctly. This cheap device is super handy.
https://www.amazon.com/Tacklife-Advanced-Automatic-Electric-Polarity/dp/B06Y68NRDV
There are 2400 homes in this community, all around the same age, and presumably with similar circuit setups.
Peter - that’s probably the case. When I was in college, on weekends we’d do code upgrades for people selling their homes. Upgrade the service, the breaker box, bring the kitchen and bath to code, etc. That was required before a home could be sold. Then I moved to a house in Brooklyn and learned that it’s not required there. I had some old knob and tube wiring that had been upgraded sometime in the 1940s or 50s, and then another upgrade maybe in the early 1960s. That was it. All the homes in the neighborhood were similar. I just kept thinking about the fire hazard.
Appliances today often draw less than they might have, but things that heat up are going to draw a lot of power by definition and there are also many more appliances than ever before.
But to keep this on topic, I definitely agree with the people above who suggest not tossing out the old fridge! It’s nice to have one in the living room just in case you need a bottle of wine on short notice.
Yes, moving the quiet one inside would be worth considering, and a number of people utilise a setup whereby a small ‘ready to drink stash’ is located in a convenient place for other (less geeky) family members to grab a bottle from for drinking / sharing, to avoid the situation where they pick out a cellaring bottle that disappoints the drinker, as well as the wine geek that was laying it down for a decade or two hence.
Assuming that your total load will be under the 15A we assume the circuit is, if you can do it it’s better to add a second outlet than use a power strip. If you do use a power strip, make sure it is relatively heavy duty.