Refrigerator on the garage GFI circuit

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James S.

James S.

Senior Member
Location
Mesa, Arizona
I ran into this Thursday. I was moving some electric for a new door in the garage and the homeowner asked how much longer the power to his refrigerator was going to be off. I was confused because I didn't touch the small appliance circuits...or even a 20 amp circuit in general. I had just got to the point where I could turn the power back on and did that. Fridge was still off. Went back out to recheck the breakers and noticed that the gfi that I just re-installed in the garage was tripped. Reset that and the fridge came on. The house is 1 month old. I gave it a quick think over to make sure I didn't get a wire crossed and told him to call the builder.

Now, 2 days later, I just can't get my brain around this. The isn't something that I am missing is there? The refrigerator has to be on a 20 amp circuit right. At the very least it has to be on one of the small appliance circuits. There isn't something that would allow it to be on a 15 amp circuit is there?

I think I am having trouble figuring out how someone wired the house and had the fridge on the load side of the garage gfi and need some reassurance.
 
The fridge can be on a SABC or an individual circuit of 15 amps or greater.

210.52(B)

(1) Receptacle Outlets Served. In the kitchen, pantry,
breakfast room, dining room, or similar area of a dwelling
unit, the two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch
circuits required by 210.11(C)(1) shall serve all wall and
floor receptacle outlets covered by 210.52(A), all countertop
outlets covered by 210.52(C), and receptacle outlets for
refrigeration equipment.

Exception No. 1: In addition to the required receptacles
specified by 210.52, switched receptacles supplied from a
general-purpose branch circuit as defined in 210.70(A)(1),
Exception No. 1, shall be permitted.

Exception No. 2: The receptacle outlet for refrigeration
equipment shall be permitted to be supplied from an individual
branch circuit rated 15 amperes or greater.
 
jumper said:
The fridge can be on a SABC or an individual circuit of 15 amps or greater.

210.52(B)

(1) Receptacle Outlets Served. In the kitchen, pantry,
breakfast room, dining room, or similar area of a dwelling
unit, the two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch
circuits required by 210.11(C)(1) shall serve all wall and
floor receptacle outlets covered by 210.52(A), all countertop
outlets covered by 210.52(C), and receptacle outlets for
refrigeration equipment.

Exception No. 1: In addition to the required receptacles
specified by 210.52, switched receptacles supplied from a
general-purpose branch circuit as defined in 210.70(A)(1),
Exception No. 1, shall be permitted.

Exception No. 2: The receptacle outlet for refrigeration
equipment shall be permitted to be supplied from an individual
branch circuit rated 15 amperes or greater.
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Crap, I was unaware of #2. I am still ok though. As this would have to be a dedicated circuit and the only wires I touched were running into the garage gfi device and there wasn't a mwbc involved.

It does help to explain how the mistake could happen. Thanks for making me a little smarter than I was 5 minutes ago.
 
James S. said:
Crap, I was unaware of #2. I am still ok though. As this would have to be a dedicated circuit and the only wires I touched were running into the garage gfi device and there wasn't a mwbc involved.

It does help to explain how the mistake could happen. Thanks for making me a little smarter than I was 5 minutes ago.
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You are okay, but builder/GC should be made to correct the problem.
 
This is a code violation, either the installer, inspector or both missed it. I don't know why it appears to be something that needs immediate attention though. It is one of those requirements that is questionable as to whether or not it infringes on making the NEC a design manual vs a safety code.
 
I have seen many garages with freezers and refrigerators plugged into them. Of course they were located in the garage but that was the only difference. I am assuming. in the op's case, they didn't feed any counter receptacles from that refrig. outlet
 
Dennis Alwon said:
I have seen many garages with freezers and refrigerators plugged into them. Of course they were located in the garage but that was the only difference. I am assuming. in the op's case, they didn't feed any counter receptacles from that refrig. outlet
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Exactly, this is a code violation, but is not a situation of desperation. Not like it is an immediate concern for the house to burn down, someone to be injured or cause the local AHJ to order the service disconnected until the problem is fixed.
 
jumper said:
No one has said call 911, just that it needs to be fixed.
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Does it? It could possibly go for years with never having any noticeable problem. Again like I said, this is one of those areas where the NEC infringes on being a design manual vs a safety code. The SABC requirements, the separate laundry circuits, the dedicated bathroom circuits and the upcoming garage receptacles requiring no other outlets allowed on the circuit are all examples of NEC infringing on this design manual thing that it claims it is not. All those things are good design practice and not so much safety issues.
 
kwired said:
Does it? It could possibly go for years with never having any noticeable problem. Again like I said, this is one of those areas where the NEC infringes on being a design manual vs a safety code. The SABC requirements, the separate laundry circuits, the dedicated bathroom circuits and the upcoming garage receptacles requiring no other outlets allowed on the circuit are all examples of NEC infringing on this design manual thing that it claims it is not. All those things are good design practice and not so much safety issues.
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The HO bought the new house 1 month ago. It was supposed to be IRC/NEC compliant. It is not.

I fail to see your reasoning on why it should not be fixed. Change places with the HO and tell me what you would do. You do not get to be an electrician as you answer, since the HO isn't.:cool:
 
jumper said:
The HO bought the new house 1 month ago. It was supposed to be IRC/NEC compliant. It is not.

I fail to see your reasoning on why it should not be fixed. Change places with the HO and tell me what you would do. You do not get to be an electrician as you answer, since the HO isn't.:cool:
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Well if I was not an electrician and heard it was not up to codes, I may be asking more questions like how dangerous is this, or why did it pass inspection if it was wrong? Where to go from there may depend on the answers I get to those questions. I would probably expect to not have to pay for fixing the problem if it is done by the original installer/contractor, if I for some reason have a bad relationship with them after the construction of the house (it happens a lot) I certainly would not expect a third party installer to fix it without being paid, but may decline to even have it fixed if it is determined that it is not a serious threat to life or property, or will not become any kind of operational nuisance.

Next question is why was OP there doing work so soon after the house was constructed, and not the original contractor? If this work was not being done this minor violation may have went for years with no one ever noticing anything. It is not as big of a problem as the OP is making it seem to be IMO.
 
kwired said:
Well if I was not an electrician and heard it was not up to codes, I may be asking more questions like how dangerous is this, or why did it pass inspection if it was wrong?
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I would want it to code regardless because when I sell the house it may come back and cost me money.

Next question is why was OP there doing work so soon after the house was constructed, and not the original contractor? If this work was not being done this minor violation may have went for years with no one ever noticing anything. It is not as big of a problem as the OP is making it seem to be IMO.
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Many of these developments get people from out of town and it is impossible to get them back. There is a year warranty but if your refrig. is out and you can't get them back you have to do what you have to do. I have also seen home owner's who want nothing to do with the builders after the house is built.
 
Op is there working on a different project, not to fix the circuit.

OP did not say this was a screaming concern.

OP does not plan to fix this problem.

OP had a simple code question.

OP got his answer.
 
James S. said:
I think I am having trouble figuring out how someone wired the house and had the fridge on the load side of the garage gfi and need some reassurance.
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OP seems totally baffled to me as to why or how this could possibly happen, yet I see it as either a simple mistake or an installer that doesn't know codes, and probably also an inspector that simply missed it. Doesn't seem like all that big of a deal to me though, and I wouldn't recommend doing much with it unless it is causing nuisance tripping types of issues.

As has been said, there are often refrigerators located in garages and in the OP situation this is really not any different than having a refrigerator in the garage plugged into the same circuit.

If I were in the OP's shoes I may tell the customer what I found and mention some of what I just said here, but ultimately I would allow them to decide what should be done about it. If they want it fixed I think the builder or EC that installed it should be who they go to first to see if they will do something about it - hopefully at no charge.

jumper said:
Op is there working on a different project, not to fix the circuit.

OP did not say this was a screaming concern.

OP does not plan to fix this problem.

OP had a simple code question.

OP got his answer.
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No one mentioned which has been discussed before about not wanting your fridge plugged in to a gfi for nuisance tripping.I am reminded of a service call two years ago from two customers in my town that live about a half mile from each other. The first customer called and said she had no power to her garage. Went there and reset the gfi. The second customer called and said he had a lighting strike. Went there and saw a very large tree split down the middle and a burrow to his house that smoked his panel. Same day same time. I have also had my own garage gfi trip during a storm. The OP should probably show the HO the breaker and make sure they know how to reset it.
 
GerryB said:
No one mentioned which has been discussed before about not wanting your fridge plugged in to a gfi for nuisance tripping.I am reminded of a service call two years ago from two customers in my town that live about a half mile from each other. The first customer called and said she had no power to her garage. Went there and reset the gfi. The second customer called and said he had a lighting strike. Went there and saw a very large tree split down the middle and a burrow to his house that smoked his panel. Same day same time. I have also had my own garage gfi trip during a storm. The OP should probably show the HO the breaker and make sure they know how to reset it.
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GFCI's are not exactly a new thing, you would think users would be a little used to the concept of them but truth is not many still really have a clue as to what they are for. They just think something is wrong with the device itself if it trips.

That said, I am not a big fan of using the feed through of a GFCI receptacle to protect outlets located in areas remote from the GFCI. Circuit breaker GFCI's is a different story. If there is no power at an outlet the users are likely to go to the breaker panel to see if any breakers are tripped. They are not likely to look for a tripped GFCI receptacle when something doesn't work unless it is right in the vicinity of whatever doesn't work.
 
kwired said:
GFCI's are not exactly a new thing, you would think users would be a little used to the concept of them but truth is not many still really have a clue as to what they are for. They just think something is wrong with the device itself if it trips.

That said, I am not a big fan of using the feed through of a GFCI receptacle to protect outlets located in areas remote from the GFCI. Circuit breaker GFCI's is a different story. If there is no power at an outlet the users are likely to go to the breaker panel to see if any breakers are tripped. They are not likely to look for a tripped GFCI receptacle when something doesn't work unless it is right in the vicinity of whatever doesn't work.
Click to expand...

Very true. A friend of mine called his second floor bath outlet wasn't working. Yup, came from the first floor bath. Guess they lost the little sticker.:D
 
jumper said:
The HO bought the new house 1 month ago. It was supposed to be IRC/NEC compliant. It is not.
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Yes it is, and this problem needs to be on the builders punch-out list. No telling when it will get fixed but every problem should be listed in those first months.

People can get a lot of problems corrected if the make an issue out of it soon enough but if they put it off for over a year, well that's a different story.
 
Please note that the NEC (210) simply discussed refrigerators that happen to be located in the kitchen. Nowhere does the NEC say that all refrigerators MUST be in the kitchen.

Fridge in the garage? Where's the violation?

The OP also needs to be reminded that new fridges should work fine on a GFCI. If the fridge is tripping the GFCI, it's time to replace the fridge.
 
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