I'm having problems with electrical breakers. How many amps does it take to run a computer and a refrigator?

Answer 1

depends on the computer and the fridge

computer dont take much, unless you have some crazy extra stuff set up, the fridge is the one you should worry about, could be 10-20 amps

Answer 2

It does not take much for either one but you probably should not put both of them on the same circuit unless you have surge protection for the computer...

What kind of circuit are you designing? How big is the computer? Mainframe? Is it a commercial refrigerator? Are they running on 220 Volt circuit or 120? (or is it even in the USA?)...

If you are talking about a home PC computer then it takes about 5 Amps at 120 Volts...

I'm not sure how much your refrigerator takes since it varies a LOT from one to another.. in fact, some new refrigerators use HALF the power it took for the same size just 10 years ago! I can't imagine your refrigerator using more than 15 Amps...

You should be fine if your circuit breaker is 20 Amp... if it is tripping constantly you have a problem... you might want to change out the breaker to see if it is defective but also you should observe what is happening when it trips... are you suddenly turning on a new appliance.. like a lamp, printer, etc.. or is your refrigerator compressor turning on?...

With new refrigerators the compressors run about 24 hours a day and they account for about 20 to 30 percent of your electric bill.

Answer 3

The calculator listed below gives average power usage for a number of appliances. You divide the power by your house voltage to get the amps. In your case though, a computer(150 watt) plus refrigerator (615) gives 765 watts divided by 120 is 6.38 amps. If your circuit breaker is only 10 amps you might have trouble with starting loads (typically double) even without the computer, but most house breakers are 15 amp or above which should run the fridge, the computer, and more florescent light than you can easily use in a small room.

Answer 4

Not many. Computer draws at most 500 watts, or around 4 amps (likely less than half that much). Refrigerator is about the same or less. Breakers are 15 amps usually. You've got a short somewhere. If the breaker is tripping and the refrigerator is old, the windings in the motor are probably shorting. If the trip happens just as the refrigerator cycles on, that's the problem for sure.

Answer 5

In addition to what others have posted... breakers can get "weak" with age or damage and also sometimes just come with a manufacturing defect. If it is a single breaker that keeps tripping then you can try disconnecting the loads one at a time and see if the problem goes away. I know that is a bit tougher with a fridge but it is doable. This way you may be able to isolate the offending load or determine that it is just a bad breaker.

If you think it is the fridge then plug it into an outlet on another breaker and see if it trips that one too. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Unplug the computer and see if the breaker stays on without it. Breakers fail like anything else. I've been in the business for over 40 years and sometimes a breaker will fail and hold only half or less than the rated amps. It the breaker holds when you unplug the computer, put your computer on another circuit. If that one trips, you've got a short in your computer. If you need more help, email me and I will do what I can.

Answer 7

You may have many more things running on that circuit than you think. If it's in the kitchen then you're required (depending on when your house was built) to have 2 20-amp small appliance circuit breakers installed. However if you're overloading a circuit with more than the refridgerator and computer then that's your culprit. However if it is only your computer and refridgerator then somewhere more current is being pulled on it. Could be a short circuit.

If you're having current pulled on the circuit from other things you may not realize it because many times outlets in multiple rooms are ran to a single breaker.

Answer 8

20 amp at most