Appliance Circuits for the Dummy Electrician

Electric circuit overload

Few freelance sins will raise the hackles of the AN's safety guru that some halfwit handing out dangerous — or even semi-dangerous — advice under the guise of DIY answers. We often point out that the sensible consumer is no more likely to ask a dentist how to perform a brake job on their car than they are to ask their mechanic to fill a cavity in a tooth. So why would anyone think that a retired newspaper reporter knows enough about electrical work to answer the question, "Can I Put a Dishwasher, Microwave and Refrigerator on the Same Circuit?" Yet that's exactly what Herb Kirchoff tried to do at HomeSteady.com.

Kirchoff started off in the right direction, we guess, when he said that,

"There is no simple answer to how many or what types of household appliances can be served by a single circuit."

That's more or less true. What Herb did not seem to realize is that because there is "no simple answer," the National Electrical Code (NEC) sets minimum standards for those circuits. He was on the right track when he advised his readers that appliances have both operating and startup current draw, and that you have to allow for the maximum necessary amperage when designing a circuit.

That works nicely for bedrooms and living rooms. It does not, however, hold true for kitchens. After some babble about what a circuit is and how to determine the amperage devices will draw, Herb tried to tell his readers that,

"If you want to connect a dishwasher, microwave and refrigerator to the same 20-amp kitchen circuit, you must consider that a typical dishwasher or refrigerator draws about 6 amps to run but needs 12 amps for a second or so to get started. An average microwave draws about 7 amps to run. Each of these appliances will run fine on the same 20-amp circuit if they are run one at a time."

The NEC covers this, Herb: according to our references, the code (which is a minimum requirement; your jurisdiction may have more stringent standards) states that a kitchen must have two 20-amp branch circuits for small appliances. In theory, the fridge can be plugged into one of these circuits; though a well-designed kitchen has a separate circuit for the 'fridge.. According to code, a dishwasher should be on a dedicated circuit by itself; in new construction it should be a GFCI-protected circuit.

In other words, Kirchoff appears to be ignorant not only of the content of the code, but of its very existence. And people wonder why we hand out these Dumbass of the Day awards!

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