For a very long time, storing food for later has been one of the most concerning factors in a human’s life. It was a necessity for survival and a step to improve one’s life. Hence, the necessity gave birth to an invention which is the refrigerator, or in short, the freezer.
Now, let us find out if we can use an extension cord for a freezer, which has become a common sight in our households, and many more interesting facts about it.
Plugging a freezer into an extension cord
The use of extension cords is strongly discouraged when supplying power to large appliances that need a lot of energy to run. Since these appliances force the thin extension cords to supply a large amount of power, this may result in house fires. Moreover, using them comes with fire risks.
Even though it is advised against extension cords to be used to supply power to freezers, you can still use extension cords. However, every safety agency advises against the use of it.
Using extension cords for freezers is also prohibited by The National Electrical Code, as well as by the National Fire Protection Association.
The amount of power a freezer needs largely depends on the size of the appliance. A small freezer might not require much energy and can be connected to the power of the main outlet through an extension cord.
If the outlet is too far from the freezer and a large freezer might draw a power higher than you might be able to calculate, it may cause accidents. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Hence, it is necessary to check the manufacturer’s manual before arranging the power outlets.
The first thing to figure out is the amount of power your freezer needs. Most freezers nowadays draw 1,800 watts on average, meaning, at a 120-volt circuit, they draw 15 amps of current.
Most households use extension cords starting from 16-gauge to 12-gauge. The lower the number goes, the higher the supply of current and the lower the resistance in the cord.
Starting from the 16-gauge extension cords, these supply a total of 840 watts of power which are mostly used for small appliances and lamps. As a result, it is not able to supply power to a large appliance as a freezer and can burn and cause fires due to a power overload.
A 12-gauge extension cord, on the other hand, is able to provide a power surge of 1,920 watts, which is perfect for freezers that draws a wattage of 1,800. And the cord should be as short as possible.
This is because, the longer a cord is, the more resistance it will have inside and the less current will be supplied. Otherwise, the performance of the freezer will be affected and the power drop will cause your appliance damage as well.
Moreover, most appliances like freezers that consume a large amount of power come with a ground pin that helps prevent accidents like electric shocks, fires, and so on.
As a result, the cords of these appliances should be connected to grounded three-pin receptacles, and in this case, a grounded extension cord that will be connected to a grounded receptacle.
Is it safe to use an extension cord with a freezer?
No, it is not safe to use an extension cord with a freezer. Most extension cords that are used in our households are 16-gauge ones that provide a maximum of 7 amps of current at 120 volts, used to provide power for lamps and low-power appliances.
Whereas a modern normal-sized freezer draws at least 15 amps of current for the same circuit.
Without the use of an extension cord as wide as 12-gauge cords, the extension cord might overload and cause a fire. Additionally, most freezers have a three-prong cord that needs a grounded power outlet.
In short, it is not safe to use extension cords permanently for freezers but if you use the 12-gauge extension cords temporarily, it will make do.
How to use an extension cord for freezers?
As long as you keep in mind the risks of using extension cords for freezers and avoid them, you may safely use them to provide our freezers with power if it’s placed too far from the power outlet.
The first thing is to figure out the power that your freezer draws. Most modern freezers draw a current of 15 amps at a 120-volt circuit, which means they draw almost a wattage of 1,800 watts. This is our guideline to choose the right extension cord.
A 12-gauge extension cord provides 16 amps current, perfect for our freezers. Moreover, the cord should be as short as possible since longer cords tend to supply less current even at the right cross-section size.
Moreover, the extension cord must be grounded since most freezer power cords come with three prongs, meaning, they have ground pins. This is to avoid power overloads and fire risks.
What happens when you use an extension cord for a freezer?
Although using an extension cord for freezers is possible, they have its setbacks. Some are:
Tripping:
The main reason to use an extension cord is that the power cord of a freezer falls short of connecting to a power outlet in the room.
But this reason is exactly why the extension cord might sometimes come in our way and you might trip on it, or run over the cord with furniture or wheels. As a result, you, as well as the cord might endure significant damage.
These small damages can be dangerous since they can uncover the wires inside and cause electric shocks. Or running or leaking water might come in contact and create a dangerous situation.
Overheat:
Every cord or electrical wire has resistance in them which tends to create heat in the wire.
Now, this heat is completely natural and is normal unless the cord is too long or you’re using the wrong-sized cords. Then, the cord might overheat and cause fires. The possibility gets more if the cord faces damage at any of its lengths.
Voltage Drop:
When using a long extension cord, the voltage of the cord is bound to drop because, the more the resistance in the wire, the less the voltage, and a longer cord has more resistance.
Freezers in our households consume a lot of current when its cycle turns on. However, when the cord cannot provide the freezer with the necessary amount of current, the performance of the freezer drops and causes damage to the appliance.
Fire Risks:
Freezers are large appliances that draw a huge amount of power. Hence, when the cords fail to provide them and the freezer draws a huge amount, the cords might overload and set fires.
What gauge extension cord do I need for a freezer? How to measure?
Freezers are large appliances and draw a huge amount of electricity, so that it is better to not use any extension cords. But if there are no other options left for you, then you should get the perfect gauge extension cord and you also should know how to measure that.
The steps will help you to find your answers –
Find out the amps and volts of your freezer:
To find out the gauge of your extension cord, it is necessary to know the wattage of your freezer first and foremost. The particulars to find the wattage of your freezer will be provided on a sticker in your freezer. Find out the amps and volts.
Apply the formula for wattage:
The formula to find out the wattage is to multiply the amount of current the freezer might draw at a specific volt.
For instance, if your freezer draws 15 amps current at 120 volts, its wattage will be 1,800 watts—which is the usual power drawn by most freezers nowadays.
Find out the wattage of your extension cord:
Now, it’s time to find out the wattage of the extension cord you’ll be using. Keep in mind that the wattage of the extension cord must be bigger than the power drawn by the freezer.
The rating of amperage is mostly written on a tag attached to the extension cords which might not always be visible or available. In that case, a standard rating for each gauge of an extension cord is provided in the next point.
The most common extension cord used in our households is the 16-gauge one, which, unfortunately, only provides 7 amps of current, meaning, a wattage of 840 watts.
Moreover, to provide a freezer with adequate power, you need a cord of 12-gauge since its amperage rating is 16 amps, meaning it can provide a wattage of 1,920 watts—perfect for our freezers.
Exceptions:
However, all these cords should be less than or equal to 15 meters, otherwise, additional calculations are necessary since a longer cord provides more resistance, and that gives wrong amounts of currents than written on the labels.
Final Thoughts
Generally, you can use an extension cord to provide power for our freezer but it shouldn’t be a permanent fixture. The freezer’s wattage, the length, and wattage the extension cord can provide, and whether the cord is grounded or not, all of these should be kept in mind before proceeding.