Current draw for a new refrigerator

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
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This is really a question about both our soon-to-be-delivered Jenn-Air refrigerator (basically the same as a Kitchenaid, made by Whirlpool), and a new Jenn-Air warming drawer.

The most convenient place to get 120Vac power for the warming drawer would be from the outlet that the adjacent refrigerator plugs into.

The installation guides for both the refrigerator and the warming drawer say that it’s "recommended" that they both be on their own, dedicated 15A circuit.

I asked Jenn-Air (via their online "help" e-mail address) what the actual worst-case current draw was for both products, but all they want to tell me is that they recommend individual 15A circuits…

Does anyone have a good idea of what the real current draw will be for these (when running or ON, obviously)? The circuitbreaker is presumably a slow-blow design, so probably start-up peak currents aren’t the issue. But I don’t want to be tripping the circuit breaker constantly. I suppose I could change out the circuitbreaker for a somewhat higher amperage one, but I also want to stay within the current ratings for the wiring, as well.

The fridge is a 25 cu. ft. French Door unit, with a very good Energy Star rating (479 kWh per year). I don’t have any real info on the warming drawer, other than the fact that it is powered from 120Vac, and is designed/intended to keep foods warm after cooking (primarily), although it also says that meats can be slow-roasted in it (which implies to me that it can get at least a bit above 200 degrees inside, on the high setting, or maybe even 250). But it’s not an oven. (Pull-out drawer, 30" wide, 9" tall.) I didn’t see any other real specs for it, though…

Obviously the "right" thing to do is to bring in another circuit to the warming drawer location. But for a variety of reasons this won’t be easy, and so I’m hoping I can just put it onto a nearby existing circuit.

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— Begin quote from rschleicher;799453

…Does anyone have a good idea of what the real current draw will be for these (when running or ON, obviously)?..

— End quote

Hello,

It should be written on the name plates of the appliances.

Gene.

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Thanks, Gene. I won’t actually have the appliances for a couple of weeks yet. But in the meantime, I’ll see what my existing 26 cu. ft. Whirlpool refrigerator says on its name plate (given that it’s not that old, and that Jenn-Air fridges are basically gussied-up Whirlpool/Kitchenaid models, it’s probably fairly comparable).

The existing circuit that the refrigerator is on seems to have a 20A breaker, and I have other 120V circuits in the kitchen area that seem to be on 30A breakers, so I may be in good shape.

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There are additional reasons why a fridge should be on a separate line.

  1. If the current draw is high then this can lower the voltage on the line.
    Fridge compressors do not run well at lower voltages and it can reduce the compressors life.

  2. When other appliances turn off/on they can cause a voltage spike on the line. These spikes can blow the electronics in the fridge. So if you do run both appliances off one line I would get a 1,000 joule surge protector. It plugs into the wall receptacle and then you plug the fridge into it.