Does anyone know how many amps a frost-free upright freezer pulls? I want to buy, or fabricate, a 10 foot extension cord for a friend who is putting one in her garage. Would 12/3 be heavy enough? 14/3?

I asked a salesman in the appliance dept. at Home Depot and he couldn't find the data on his computer, nor in his books.

I ask.com and google searched with no luck.

I know someone out there knows!

Thanks in advance. DAG

First, most codes and I advise against using any extension cord especially on appliances. If you must, then I would go with a heavy duty cord, plug and receptacle. 12/3 and plug and receptacle rated for 20 amps.

ALL equipment must or should have a tag on it stating model number, serial number, voltage required and maximum operating amps. If you look for that tag, and in most refrigerators it is located on the inside down by the “Crisper Draws” but it’s there somewhere.

Now for why you would use 12/3 and 20 amp plug and receptacles. As you pull power through a cord, you have cord loss over a give size and number of feet. If you use 14/3 over a distance, you could have a voltage drop and this will increase amp draw as amps and voltage are tied together.

To clarify, I hope, if you were to pull 10 rated amps at 120 volts over a 25 foot cord, the voltage at the end could be as low as 100 volts. Volts times amps equals watts. 10 amps at 120 volts equals 1200 watts. 1200 watts divided by 100 volts equals 12 amps. Now these figures are not exact but are here just to give you and idea. Where does this voltage loss go? It is given off as heat along the cord.

Anybodies formula gives that, Heat + Oxygen + Fuel = Fire.

Walks On Water,

Thanks for the advice! I'll tell my friend. I doubt if she knows the rating of the garage recepticle. We'll have to check it out and re-think this.

Thanks, again! DAG