Electrician recommendation

[JerryLBell]

We're moving to our house in TV soon (yay!) and plan on putting a freezer and a refrigerator in the garage. We need to have an electrician check to see that the circuit for the outlet there can take that load and possibly replace the 2-outlet box with a 4-outlet box. Can anybody recommend an electrician for a small job like that who works at the south end (village of Dunedin)?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies!

[villagetinker]

Quick reply, no to putting both on the same circuit. My humble suggestion, a dedicated circuit for each. I have used Lenhart's, ECI, and R&A for various reasons, and would recommend in that order.

Also, you may want to reconsider having these in the garage, especially during the summer. Please do a little more investigating before you do this. If you have a west facing garage, it will be getting very hot in the summer time which is going to be very hard for these appliances to work well. If the garage is not vented, you are just going add even more heat to it.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your project.

Welcome to TV.

[photo1902]

We're moving to our house in TV soon (yay!) and plan on putting a freezer and a refrigerator in the garage. We need to have an electrician check to see that the circuit for the outlet there can take that load and possibly replace the 2-outlet box with a 4-outlet box. Can anybody recommend an electrician for a small job like that who works at the south end (village of Dunedin)?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies!

Cliff @ Pike's Electric 352-748-6251 or Kevin at Lenhart Electric -352-748-5818. Both do excellent work. They'll add another circuit for you. Plenty of people have a spare fridge in the garage, and they are definitely convenient.

[Waverunner]

We have used Lenhart's five or six times and have been pleased with every project they have done for us.

Here is a trick we learned from a neighbor that we would like to pass on. Code requires that outlets in the garage be wired GFCI. This means that the Ground Fault circuit can trip and you may not even notice that electricity is off. Food in the refrigerator/freezer can spoil. The recommendation we got from our neighbor was to place a small electric fan on top of the refrigerator that uses the same outlet and leave it on 24/7. If the fan goes off, you will know that the refrigerator circuit has tripped. Perhaps in time to save your food.

We also put a $5 refrigerator thermometer on the shelf as well. This helps to know, in a power failure, what the temperature is when you open the door, and if food can be kept or needs to be thrown out.

[villagetinker]

There are also monitors that can indicate a power failure, plug into the same outlet as the refrigerator and freezer. Do not use one that has a wire that goes past the door seal, you typically get enough air leakage to cause other problems.

[JerryLBell]

Thanks for the recommendations and ideas! I currently have a freezer in my garage in my house in North Carolina, which isn't quite as warm or humid as Florida, but pretty close. It's just too handy and there's nowhere else in the house for it. The fridge (if I do that) will be the one which came with the house. The wife does NOT love it. She wants a French door with bottom pull-out freezer, not a side-by-side. Plus the ice maker seems to make about six cubes a day and the water dispenser can take minutes to fill even an 8 ounce tumbler. So I figure putting it in the garage to use for beer & sodas and the occasional watermelon. I hadn't thought about needing a separate circuit and I appreciate your pointing out the need for it!

[villagetinker]

Thanks for the recommendations and ideas! I currently have a freezer in my garage in my house in North Carolina, which isn't quite as warm or humid as Florida, but pretty close. It's just too handy and there's nowhere else in the house for it. The fridge (if I do that) will be the one which came with the house. The wife does NOT love it. She wants a French door with bottom pull-out freezer, not a side-by-side. Plus the ice maker seems to make about six cubes a day and the water dispenser can take minutes to fill even an 8 ounce tumbler. So I figure putting it in the garage to use for beer & sodas and the occasional watermelon. I hadn't thought about needing a separate circuit and I appreciate your pointing out the need for it!

Check the filter in the refrigerator to see if it is clogged, and make sure the water line is not kinked. I believe the valve is either open or closed, and cannot not be partially closed.
Hope this helps.

[RickeyD]

Being recently retired we find no need for extra refrigerator/freezer storage. Not to mention the space taken up and additional energy cost.

[ColdNoMore]

A refrigerator and/or freezer in the garage is just fine.

I've never heard of anyone (and most in my neighborhood, including myself, do it), as long as you do what you're talking about...and have the proper electrical circuits to handle the loads.

They are extremely convenient and allow purchases from places like Costco/Sam's to be split up and stored for later consumption. :thumbup:

[JerryLBell]

Yeah, we've purchased meat in bulk from Sam's Club, BJ's Warehouse or Costco for years. That's what the standup freezer is for. Well, that and other frozen foods on sale at various grocery stores. Having the second fridge out there would just be a convenience for beer & sodas and occasional overflow. Since we've got a 2 1/2 car garage and only one car, we've got the room. And it's either use the fridge we're replacing, donate it or throw it away. My wife really likes the idea of me putting watermelons in a second fridge instead of the main one.

[samhass]

I use Lenhart.

[duhbear]

Kevin at lenhart for sure!

[raynan]

Pikes. Reasonable prices and efficient.

[JerryLBell]

We went with Lenhart, who came on time, did the work for the quoted price and answered several unrelated questions in a helpful way. If I have electrical needs in the future, I'll be calling them again. Thanks again everyone for your helpful suggestions!

[Skip2MySue]

I've used The Light Pro's for various electrical projects. On time, fair pricing and neat. 352-804-1123
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