[Pairadocs]

Have new upright freezer coming in another week. Had old one plugged into outlet in garage but.... the outlet was one that "trips" (??) at any lightening strike, or power interruption, and a red light comes on and no power until you manually push the light "off" and then the outlet will work again. Of course this created a nightmare for the freezer... unlike in the house, where things come back ON after a power interruption, this outlet will not. So, the questions are:

.Can a freezer be plugged into any outlet in the garage ?

. Can this outlet that "trips off" be changed to NOT do that ?

. Does a freezer need a special kind of outlet like a stove ? HD website "seems" to say refrigerators and freezers do NOT need any kind of special outlet ?

. 1 outlet in our garage has sprinkler system, one on ceiling has only door opener, and then there are three others, one of which is the one that has to be reset of power goes off, so we are looking for a better solution for the new freezer... don't want to loose everything again because we aren't here to reset the outlet if the power goes out !

[retiredguy123]

The best thing to do is to have an electrician install a separate circuit for the freezer. But, whatever you do, I wouldn't plug the freezer into a circuit that is protected by a GFCI device.

[Bill14564]

Up in MD we had freezers and refrigerators plugged into GFCI circuits with no problems. We've also had a refrigerator here on a GFCI for about six months and again, with no problems.

It's *possible* there was an issue with the old freezer that caused the GFCI to trip when the power came back on.

Since each of the outlet in the garage should be independent, and you said only one trips with lightning, you could try plugging into one of the others.

If it was me, I would:
1. Consider having an electrician check or replace the outlet that gave you problems
2. Give the new freezer a try on the existing outlet
3. Definitely talk to the electrician if it trips again

[Gpsma]

I cant give you any advice. Just curious, why would you buy a freezer as a retiree here. I understand, up north, most were raising kids, worked, maybe stores not close...and you had to have stuff on hand.

But why now? Stores are local and how much food do two people need to stock up on?

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Gpsma

I cant give you any advice. Just curious, why would you buy a freezer as a retiree here. I understand, up north, most were raising kids, worked, maybe stores not close...and you had to have stuff on hand.

But why now? Stores are local and how much food do two people need to stock up on?

For us:
- Summer corn cooked on the ear then cut off and frozen tastes much better than canned corn in the winter but this takes extra space
- Buying bulk meats then cutting at home and freezing in meal-sized servings saves a lot
- A couple of extra bags of ice for times when the ice maker can't keep up
- The outside freezer is opened less frequently so has fewer temperature changes and is not as prone to freezer burn


We are getting by with the freezer section of the garage refrigerator but we could grow out of that.

[n8xwb]

The problem (I believe) with plugging the freezer into a GFCI plug in the garage is that that circuit is protecting your outdoor outlets. It tripping may have nothing to do with lightning but everything to do with rain getting an outside outlet wet, or something plugged in outside wet! If you don't have an electric golf cart, that plug will work great for your freezer. If you have an electric cart, try using one of the GFCI circuits for the golf cart. If you don't have much else on the circuit, it should work fine and if it trips in a storm it's no big deal.

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Have new upright freezer coming in another week. Had old one plugged into outlet in garage but.... the outlet was one that "trips" (??) at any lightening strike, or power interruption, and a red light comes on and no power until you manually push the light "off" and then the outlet will work again. Of course this created a nightmare for the freezer... unlike in the house, where things come back ON after a power interruption, this outlet will not. So, the questions are:

.Can a freezer be plugged into any outlet in the garage ?

. Can this outlet that "trips off" be changed to NOT do that ?

. Does a freezer need a special kind of outlet like a stove ? HD website "seems" to say refrigerators and freezers do NOT need any kind of special outlet ?

. 1 outlet in our garage has sprinkler system, one on ceiling has only door opener, and then there are three others, one of which is the one that has to be reset of power goes off, so we are looking for a better solution for the new freezer... don't want to loose everything again because we aren't here to reset the outlet if the power goes out !

Our freezer is connected to the golf cart outlet. The freezer has warning lights if the freezer goes off. Food should stay good for four days. You could get a power outage of the whole house too.

[Garywt]

Can plug it anywhere but the gfi outlet might need to be replaced.

[thevillages2013]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Have new upright freezer coming in another week. Had old one plugged into outlet in garage but.... the outlet was one that "trips" (??) at any lightening strike, or power interruption, and a red light comes on and no power until you manually push the light "off" and then the outlet will work again. Of course this created a nightmare for the freezer... unlike in the house, where things come back ON after a power interruption, this outlet will not. So, the questions are:

.Can a freezer be plugged into any outlet in the garage ?

. Can this outlet that "trips off" be changed to NOT do that ?

. Does a freezer need a special kind of outlet like a stove ? HD website "seems" to say refrigerators and freezers do NOT need any kind of special outlet ?

. 1 outlet in our garage has sprinkler system, one on ceiling has only door opener, and then there are three others, one of which is the one that has to be reset of power goes off, so we are looking for a better solution for the new freezer... don't want to loose everything again because we aren't here to reset the outlet if the power goes out !

If you want to ensure the freezer stays on while you are away then you need to get an electrician to install a dedicated outlet for the freezer.

[worahm]

GFI outlets have a life expectency of about 5 years. If the outlet your freezer is plugged into is wired as an extension from another GFI outlet, the extension can be wired to bypass the GFI funtion. You are sort of in a catch 22 situation. The electrical code calls for garage outlet to be GFI. Plugging a freezer into a GFI is risky especially if the GFI has extensions to an outside outlet. There are GFI outlets that are designed for better performance outside.

[nn0wheremann]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Have new upright freezer coming in another week. Had old one plugged into outlet in garage but.... the outlet was one that "trips" (??) at any lightening strike, or power interruption, and a red light comes on and no power until you manually push the light "off" and then the outlet will work again. Of course this created a nightmare for the freezer... unlike in the house, where things come back ON after a power interruption, this outlet will not. So, the questions are:

.Can a freezer be plugged into any outlet in the garage ?

. Can this outlet that "trips off" be changed to NOT do that ?

. Does a freezer need a special kind of outlet like a stove ? HD website "seems" to say refrigerators and freezers do NOT need any kind of special outlet ?

. 1 outlet in our garage has sprinkler system, one on ceiling has only door opener, and then there are three others, one of which is the one that has to be reset of power goes off, so we are looking for a better solution for the new freezer... don't want to loose everything again because we aren't here to reset the outlet if the power goes out !

All the garage outlets run on a single circuit. The first outlet on the circuit has a GFCI. If it is tripping too often then replace that outlet and see if your problem is solved. If not, call a qualified electrician to diagnose the problem and fix it. Good luck, and be careful.

[jack.hunter00@yahoo.com]

Call a electrician.

[JoeBell100]

Had the same problem and lost about $500 worth of frozen food since we were away when the power was lost and the GFI never came back on.
I contacted an electrician who installed a separate line in my previous house.
When coming to the Villages I had a separate line installed when constructing the house.
Worth the cost for piece of mind and not having the loss of food which will need to be replaced.
Could never really get the bad oder out of the freezer regardless of how many times it was cleaned.

[skip0358]

My freezer is in the garage since 2009 when we moved here. Had an electrician come and run a dedicated 20 amp line dedicated to the freezer only. No problems what so ever.

[Flgagg]

I don’t know about the breaker issue but I have a suggestion for the odor, JoeBell100. Growing up and when I was married, we always had an upright freezer and we moved it all over the world. To prevent from getting and/or removing the odor, hang a large sock full of coffee (not use coffee grounds) in the freezer. Amazing.