Why Should My Appliances Be on a Dedicated Circuit?

Large appliances often need dedicated circuits to avoid "tripping" circuit breakers.

Dedicated circuits help appliances function without interruption. More importantly, they can reduce the risk of electrical fires associated with overloaded circuits. The more large appliances and electronic devices you hook up to your electrical service, the more you're likely to need some dedicated circuitry.

Home Circuitry

Electricity enters your home through a circuit breaker box, which is sometimes called a fuse box. The breaker box contains separate circuits that send electricity to different parts of your home. A dedicated circuit within the circuit box feeds electricity to just one appliance or device. Local building codes may require that certain appliances have dedicated circuits. Dishwashers, clothes dryers, refrigerators and wall ovens are a few of the appliances that typically need separate circuits.

Overloading Circuits

Not having appropriate dedicated circuitry for appliances can be hazardous. A large appliance that shares a circuit with other devices could draw more electric current than the circuit can handle. As a result, the circuitry could overheat and melt the insulation surrounding the wires. Without intact insulation, the wires can't hold back currents that could make contact with flammable materials in the wall near the circuit box and start a fire.

Circuit Breakers

Circuit breakers are designed to sense when a circuit is drawing more electric current than it can handle. The breakers "trip" or shut down the flow of electricity before the circuit is overloaded to prevent damage to the wiring that could start a fire. An electrician may recommend installing dedicated circuits as a safety precaution when your home's breakers trip regularly, because that indicates an appliance or other device is consistently drawing too much current to one or more circuits.

Considerations

Remodeling kitchens and bathrooms often requires updating electrical wiring too, particularly if adding a new refrigerator, whirlpool tub and other large appliances is part of a remodeling project. The amount of new wiring and circuits required partly depends on how much current is needed to operate the new appliances. Nonetheless, an electrician probably will need to install dedicated circuits for large appliances, especially if you're remodeling an older home that no longer meets local building codes.

References

• Mr. Electric Corporation: Dedicated Circuits
• Spire Electric Inc.: Dedicated Circuits for Special Appliances and Equipment