Energy cost for chest freezer

Energy Savings: Energy cost for chest freezer

Electrical Energy-savings Question:
We want to buy a chest freezer, no bigger than 7.0 cubic feet. (Hopefully, Energy Star compliant, but that depends if we can afford it.) We wanted to put the freezer in a storage area found between our garage and dining room. It doesn't have central air or heat going to it, but it doesn't ever get as hot or cold as the garage (probably due to insulation.) There is one outlet in the storage area, but it is not on a dedicated circuit. In fact, the circuit it is on carries the garage door opener (1/2 h.p., 120V/5amp, 60hz), the dining room light (uses 2 60-75 watt

light bulbs and is on a dimmer switch), and two other regular outlets which are occasionally used to plug in the cell phone charger. I am not sure what wattage a freezer would use, but I am assuming about at most 800-900 (surge) watts when the compressor turns on. The circuit breaker is 120V/20 amps. Would this overload the circuit? We looked into getting a dedicated circuit, but that would make the cost of obtaining a new freezer prohibitive for us. Thank you for you help!
Lori.

Hi Lori - Great Question!
First of all I would very strongly advise you to try to get an Energy Star Compliant freezer, or at least pay very close attention to the Yellow Energy Guide

Some freezers may say that they will only consume $25 of power per year. On the other hand you may find yourself with a real energy pig like a friend of mine who was given a freezer that cost him over $300 per month to operate (wow what a deal?) If you find yourself a low consuming freezer then it looks like the circuit you are describing will work, the 20 amp circuit has 2400 potential watts available. It is common to find a freezer in a garage on a shared circuit, rarely do they require a dedicated circuit. Lori - I really hope this helps.
Dave Rongey, Licensed Electrical Contractor