[carboy]

Originally Posted by ramki067

Hi,
This is a dumbass Q, but please pardon me.
Can refrigerators be connected to a normal 3-point plug and not an AEH plug? Will it work fine with normal 3-point plug?

Thanks,
Ramki

What is an AEH plug?

[alto99]

Originally Posted by ramki067

Hi,
This is a dumbass Q, but please pardon me.
Can refrigerators be connected to a normal 3-point plug and not an AEH plug? Will it work fine with normal 3-point plug?

Thanks,
Ramki

It works with normal 5 Amp 3-point plug. I dont know what a AEH plug is.

[ramki067]

Originally Posted by carboy

What is an AEH plug?

Carboy,
Sorry for the confusion. Its this DP switch.
http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgur...w=1280&bih=840

[vina]

Originally Posted by ramki067

Hi,
This is a dumbass Q, but please pardon me.
Can refrigerators be connected to a normal 3-point plug and not an AEH plug? Will it work fine with normal 3-point plug?

Thanks,
Ramki

I guess it'll depend on the refrigerator, but all the refrigerators I have had in past ten years work off normal 3-point plug.

Most refrigerators consume less than 1KVA while compressor is on (and almost nothing when it is off) so 3-point (5A) is more than adequate.

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by alto99

It works with normal 5 Amp 3-point plug. I dont know what a AEH plug is.

Originally Posted by ramki067

Carboy,
Sorry for the confusion. Its this DP switch.

He meant 15A/250 V socket! Like Type M mentioned in this link . In local terminology it is called AEH socket! Main difference is power it draws. If refrigerators power requirement is 15A, then you must plug it to such a socket! Otherwise you might have switch board melt in month or two! Usually appliance which needs 15A, also by law must have plug for same(they are usually very thick (Like microwave, steam iron box). These can't be plugged into normal socket. It should be mentioned on fridge box itself.

[alto99]

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

He meant 15A/250 V socket! Like Type M mentioned in this link . In local terminology it is called AEH socket! Main difference is power it draws. If refrigerators power requirement is 15A, then you must plug it to such a socket! Otherwise you might have switch board melt in month or two! Usually appliance which needs 15A, also by law must have plug for same(they are usually very thick (Like microwave, steam iron box). These can't be plugged into normal socket. It should be mentioned on fridge box itself.

Most of the india (star rated) refrigerators do not mention current/power ratings. For some, I accessed the manuals, it is not present in them as well.

The only brands mentioning current rating I saw was Panasonic (even the star rated ones) and for >400L range it was from 1.2A to 1.8A (dont remember exact figures).

Hitachi mentions power rating and it is in the range of 75W-175 W for its 3 door models. Defrosting heater and some other heater (I guess auto ice maker) power ratings are also seperately mentioned and I dont remember exactly but those too are in the 100-150W range.
I enquired with hitachi sales/service and there is no need of 15A for any of the 3 door range I was looking at. Even otherwise none of the sales people at croma/vijay sales never mentioned that 15A is a must for any of the refrigerators in 400L or below. I did not check all of the power plugs but whichever I checked had 5A plugs.

May be it is requried for higher capacity ones >600L ones.

[ramki067]

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

He meant 15A/250 V socket! Like Type M mentioned in this link . In local terminology it is called AEH socket! Main difference is power it draws. If refrigerators power requirement is 15A, then you must plug it to such a socket! Otherwise you might have switch board melt in month or two! Usually appliance which needs 15A, also by law must have plug for same(they are usually very thick (Like microwave, steam iron box). These can't be plugged into normal socket. It should be mentioned on fridge box itself.

Its this very model which i have.
Godrej Appliances -Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners

Does this need 15A socket?

[omishra]

Originally Posted by ramki067

Its this very model which i have.
Godrej Appliances -Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners

Does this need 15A socket?

It should work fine with normal 5A 3-pin socket if that refrigerator has equal size of plug. I have Samsung 288 liter refrigerator connected to extension of 5A socket. By experience I don't see any issue.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by omishra

It should work fine with normal 5A 3-pin socket if that refrigerator has equal size of plug. I have Samsung 288 liter refrigerator connected to extension of 5A socket. By experience I don't see any issue.

My 325 litre fridge also has a 5A plug.

Just check the plug of the fridge you are interested in - it shouldn't be difficult to tell if it's a 5A or 15A one.

[ramki067]

Originally Posted by omishra

It should work fine with normal 5A 3-pin socket if that refrigerator has equal size of plug. I have Samsung 288 liter refrigerator connected to extension of 5A socket. By experience I don't see any issue.

Originally Posted by carboy

My 325 litre fridge also has a 5A plug.

Just check the plug of the fridge you are interested in - it shouldn't be difficult to tell if it's a 5A or 15A one.

Thanks. Infact, the refrigerator has a 5A plug only. I bought the fridge around 3 years back but all these years we had connected it to a 15A plug as our earlier old refrigerator had connected to it!

Thanks,
Ramki

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by ramki067

Its this very model which i have.
Godrej Appliances -Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners

Does this need 15A socket?

No, It doesn't needs 15A, 3 phase socket! From BEE site your refrigerator needs 468 units/year = ~ 1.28 Units per day =~ 53 Watt/Hr! This equivalent of putting 60W bulb! 5A socket is just fine!

Also mentioned in my earlier mail, if electric equipment needs 15A, 3 phase socket, then it must have big, fat plug. You can't insert this into normal socket (even if you wish). Because each pins are thicker than normal socket hole!

I may be wrong, earlier home appliance were not energy efficient, needing you 15A plug. Now most will do without it (with some exception like MW, electric heater etc).

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

No, It doesn't needs 15A, 3 phase socket! From BEE site your refrigerator needs 468 units/year = ~ 1.28 Units per day =~ 53 Watt/Hr! This equivalent of putting 60W bulb! 5A socket is just fine!

Although i agree about a 5A socket being sufficient for Refrigirators, your logic is flawed. although it is 53 watt/hr, it is not equivalent to 50watts of power. All it means is that it consumes the same power as a 50 watt bulb for an hour.

What is better is to refer to the MAXIMUM wattage of the refrigirator, and make sure that the current rating is less than 5amps at MAX load.

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

What is better is to refer to the MAXIMUM wattage of the refrigirator, and make sure that the current rating is less than 5amps at MAX load.

You are correct Max wattage matters. But the appliance we are referring is Refrigerator. Also true that it energy consumption (in refrigerator) is not constant (like in bulb), still it won't cross 1K Watt at anytime (roughly equivalent of power supported by 5A plug). That the reason I told, 5A will do the task!

Lets us say above refrigerator has max wattage 1 Kw, then it only switches on for about 3 min in a hour!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

If refrigerators power requirement is 15A, then you must plug it to such a socket! Otherwise you might have switch board melt in month or two!

More likely to melt the socket --- and possibly even cause a fire.

I "proved" this with my garden Christmas lights. They drew only 7 amps, but I melted two five-amp sockets before realising they had to have a 15-amp socket.

Of course, this is a weakest-link-in-the-chain thing, and it is no good changing a 5 amp socket to 15 amp if the wire connecting it to the distribution board is not heavy enough to carry that current. It just moves the possible fire elsewhere.

[sgiitk]

I have been using 5A plugs and sockets for my refrigerators for ages - incl. a twin compressor model from Zanussi (subsidiary of Electrolux). I only use plugs with solid brass pins (Northwest-preferred or Crabtree). All switches and sockets in my house are MK or Northwest. I find the problems of arcing and heating are 95% from the plug top. When I used to use Anchor the pins were in two parts which screwed into each other. I have not bought Anchor for over a decade so cannot say for now.