Reasons why it is important for your air conditioning unit to have its own assigned circuit breaker, and where to find various universal breakers on Amazon.
When considering purchasing an air conditioner, particularly a larger one, you need to prepare to have a dedicated circuit breaker installed just for your unit. This is because larger air conditioners need their own circuit breakers in order to not disrupt your home’s main circuit breaker.
On account of the large amounts of electricity your air conditioner will need to consume to be able to function properly, not installing a separate circuit breaker for your large air conditioner will result in your homes main breaker not being able to withstand the amount of voltage your air conditioner needs, which will most likely trip your main circuit breaker.
Which air conditioners need their own dedicated circuit breakers and why?
It is good to establish whether an air conditioner will need its own circuit breaker before purchasing one or even plugging it in. A good way of determining this is by noting that air conditioning units that come with a British Thermal Unit (BTU) of over 15 000 will definitely need a dedicated circuit breaker of a specific number of volts. With this, they will be able to withstand and possibly surpass that which your air conditioner will need to function properly.
In some cases, some air conditioners will have a non-standard plug; this will be a sign that an air conditioner will certainly need its own dedicated circuit breaker. It is good to note that some circuit breakers can be directly installed into the wiring of your home, while other homes will come with an already dedicated 220-volt plug for an air conditioning unit to be connected to it.
If a large air conditioning unit is connected to a standard circuit breaker outlet, you will need to prepare for a high possibility of your standard breaker tripping during the start-up of your air conditioner.
Regardless of whether you can plug your larger air conditioner into your standard circuit breaker, the more your air conditioner is used, the more likely this will result in extensive damage to your air conditioner of your actual breaker. It is therefore important to purchase the proper dedicated circuit breaker.
How to check if you have a dedicated circuit breaker, as well as breakers available on Amazon
In order to establish whether or not you have a dedicated circuit breaker, you will need to check your breaker panel. If a dedicated circuit breaker is already installed in your home and was labelled properly, the breaker will either be labelled as “air conditioner” or “AC.”
If you find that there have been no panels that have been labelled, you will need to check the outlets that some appliances are plugged into. Moreover, if you should find that they are not standard 120-volt receptacles, then they may be connected on a dedicated circuit breaker.
Oaonan GFCI Circuit Interrupter
One can purchase an Oaonan GFCI Circuit Interrupter from Amazon. Not only can it offer protection for your air conditioner, but it can also protect other appliances, such as your pool pump and others.
Aneken GFCI Circuit Interrupter
The Aneken GFCI Circuit Interrupter is another option available on Amazon, also offering universal protection of various appliances.
RKURCK Thermal Circuit Breaker
The RKURCK Thermal Circuit Breaker is available in sizes 5A, 10A, 15A, 20A, 25A, and 30A, comes in a two pack, and offers universal appliance protection.
What is the purpose of a dedicated circuit breaker?
A dedicated circuit breaker is labelled for specific appliances like air conditioning and heating systems, amongst others. These appliances will have a considerably large electrical consumption, which is why connecting them to dedicated circuit breakers helps to ensure that they have enough power to be able to operate safely and to avoid them experiencing any electrical issues that might hinder their performance and efficiency.
It is therefore safe to say that in order to have an air conditioner that will not incur any technical or electrical faults, one has to be sure that they have a dedicated circuit breaker installed to connect your air conditioner to.
This will give you the peace of mind you need to be able to enjoy the benefits of your air conditioning unit without the worry of electrical trips whenever you need to operate your air cooling unit for warmer days.