(03-17-2019, 05:53 PM)KC Wrote: Older house? I thought current code called for the fridge to be on a dedicated circuit?
AFAIK, unless something has changed recently (I don't really keep up any more), the refrigerator is permitted to be on its own 15A or 20A circuit [210.52(b)(1) exception 2], or be on one of the two or more 20A small appliance branch circuits (SABC) which by definition serve the kitchen counter tops and all wall receptacles in the kitchen, pantry, breakfast room, and dining room.
Years ago, the code specifically called for the refrigerator to be on one of the two or more SABCs [1990 NEC], and in later years that was 'relaxed' to allow it on one of the two or more SABCs
or on it's own circuit. The fridge on its own circuit is, of course, more conservative, but the code was oddly written to sound like the fridge
had to be on one of those two. Back then, outdoor receptacles were also permitted to be on a SABC, and usually were, presumably because those were both required to be 20A.
In every house I've owned I've rewired to put the fridge on its own circuit. Had a bad experience in my first house where someone extended the SABC to power a ton of recessed lights in an expanded family room, with 150W bulbs in them yet, and someone ran the vacuum cleaner, blew the breaker, and didn't reset it. By the time I got home, stuff was dripping out of the freezer. Kitchen remodel that soon followed, in large part to correct a lot of really poor work*, was the opportunity to put things right, which of course I did.
But to the best of my knowledge, it's not longer
required to be on a SABC, though that's still allowed, but can be on its own 15A or 20A circuit, dedicated to that equipment only. I use a single receptacle in case someone else down the road is tempted to plug a microwave in behind the fridge (which I've actually seen), though there's no need if the spacing (no more than 24" from the end of the counter or sink, and no more than 48" between them, on counters more than 12" wide) is adhered to. Which many old kitchens don't, but if redoing a kitchen, they should.
*Cleanout hole drilled in a vent line behind a base cabinet with duck tape over it that leaked all over the room when the drain line clogged and came out from under the tape, for instance.