Electrical requirements for large home mixer?

[Matthew Kirshner]

Hi All,

 

  I was not sure if this would be the appropriate forum for this question(if not i am really sorry) but if i were to upgrade my home mixer to a 10qt mixer or even an 8qt mixer is it possible without calling an electrician to my home to rewire my own?  From what i gathered from the specs on the mixers i was looking at from webstaurantstore, 110v ranging from 400-600wts.  I will not be installing anything else in the outlet where i will be plugging in. 

 

If anyone could help me with any info or if anyone has installed a mixer for their home like the ones i am thinking of purchasing and has advise.

 

Thank You,

 

Matt

[palo]

Standard kitchen outlet here in Canada is 110v/20 amps/1800 watts.

 

110v/600 watts is well within reason.

 

That being said, I'm not an electrician nor familar with electrical codes in your area. Safety should always be a main concern. Bad electrical wiring/installation never look bad until something goes wrong.

 

p

[Darienne]

I have a 7-quart mixer, in Ontario, Canada, with no special wiring.

[btbyrd]

You don't need special wiring. Mixers don't draw very much current. My blender and immersion circulator each draw twice as much power (or more) as the mixers you listed. Even the big, 30qt floor-standing mixers seldom draw more than 1200W (which would still leave you with plenty of extra power left in that circuit). If you order anything from Webstaurant for your household, they always show you a disclaimer that the items they sell are meant for commercial use and may be louder or more powerful or have special power/ventilation requirements relative to typical household products. They do that for EVERYTHING, even if you're just ordering a bunch of Cambro containers. Don't let it freak you out. Find a mixer you like and go with it.

[gulfporter]

I've had a large KitchenAid for many years in 3 different houses, never an electrical issue.  One house was built in 1911 with an electrical upgrade in the 1950's....and still no issues with the big mixer.  

[dcarch]

You don't need special wiring. ---------------------

 

 

That is true. However, many mixers are not electrically grounded, double insulated may be, I like to used that with a GFP electric outlet near the sink, or near a stainless steel work counter.

 

dcarch

[btbyrd]

That is true. However, many mixers are not electrically grounded, double insulated may be, I like to used that with a GFP electric outlet near the sink, or near a stainless steel work counter.

 

 

All of the 5-20qt mixers for sale at Websturant have grounded electrical connections.

[palo]

Interesting GFP means Ground Fault Protector, whereas my part of Canada uses GFI, Ground Fault Interrupter. Same thing just different names.

 

p

[Matthew Kirshner]

Thank You everyone for the insight.  Where i do my work(BTW, I'm located in Connecticut) i am in my basement where i i do have three separate outlets.  I was always concern about the output of the machines.  There are a few mixers on Webstaurant that mention the footage of wiring with a orange cord.  They explain on the site its to show the inspectors its not a household machine.  Any reason for the length and coloring?

[palo]

Again in my neck of the woods, white is 110v/15amp 14 guage, yellow is 110v/20amp 12 guage and red is 110v/20 amp 12 guage. Not sure about orange unless it's for 220v

 

p

Edited April 8, 2015 by palo (log)

[andiesenji]

It's not just that one outlet but how many outlets on that circuit and what is plugged into them.

Most circuits for "normal" usage are 15 amp.

In my kitchen I have three 20 amp and two 30 amp circuits for the heavy load appliances, including the countertop 1/2 sheet oven, my big mixer, big meat grinder.

Prior to this upgrade I often had tripped breakers.

[rotuts]

""  It's not just that one outlet but how many outlets on that circuit and what is plugged into them. ""

 

this is the key.   I have 6 outlets in my kitchen

 

but they all come off one 20 amp circuit

 

and the kitchen was remodeled in the 70's

 

not by anyone who knew what they were doing.

 

Ive planned  an upgrade but have been too slothful to get it going.

[btbyrd]

All this discussion is beside the point. The OP is looking at models that draw between 400W and 600W on a normal household connection. If power is his main worry, he should be more concerned about buying a consumer-grade microwave or toaster than a commercial mixer. The orange cord on some of the commercial mixers is simply to signal to inspectors that the device is NSF certified and is suitable for commercial use. It's the same cord, just a different color. They mostly do this for Kitchenaid models because they look basically identical to home mixers.

[palo]

Consumer grade kettles will draw 1500 watts.

 

Hats off to Andiesenji and rotuts who pointed out that it's the number of outlets on a circuit and the power draw of the total (they explained it better). I failed to point this out in my explanations.

 

p

[dcarch]

You can't tell the wattage of a mixer very well. The name plate wattage may not be the actual wattage it draws. It depends on what you are mixing.

 

There is only one way to tell, that is if you connect it to a watt meter.

 

BTW, it is perfectly legal to have more outlets on a line than the rating of total connected load, depending on your local Code.

 

 

dcarch