How Many Crock Pots Can You Put on A Circuit? (Based on FACTS!)
You’re hosting a big party and you want to keep it going all night long. You also have a ton of food. But, as soon as you plug in your 7th crock pot, the lights go out and everyone is left hungry.
So, how many crock pots can you put on a circuit?
This article will discuss that very topic.
How many crock pots can you put on a circuit?
You can usually put two or three crock pots on a circuit without problems. Based on the household circuits’ distribution, a single circuit can theoretically power up to six crock pots at the same time.
This can vary drastically depending on the type of circuit you have and the power drawing requirement of your slow cooker.
However, if you have a lot of other appliances running on the same circuit, you may want to limit yourself to just one crock pot.
Manually test your circuit breaker limit
This is a method that is recommended by professionals. However, it does seem to work according to many statements by users.
To find out how many crock pots your circuit can handle, start by plugging in one crock pot and turning it on to the low setting. Then, wait about 15 minutes and see if the breaker trips.
If it does, try unplugging some of the other appliances on the circuit and then try again. If the breaker still trips, you may need to get a new circuit installed.
What to do if the circuit breaker trips
If your breaker trips when you plug in your crock pot, don’t panic! Just unplug the pot and reset the breaker. Then, try again with just one or two pots plugged in at a time until you find a combination that doesn’t trip the breaker.
The number of crock pots that can be safely used on a circuit depends on the wattage of the crock pots and the amperage rating of the circuit breaker.
Most home circuits are rated for 15 or 20 amps, which means they can handle 1,800 to 2,400 watts. If your crock pots are all 200 watts or less, you can likely use four or five of them on one circuit.
If any of your crock pots are more than 200 watts, you’ll need to use fewer crock pots on that circuit or else risk tripping the breaker.
Finding out how many watts your crock pot uses
To find out how many watts your crock pot uses, look for the “watts” rating on the bottom or back of the pot.
This is usually listed as “W” next to a number (e.g., “200W”). Once you know the wattage of each pot, simply add up all the numbers to get your total wattage.
For example, if you have three 200-watt crock pots and two 100-watt crock pots, your total wattage would be 1,000 watts (3 x 200 + 2 x 100).
If you don’t have access to all your crock pots at the moment, you can also use the following formula to estimate your total wattage:
Total wattage = Number of crock pots x Average wattage of crock pots
For example, if you have four crock pots and you’re not sure of the exact wattage but you know that most crock pots are around 200 watts, you can use the following equation to estimate your total wattage:
4 x 200 watts = 800 watts
If your circuit breaker is rated for 15 or 20 amps, this means it can handle 1,800 to 2,400 watts. Therefore, in this example, you would be able to safely use four or five 200-watt crock pots on one circuit.
However, if any of your crock pots are more than 200 watts, you’ll need to use fewer Crockpots on that circuit or else risk tripping the breaker.
What are the consequences of putting too many crock pots on a circuit?
When you overload a circuit, it causes the circuit breaker to trip and shuts off the power.
This can be a major inconvenience, especially if you’re in the middle of cooking a meal or keeping several Crockpots warm during a party. Not to mention, it can also be dangerous.
Putting too many crock pots on a single circuit is also a fire hazard. If the circuit breaker trips, there’s always the potential for Sparks to occur. This could cause a fire.
Also when a circuit overloads, it creates heat. This heat can build up and cause wires to overheat and start a fire.
How can you prevent putting too many crock pots on a circuit?
To avoid overloading your circuits, make sure to spread out your appliances evenly. Don’t put all of your crock pots on one circuit.
You should only put as many crock pots on a circuit as the circuit can handle. You can find out how much power your circuits can handle by looking at your home’s electrical panel or using an easy formula we’ll discuss below.
Also, if you’re not familiar with how to use a circuit tester, ask an electrician or someone else who knows how to properly test circuits.
Don’t forget to unplug appliances when you’re not using them.
Putting too many crock pots on a circuit can cause the circuit to overload. This can happen if the crock pots are all turned on at the same time and they draw more power than the circuit can handle.
When this happens, the breaker will trip and the power to the entire house will go out. If this happens, you’ll need to reset the breaker before you can use the crock pots again.
This may seem like common sense, but it’s worth mentioning. If you have multiple crock pots, it’s recommended to only use one at a time.
But we know how parties are and we know how hungry people can get. Theoretically, five crock pots should be able to run at the same time so make sure you limit it to that much.
How much electricity does a crock pot use?
Crock pots work by heating up food slowly over a period of time. This allows the flavors to meld together and results in a more flavorful dish.
Crock pots use less energy than stovetop cooking because they don’t have to heat up as quickly.
Crock pots use between 75 (on low) and 210 (on high) watts of electricity, depending on the size, model, and length of time they stay on. A regular electric oven can draw up to 4,000 watts.
The average meal from a crock pot uses about 200 watts (sometimes less), which means it costs less than $0.02 per hour to operate. If you use your crock pot for 5 hours, it will cost you no more than $0.10 to run it.
How to save money using a Crock Pot
There are a few ways that you can save on the electricity that your crock pot uses:
Only use it when you need it
If you’re only cooking for one or two people, there’s no need to use a crock pot that’s big enough for a family meal. Choose a smaller model that will use less electricity.
Unplug it when you’re not using it
Even when your crock pot is turned off, it still uses a small amount of electricity just by being plugged in. So unplugging it when you’re not using it can help you save a few cents.
Use a crock pot liner
These liners help to insulate the pot and prevent heat from escaping. This means that your crock pot will use less electricity to maintain the same temperature, and will cook your food more efficiently.
Start with hot water
Another way to save is to pre-heat your crock pot with hot water from the tap before adding your ingredients. This will help reduce the overall cooking time.
How many crock pots can you plug into 15- and 20-amp circuits?
Crock pots do not draw a ton of power when they are being used. A crock pot uses about 2 amps of power when it is in use and when it is heating and warming the food.
When a crock pot is not in use and is just warming it is only going to use about 0.6 amps.
This means that you can plug in about 5 crock pots conservatively into a 15 amp circuit. You can plug about 7 into a 20 amp service.
You do need to make sure you pay attention to them and ensure that they are not going to overload the circuit or potentially start a fire.
What size inverter is needed for multiple crock pots?
If you only have one crock pot, then you will need a small inverter. However, if you have multiple crock pots, then you will need a larger inverter.
The number of crock pots that you can use on a circuit will also depend on the wattage of each crock pot.
Slow cookers and crock pots consume an average of fewer than 200 watts.
The size of the inverter that you’ll need should be larger than this to accommodate one or even multiple plug-in crock pots, including other kitchen appliances.
Any inverter that is 1500 watts or more should be enough to handle 5 slow cookers at a time.
Can a crock pot be plugged into a car?
This is a tricky question. A car charging port only puts off about 80W of power. A crock pot uses about 250W.
This means that a car charging port is not likely going to be able to provide enough power to power your crock pot.
What will likely happen is that the crock pot will draw power off the socket and then the fuse will blow.
How many crock pots can I connect to a single power strip?
It is important that you pay attention to what size crock pot you are using and how large the circuit is.
If you have a 15 amp service and a power strip you can plug in about 5 crock pots but you do have to make sure you are paying attention to them and that you are not going to let them overheat.
You also need to make sure you are not leaving them plugged in too long and that the power strip is plugged into a large enough socket.
You can plug in about 7 to 20 amps of service if you have a power strip that has enough sockets for it.
How to determine how many crock pots can connect to a power strip
In order to determine how many crock pots you can plug into one power strip, you need to take a few things into consideration.
First, the size of the power strip. This means the number of outlets on the strip. It does not matter how many amps the strip is if it only has 2 outlets.
The second thing you need to consider is the amperage of the power strip. How many watts is it designed to pull at once safely? The average power strip can handle about 1800 watts at once.
This means that if you have a standard-size crock pot, it is going to pull around 250 watts when in use. 1800 divided by 250 is 7.2. This means that you can safely plug in 7 crock pots to a power strip without overloading it if there are 7 sockets in the power strip.
The last thing you need to consider is the amperage of the outlet you want to plug it into. You need to make sure that the outlet can handle the power draw as well as the strip.
Do crock pots need surge protectors?
A crock pot is designed with specific safety measures in place to help the heating element shut off and change power draws as it is in use.
This means that it can shut off if it gets overheated on its own and will not burn your house down.
A crock pot should not be plugged into a surge protector for long periods of time or if you are going to be leaving the house with it still operating.
Power strips can overheat, they can cause sparks and fire, and the fact that a crock pot generally stays on for a very long period of time can make it dangerous for a crock pot to be plugged into a surge protector.
Other interesting articles:
