How can I prevent my window A/C unit from tripping the circuit?

electric — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:51:40 +0000

I live on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a row house that was built in the 1800s and rennovated about 10-15 years ago. Last night I put a window a/c unit (provided by the landlord) in a 2nd floor window, but every time I turned it on it would trip the circuit breaker for the whole 2nd floor after running for only 10 minutes. The only other things running on the circuit were: 1 fridge, 1 light (halogen torchere lamp), and 1 tv. I don’t know the power rating or amps off the top of my head, but the unit is probably at least 10 years old. I had the a/c unit plugged into a surge protector, but it always tripped at the circuit breaker and not at the surge protector. Is there anything I can do to prevent the a/c from overloading the circuit, short of calling an electrician? It seems a little ridiculous to me that the circuit can’t handle 4 appliances – am I missing some important part of the equation?
How do I get a dedicated circuit for the a/c? It seems to me that the entire 2nd floor is on one circuit (although I know next to nothing about circuits, so I could be very wrong). If the entire 2nd floor IS on one circuit, the only way to get the a/c and frige on separate circuits would be to unplug the fridge whenever I want to turn on the a/c – which isn’t exactly practical. Do I need to get an electrician in to install another circuit?

The One With Electric, Car Window Repair Pt 2

electric — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:04:47 +0000

Part 1 Bmw E39 Rear Electric Window Repair

electric — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:47:27 +0000

How To Become An Electrician » Window

How can I prevent my window A/C unit from tripping the circuit?

The One With Electric, Car Window Repair Pt 2

Part 1 Bmw E39 Rear Electric Window Repair