Customer Questions and Answers for Refrigerator Defrost Heater by Whirlpool

Hello Gary, The recommendation is for the refrigerator to be on a 15 or 20 amp breaker. The manufacturer doesn't mention a GFI because the GFI was designed for outlets near a water source so if you drop a hair dryer or a blender in a sink it will protect you from electric shock. The GFI will normally kill more than one receptacle when it trips, so you can never use a coffee maker or similar item if the refrigerator might kick on the compressor or go into defrost. The refrigerators' installation instructions recommend a breaker that is 15 or 20 amps. This means that your GFI is too small to handle the load. I would eliminate the GFI from the circuit that is running the refrigerator as it is not even designed for that purpose.