What size wire for a deep freezer point in Pakistan?

PILONE CABLES TECHNICAL TEAM

2.5 mm² copper — 7/.029 — 3 core, on its own 16 A MCB. Not on a lighting circuit.

A domestic deep freezer runs at 100–300 W, which is 0.5–1.4 A at 220 V. The running current is small and the size is not chosen for it. The point is a 13 A socket outlet, and a socket outlet is wired for the breaker that protects it, not for the one appliance you have in mind today.

The circuit sheet for one deep freezer

For a deep freezer in Pakistan the point is 2.5 mm² copper, three core with the earth, on a dedicated 16 A MCB feeding an unswitched socket: the cabinet draws 0.5–1.4 A at 220 V against the 27 A it carries clipped direct at 30 °C, and the reason for all that headroom is the breaker rather than the freezer. Read the wattage off your own rating plate — shop cabinets run well above the domestic band.

Circuit sheet for one domestic deep freezer, 220 V single phase. Wattage is a typical band — read your own rating plate. Margin is the cable's capacity less the 16 A MCB rating, before derating. Capacity per BS 7671 reference method C (clipped direct), 30 °C ambient; conductor data per IEC 60228. Verify sizing with a licensed electrician.
Parameter	Value
Appliance	Deep freezer, upright or chest, domestic
Power, typical (running)	100–300 W
Running current at 220 V	0.5–1.4 A
Start surge	LRA on the plate — rule of thumb, 2–3× running
Duty	Continuous, 24 hours
Outlet	13 A socket, unswitched
Breaker	16 A MCB, its own way
Cable	2.5 mm² copper (7/.029)
Cores	3 core — live, neutral, earth
Capacity and margin	27 A, so +11 A over the MCB

Why the breaker sets the size, not the freezer

Take the biggest domestic cabinet in the band, 300 W: 300 ÷ 220 = 1.4 A. Over a 20 m run in 2.5 mm² the cable loses 18 × 1.4 × 20 ÷ 1000 = 0.50 V; in 1.5 mm² it would lose 29 × 1.4 × 20 ÷ 1000 = 0.81 V. Both are nothing against a 220 V supply, and on those two figures alone 1.5 mm² looks like plenty.

It is not, and this is the sentence the thin appliance charts leave out: the cable is not protecting the freezer, the breaker is protecting the cable. A 13 A socket sits on a 16 A MCB, and a fault at the socket — or the second appliance somebody plugs in next winter — can put the full breaker current down that wire before it moves. 1 mm² is rated 10 A and 1.5 mm² is 19.5 A, both before derating; only the 2.5 at 27 A keeps a real margin once conduit and a Pakistani summer have taken their share. Size the cable to its protection, never to the appliance. That is the whole difference between this page and our refrigerator and freezer wire size guide, which answers 1.5 mm²: that guide sizes a dedicated cold-appliance point on a 10 A MCB, while this one sizes a 13 A socket outlet on a 16 A way — same cabinet, bigger breaker, bigger cable.

This is a continuous load holding food, so it wants a working earth, an unswitched socket nobody can knock off, and its own way at the board. Derate for conduit, grouping and ambient above 30 °C using the correction factors in BS 7671. Have a licensed electrician confirm the cable and the breaker for your installation, or start with the cable size calculator.

The cable for this job

Take the three-core version so the earth is 2.5 mm² as well: 2.5mm 3 core flexible cable for a sheathed run to the socket, or 2.5mm single core copper (7/.029) where singles are pulled through conduit. Either way the freezer point is 2.5 mm², three core, and that is the cable to order for this job. Aside on the card below: the 1.5mm flexible is the size for the light and fan points on the same board, not for a 16 A socket way.

Flexible cable with the black outer sheath stripped back, showing a black and a red insulated core and the fine copper strands inside each

1.5MM² · CLASS 5 FLEX · CU

1.5mm Flexible Copper Cable

Class 5 flexible copper, 30/0.25 strands, PVC insulated and sheathed, drawn on the Pilone line in Lahore. Rated 19.5 A clipped direct at 30 °C — the size for fan, light and appliance-lead work rather than a 16 A socket way.

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Frequently asked

Deep freezer ke liye kitne mm ka wire chahiye?

2.5 mm² copper — trade code 7/.029 — 3 core, apne alag 16 A MCB par. Freezer khud sirf 0.5–1.4 A leta hai, magar wire ka size socket ke breaker se tay hota hai, appliance se nahi. 13 A ka socket 16 A MCB par hota hai, aur us breaker ke upar sirf 2.5 mm² ka margin bachta hai.

Is 1.5mm wire enough for a deep freezer?

For the freezer's own 1.4 A, easily. For the socket way it sits on, no. 1.5 mm² is rated 19.5 A clipped direct at 30 °C, and once conduit and summer ambient are applied that falls close to the breaker protecting it. The 2.5 starts at 27 A and keeps a working margin after derating.

Should the deep freezer have its own MCB?

Yes, mainly for availability. On its own way, nothing else on the board can trip the freezer off, and a fault in the freezer does not take the kitchen with it. Use an unswitched socket, or a switch out of casual reach, so nobody turns it off to charge a phone and finds the food thawed two days later.

Why does my deep freezer trip the breaker when it starts?

The compressor's inrush. Running current is around a single amp, but the locked-rotor current at switch-on is several times that for a fraction of a second — the LRA on the plate is the real figure. A thicker cable does not fix it; the circuit and the breaker curve do. Have a licensed electrician check the way and the curve.

Wiring a dedicated freezer circuit?

We draw the copper in Lahore and sell it at the day's rate — no dealer margin. Tell us the metres and your city: Punjab in 1–2 days, rest of Pakistan in 2–4.

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