The correct answer is to run a new circuit to the fridge, it should be on it’s own breaker. Also, the outlet doesn’t NEED to be in the wall, you could suface mount it behind the fridge in a shallow box, avoiding the exterior insulated wall altogether. You would sleeve the romex in conduit from floor to box to protect the wiring. The box only needs to be inches off the floor anyway.
The dedicated appliance circuit does not need GFCI protection per NEC 210.8.
This outlet will likely be more than 6 feet from the sink and will not be readily accessible to boot (additional requirements of GFCI locations).
If a new cricuit is untenable, then you could remove the GFCI breaker from the panel (replace with normal breaker) and install GFCI receptacles at the counter top locations (or location, depending on line/load configuration). Leaving the Fridge as the first receptacle on the circuit…Not sure how the house is wired…this may not work.
Not only can I not imagine what kind of food that will keep in the fridge for weeks on end is worth dealing with this, I also can’t imagine a fridge that’s unopened for weeks on end without growing mold.
Appliances and electical systems aren’t designed to be left running unattended for that length of time. They just aren’t. If he’s going more than two or three weeks between visits he should clean out, unplug, and prop open the fridge. Any attempt to avoid this fundamental problem that arises from physical facts about the universe and social facts about how homes and products are engineered is going to fail at some stage of the process.
The “food” is probably beer. And only beer. Which you want to be cold when you arrive.
I can’t imagine a fridge that does grow mold while left closed and operating. Are you routinely scraping mold off the walls of your daily-use fridge to prevent it from accumulating?
You need to work on your imagination. Granted, you don’t keep fresh fruits and vegetables for weeks in a fridge, but condiments, cheese, butter, eggs, and sealed beverages do just fine, as do frozen foods. Fridges also don’t get automatically disgusting after a few weeks, at least modern fridges don’t.
We’ve been doing it for years and outside of the occasional science experiment (that can just as easily happen at home) it’s been smooth sailing.
Yeah. Add me to the list of people who simply cannot agree with any of this.
We have “food” in our refrigerator that’s been there for more than a year. It’s perfectly fine and our fridge is opened and closed every day – harder on both the appliance and the contents than one that sits idle, unattended, and closed for weeks.
Beside, I know a fair number of people with second homes, all of whom leave the staples, but not the perishables (stuff bought on the outer edges of the grocery store) for weeks or months at a time with no spoilage and no mold.
The same was true of my RV that lived, plugged in, next to my home.
It’s part of the gig of owning a second home. You buy perishables as you near the house on each visit and toss them as your last official act when the vacation ends.
It’s also not harder on the appliance than the daily use of most occupants of a primary resident who open and close the refrigerator numerous times each day.
If it were me, I might put a fair number of full water bottles IN the fridge when I closed up to go home, and then remove them on my next visit to the vacation home. More thermal mass means more constant fridge temps and less cycling of the compressor. It’ll run cheaper that way, too. Probably even reduce the risks (to the fridge contents) of a short-term power failure.
This is my point. We’re not talking about saving $300 a month worth of fresh food here. Ketchup and salad dressing are cheap. How can it possibly be worth the time, money, effort, and risk to start redoing the electrical wiring as opposed to just spending $10 on new condiments every time you go to the cabin?
The electric system is broken. It was not designed properly, the owner of the cabin can either fix the system or not, but there is never anything wrong with having a system that works the way it’s supposed to.
Granted, rereading the OP, our owner visits infrequently, so a rigorous closing down that includes emptying the refrigerator is not entirely out of order. But fixing the electric is better, especially if it can be done reasonably with one new breaker and a GFCI outlet.
His condiments and such are of little concern to me (although I am enjoying the discussions). I am most interested in getting it so that things work properly electrically and I wish to thank ALL contributors to date.
We have had a trailer caravan for many years and the fridge is only turned off when we park it up for the winter,
The fridge gets emptied and cleaned with a solution of bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO₃.) and the door is propped open. From Easter to Autumn, it is left on and only perishable food is removed.