Interlock Kit for Your Refrigerator and Freezer
Last verified: September 2026
How to keep your food — and your grocery money — safe when the power's out: bringing your kitchen back through your own panel, keeping food cold, and knowing when to keep it or toss it. Questions? (330) 200-8042.
Fridge and Freezer, at a Glance
An interlock kit lets you bring your kitchen back during an outage by switching on its circuit at your own panel — no separate box to learn. Keep the doors closed and a fridge and full freezer hold cold a good while on their own. Each has a compressor that surges, so bring them up one at a time, and because they coast you can cycle power between them. When food's in question, when in doubt, throw it out. There's a printable 29-page version up top.
Common Questions
1 How does an interlock power my fridge and freezer?
It brings your whole panel onto generator power, so you switch on the kitchen or freezer circuit with your regular breakers. It's not automatic — you do the steps by hand, in order.
2 How long will my food stay safe without power?
A closed fridge and a full freezer hold cold for a good while. The food-safety agencies give clear timelines — keep the doors shut, use a thermometer, and when in doubt, throw it out.
3 Do I have to start the fridge and freezer one at a time?
It's best to. Each has a compressor that surges when it starts, so bring the fridge up, let it settle, then the freezer — that's easier on the generator.
4 Can I cycle the generator between the fridge and freezer?
Yes — because they hold cold for hours, you can run them in turns and share generator power with other loads, as long as neither warms up too much.
5 Can I just use an extension cord instead?
If a fridge or freezer sits on a reachable plug, a safe outdoor-rated cord can power it. An interlock's advantage is that it reaches hardwired and plug-in circuits alike, from your panel.
6 What about refrigerated medication like insulin?
Treat it as a priority — keep the door closed, watch the temperature with a thermometer, and follow your pharmacist's guidance on how warm is too warm. See our medical-equipment guide.
Would You Rather I Just Help?
Protecting a full fridge and freezer is one of the clearest ways backup power pays for itself. I'll help you plan a simple cycling routine, set up thermometers, and put together a before-the-storm checklist — and line up a licensed electrician for the interlock itself. $99 flat for a visit.
Would you rather I just do this for you?
No shame in it — plenty of folks would rather hand it off, and that's what I'm here for. I'll come to your home, set it up right, and make sure it's working before I leave. Flat $99 per visit — no jargon, no upsell, and every visit is 30-day come-back-free.
Not a hardware job? I can often fix it remotely for $49 — a secure screen-share, up to 2 hours, that you watch the whole time and can end whenever (included free for $39/mo Support Plan members, and it counts toward the $99 if it turns out I need to come out).