You're going to have to either get a washer that accepts 240V, or change the circuit.
New Washer
Getting a new washer will depend on the manufacturer, dealer, and other factors that are off topic here.
Change the circuit
Modifying the circuit will require knowledge of electrical safety practices, and general electrical wiring principles/standards/codes. If you lack this knowledge, or are not comfortable working with electricity, please contact a local licensed Electrician.
If you decide to tackle this project yourself, here is an overview of what needs to be done. You'll be going from a configuration with two ungrounded (hot) conductors, and one grounding conductor (NEMA 6-20). To a configuration with one ungrounded (hot) conductor, one grounded (neutral) conductor, and one grounding conductor (NEMA 5-20). To do this you'll have to swap out the double pole breaker for a single pole breaker, and repurpose one of the conductors.
At the Panel
- Before you begin, you'll need to purchase a 20A single pole circuit breaker that is compatible with your service panel, and a blank panel cover insert.
- Start by turning the power off by flipping the main breaker to the
OFF
position, then verifying that power is off using a non-contact voltage tester.
- Remove the service panel cover (be careful working in the open panel, the main lugs are still energized even when the main breaker is in the
OFF
position).
- Locate the breaker for the washer.
- Remove the wires connected to the breaker (should be either black & red, or black & white).
- Remove the breaker from the panel.
- Install the new single pole breaker in one of the slots where the old double pole breaker was.
- Install the blank panel cover insert in the panel cover, so that is covers the empty space left.
- Connect the black wire that you removed from the breaker in step 5, to the new breaker.
- If the other wire from step 5 is white, connect it to the grounded (neutral) bus bar. If the wire is red, mark the wire with a bit of white tape, or a white marker, then attach it to the bus bar.
- Reinstall the panel cover.
At the receptacle
- Before you begin, you'll have to purchase a 125V 20A receptacle.
- Uninstall the old receptacle.
- Connect the black wire to the brass screw terminal on the new receptacle.
- If the other wire is white, attach it to the silver screw terminal on the new receptacle. If the other wire is red, mark it with white tape or a white marker, and attach it to the silver screw terminal on the new receptacle.
- Attach the bare or green grounding wire to the green grounding screw on the new receptacle.
- Mount the receptacle in the box, and install the cover plate.
Once everything is finished, you can flip the main breaker, and the new breaker to the ON
position.
WARNING:
This answer is only applicable in the US, and possibly Canada.
It sounds like you are right at the current limit for your power strips and your remote control switches. If you look at the plugs of the lights, you should see a rating that says how many Amps it uses. Add all of those up, and make sure you're not exceeding 80% of the rating on your power strip or your remote control switch. So if your power strip says 15 Amps, then make sure your lights don't add up to more than 12 Amps.
Best Answer
If it's a GFCI breaker, then it's common for fridges and GFCIs to not get along so well.
If it's not a GFCI receptacle, you'll want to make sure the fridge is not overloading the circuit. If you've added anything new to the circuit, then that may be the case.
If neither of these are true, then it could be as simple as the breaker going bad. They are a mechanical device, and can go bad.