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How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

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Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#191

Post by dukoid »

wutwutwutwut wrote: post #109
vageli wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That’s a clever idea! > I’m not sure how practical it is, however. The first problem that popped into my mind was that the stove would often be unattended while I ran downstairs to grab something I forgot from the fridge. I often leave the stove unattended whilst I check the grill outside. So long as it's less than a few minutes (and you have a fire extinguisher on hand in the kitchen—as one always should), there s…

What kind of stoves do you guys use where this is a risk? Guessing it's not induction?

If you leave a pan with oil on the induction stove and then "quickly check the mail in the other room while it heats up" you might come back to an unpleasant surprise of burning oil...

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#192

Post by Markoff »

36 hours in 19C room or 3/4 (27hrs) in 30C seem about right

worked in insurance company with people claiming broken freezers among other things and you can for sure get through day even in hot weather

of course this won't fly in shops where they have to legally store the products frozen during whole distribution chain

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#193

Post by Markoff »

shortandsweet wrote: post #128
contingencies wrote: post #59

It depends on the thermal mass of the contents, the effectiveness of the insulation, and the external ambient environmental temperature. In real world use, it also generally depends on (1) how frequently and for how long you open it, and (2) whether it's top-loading (efficient) versus front-loading (inefficient). Source: My venture custom designed and built a refrigeration circuit with autonomous electronic managemen…

I keep a coffee mug filled with water in the freezer with a penny on top.

I wish my freezer wuld have spare space for mug filled with water

I keep my freezer at least 90-95% (you may think 5-10% is enough for cup, but it's just small flat space available among drawers) full pretty much all the time, it keeps it running at highest efficiency and also you have always maximum available amount of food in case of lockdown for instance

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#194

Post by WouterSpaak »

OJFord wrote: post #150
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chilling food super swiftly / immediately is rarely a concern for regular home residents. It is a public health concern at scale . Two overlapping but divergent scenarios.

Chilling drinks quickly is though. (Or gazpacho, thought that might be shot down as a bit niche though. But it is lovely this time of year (in the Northern hemisphere)!)

I tend to chuck in a handful of ice cubes into my gazpacho, it doesn't dilute the mass all that much and really helps with the blender warming up the soup.

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#195

Post by Markoff »

em-bee wrote: post #98
Falling3 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I can certainly appreciate the environmental and cost savings, but this would make me miserable. I could get myself the make the trip for ice cream, but the multiple runs back to the fridge while preparing food has me agitated just thinking about it.

you'll learn to plan your meals better. take everything out that you need before you start...

You know people have limited capacity of hands and not everyone is cooking just for 1-2 people, right?

While this may be OK for single or couple without children, it's hard to imagine it for family with 4+ members.

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#196

Post by _delirium »

kelnos wrote: post #163
fortran77 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vodka.

Isn't the freezing temp of vodka too low? I've kept vodka in the freezer, and it never actually freezes. In order to get the benefit described during a power outage, you need something that will be frozen at normal freezer temps, but will melt before the food starts thawing.

The latent heat of alcohol is also only about 1/3 that of water per unit mass, so not a very dense way of storing energy, even if you were to freeze it.

Adding salt to water reduces the latent heat density too (pure water is hard to beat there), but not as much as adding alcohol does.

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#197

Post by perlgeek »

geofft wrote: post #92
morninglight wrote: post #64

The location of the freezer or refrigerator is critical. If you live in a house that has a typical unfinished basement, don't overlook the advantage it offers. With one simple change, you can noticeably lower your electric bill, reduce your carbon footprint, gain extra kitchen space and improve your health. Just move your refrigerator to the basement. Since the basement is normally cooler than the upstairs, the refri…

This seems like a decent idea if the thing that's in your fridge is ice cream, but not if it's ingredients for cooking meals. Whoever does the cooking is going to spend a ton of time running up and down while stuff overcooks, and then they'll be even more tired and get more complaints from the rest of the family. So you should be absolutely sure that you have an equitable family dynamic and that everyone agrees that…

My mother in law has a small freezer in the kitchen, and a bigger freezer in the basement.

That way she can load the cooking ingredients into the smaller kitchen freezer before cooking, can keep most of the stock in the basement.

Best of both world, assuming you're sufficiently organized to actually remember to move the stuff to the kitchen in advance, and not forget half of it :-)

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#198

Post by mxfh »

at least half a day is usually safe. All Appliances sold in EU have this in their data sheet: ‘power cut safe “X” h’ defined as ‘temperature rise time’

Me example from last year: 4h at about 20C Ambient temperture: 4 degree Celsius loss from -20C

Too bad smart home temperature logging is failing too while power is off: https://twitter.com/mxfh/status/1194646175644897281/

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#199

Post by enaaem »

morninglight wrote: post #64

The location of the freezer or refrigerator is critical. If you live in a house that has a typical unfinished basement, don't overlook the advantage it offers. With one simple change, you can noticeably lower your electric bill, reduce your carbon footprint, gain extra kitchen space and improve your health. Just move your refrigerator to the basement. Since the basement is normally cooler than the upstairs, the refri…

Also, get a chest freezer. They are much more efficient.

Every time you open a standing freezer, the cold air "false out", since cold air is more dense than warm air. The chest freezer on the other hand will hold the cold air in place.

Re: How long does a freezer stay frozen when the power goes out?

#200

Post by bickeringyokel »

jve wrote: post #131
morninglight wrote: post #64

The location of the freezer or refrigerator is critical. If you live in a house that has a typical unfinished basement, don't overlook the advantage it offers. With one simple change, you can noticeably lower your electric bill, reduce your carbon footprint, gain extra kitchen space and improve your health. Just move your refrigerator to the basement. Since the basement is normally cooler than the upstairs, the refri…

From what i'v read, freezers are designed to be placed in ambient temperature greater than +10C. There are specificially designed freezers that can withstand up to -15C ambient temp: https://home.liebherr.com/en/lva/products/household-applianc... A guy on the phone that sells used freezers told me that compressor has some liquid that gets thicker when temperature drops below X and compressor has to work harder. The o…

Why would you keep running the freezer when the ambient temp is freezing?
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