how long will frozen food last after power outage

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,451
ok i stock up on food cause i go shoping 1 per month and i buy extra when stuff is on sale well needless to say my freezer is full.but im so scared power willl go out .if it does on a aveeerage temp day how long does food stay edible in there?
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
I have heard if you don't open a freezer at all during a power outage you can expect at LEAST a day without power with no problems to speak of. My guess is it depends on how much *stuff* is in there as to how long it can survive. The more packed the freezer is I would think the longer it would last due to more stuff to thaw out with the amount of heat that slowly leaches through the insulation. We have had power out for almost 2 days with no problems on an upright freezer that was packed full.

3 days may be pushing it though unless you have a lot of meat in there as meat is denser than lot of other stuff and takes longest to thaw out. A lot depends on how good the insulation is in the freezer. I am talking about 20 year old freezers and the newer ones could possibly have better insulation to them.
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,451
cool thats not to bad i keep it full and keep it low temps even bottem part of refridater is like 31 f almiost to cold but i like the saftey margin
 

zespectre

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 21, 2005
Messages
2,197
Location
Lost in NY
Another trick is to take a few (2-4 depending on the size of your freezer) plastic 1/2 gallon milk jugs and fill them 3/4 with water and freeze them in your freezer. If the power goes out they will help keep things cold for a LONG time.

Generally speaking the more stuff you have frozen in the fridge, the longer it will take for everything to thaw (as long as you keep the door shut as much as possible.
 

Empath

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 11, 2001
Messages
8,508
Location
Oregon
Raggie, if you get one of the indoor/outdoor digital thermometers, and feed the probe into the refrigerator, you'd be able to monitor the inside temperature without opening it. Then, you'd know if it climbed above freezing. The wireless type of indoor/outdoor thermometer would be more convenient, but it would probably be difficult to make it work. The freezer case would likely act as a grid that absorbs and blocks the signal the remote would put out. It may work, with a little placement testing, but I'd suspect a bit of difficulty.

The main thing is, don't open the freezer door while the power is off.
 

binky

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 1, 2002
Messages
1,036
Location
Taxachusetts, USA
Empath said:
The wireless type of indoor/outdoor thermometer would be more convenient

Brilliant!

I just stuck one of my wireless sensors into the freezer of my Kenmore side-by-side and it works! (Mine's an Oregon Scientific thermo-hygro 433 MHz sensor. My receiver is in the same kitchen, about 8 feet from the fridge.)

Thanks for the really cool idea!

PS: I took it off the garden shed, and yes I did clean off the spiders, etc. Ick!
 

Empath

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 11, 2001
Messages
8,508
Location
Oregon
I'm glad to hear it worked. I would have thought the metal encasing the freezer would act as a faraday shield, but it's apparently not as electromagneticly shielded as I assumed.
 

picard

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 31, 2004
Messages
1,298
hey raggie, you need to buy several large freezer packs. They look have rectangular shape , filled with blue freezing liquid. These things are made to keep food cold. If you have several large packages, they will keep food cold for 24hrs. In addition you need a thick insulating layer for the cooler. You should invest money in buying a cooler which has complete seal and lock too to prevent any small air loss.
 

binky

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 1, 2002
Messages
1,036
Location
Taxachusetts, USA
Topper said:
Shoot, now I want one just to stick in the freezer, I assume it is battery operated? Where do you get one?
Topper

Mine's this Oregon Scientific receiver, though I don't know where online to get it for much less than that shocking price. Both the receiver head unit and sensor transmitter are battery operated. I bought mine at a local electronics supply store for less than $80 (1 receiver + 1 transmitter). I use the radio-time-sync'd clock and weather features of this thing (esp. when deciding how to dress the kiddies for the day). Other models with are available with fewer features and less cost.

There are many models from Oregon Scientific, and also many other clones from other makers.

The receiver works with up to 3 remote sensor transmitters, which is very convenient. I have one on a garden shed and another under the shade of the front porch roof.

The one under the porch roof also informs me every winter how incredibly much heat I'm losing from my totally uninsulated 100-yr-old cement block Sears Roebuck kit house. In winter it registers rediculously warmer than the garden shed sensor.

Maybe I'll get a 3rd sensor and keep it in the fridge or freezer.
 
Last edited:

smokinbasser

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
1,193
Location
East Texas
Picard hit the nail on the head! I have a lot of the refreezable gel packs in various sizes and I have them filling up empty spaces in the freezer. I use them in the cooler on my boat to keep the cokes cold during a day of fishing. I won't worry until the power has been out for more than 48 hours. I would be more worried about the refrigerators share of foodstuffs, several items don't store well in room temps.
 

AJ_Dual

Enlightened
Joined
May 7, 2005
Messages
691
Location
SE WI
You can also take empty 2 liter bottles and fill them with water and freeze them along with the food. They will add extra cold "thermal mass" that will help keep the freezer cold longer. When they finally do melt, they also won't make a mess since they're contained in the plastic.

Advantages the "blue ice" freezer packs all have as well, except if you buy soda pop, the bottles and water are free.

One thing you can do with the pop bottles that you can't with the "blue ice": If you clean the 2 liter bottles carefully with a little hot water and bleach, and then add a drop of bleach to the fresh water you add for long term storage, you can use them as an extra stash of emergency drinking water. If power is out long enough for them to melt, you may well need the water.

We allways make ice this way for the "food cooler" as opposed to the "drinks cooler" when we go camping, that way, as the ice melts, it dosen't make the food soggy...
 

balazer

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
486
I'd say you're o.k. for more like 12 hours. I remember when we had the big northeast blackout a few years ago. Our power was out for 20 hours. The food in the freezer was somewhat warm, and we had to throw everything out.
 

2dim

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
631
Location
Toronto, Can
Chest freezer holds cold better than upright, if door must be opened. Both should be set at 0 degrees F. Will last at least 24 hours. Good idea to check local availability of 'dry ice'...keeps for a long time in block form, covered with thick insulation, like blankets. Big advantage is it doesn't melt into liquid, but goes straight to carbon dioxide gas. I've also used it to quick-freeze stuff or make ice cubes [30 minutes].
 

James S

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 27, 2002
Messages
5,078
Location
on an island surrounded by reality
And though not specifically about how long it will last with the power out, if you dont have much in your freezer or fridge, you should put a few gallon bottles of water in it anyway. With a little thermal mass in there it cycles less often and uses less power than an empty fridge. We have an old fridge in the garage and I keep it full of water bottles when we dont have much else in there to keep the compressor from cycling too much.
 

yuandrew

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 12, 2003
Messages
1,323
Location
Chino Hills, CA
You can also pack it with Dry Ice. Just make sure you have enought ventilation avaliable so the Carbon Dioxide gas produced doesn't make you pass out (that would be deadly)

I keep those "Blue Ice" packs in my freezer. Still, I think the maximum it would stay cool would be about a day and a half. Most of my power outtages have lasted anywhere from 10 seconds to an hour although the last outtage I had went 4 hours. We kept the fridge closed and it stayed pretty cold all that time.

I have also tried the wireless thermometer trick (OREGON SCIENTIFIC) as well. It works in my side-by side until the batteries freeze up
 

Empath

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 11, 2001
Messages
8,508
Location
Oregon
The carbon dioxide from the dry ice isn't deadly, unless there's enough to displace the oxygen. It's carbon monoxide that's poison. Carbon dioxide isn't toxic.

Lithium cells are the best cells to use in a freezer.
Edit: it looks like James made the same suggestion while I was posting.
 
Top