We have a couple of freezers, one small under-counter one and a larger tall one. I'm wondering if it would be possible/sensible/practical to run them on a timer which limits them to running overnight when we have (relatively) cheap electricity.
Maybe what would be more sensible would be to run just one of them this way and make sure we keep the more often accessed frozen food in the other one.
Has anyone tried this?
No, but I think it'll really depend on how good the insulation is, and what you have stored in there (and also the ambient temperature). Say ice lollies might be fine about swinging from -20C to -5C, but maybe not a good idea for meat.
Perhaps you could put a min/max thermometer in there and try it as an experiment, seeing how far 'max' goes?
I think you'd need to power the freezer the moment you opened the door, because even if the day/night swing was acceptable the warm air coming in would disrupt it. Especially if you put new things in the freezer (which might be frozen, but not at -20C once you've got them home from the shops).
Theo
I’ve thought about it, but I only have 4 hours cheap rate and I couldn’t convince myself that the freezer would stay cold enough and would suffer major temperature swings.
If you were to half fill the freezer with some sort of freezer blocks to “buffer” the temperature swings it might help a bit but if you want to experiment you really ought to get some sort of temperature logging device just so that you’ll *know* what’s happening rather than just hoping for the best.
My suspicion is though that even with 8 hours of cooling time, the temperature swings will be to great for safe storage of food. I could be wrong though…
Tim
How has your Economy 7 timer got altered so it only gives you 4 hours of cheaper tariff? I've heard of the clock getting altered (eg as a result of a lot of long power cuts) so it gives you the cheap 7 hours during the day instead of at night, but not of the 7-hour period getting reduced.
Yes, I think it would definitely be a good idea to monitor the temperature to see how it fluctuates.
It sounds like it might be worth an experiment though. :-)
Something I posted a couple of months ago
After a recommendation on this group a few years back I purchased a fridge/freezer thermometer that has remote transmitters fitted in my fridge and in my freezer and monitors the temperatures - showing a minimum and maximum value since last reset.
Random Ebay listing so not a recommendation about the seller
This morning the temperature in my freezer is reported at -19C but over the past 3 months max = -15C, min = -23C. Even where loading up the freezer the door hasn't been open for more than 5 minutes at a time and each shelf has a door or is a box container.
It may depend on keeping the freezer full and NOT opening the door while the power is off - but possibly not how you want to access the freezer :)
I wouldn't have thought opening the door for short periods would make a significant difference, especially if the freezer has drawers (traps the cold air) and is full ('solids' will be relatively - to air - unaffected).
The bigger of the two freezers is always pretty full up and is the less frequently used one so it might be worth a try-out at least.
Thanks for the information about batteries, the fridge/freezer thermometer I have lives outside the freezer with just the temperature sensor inside.
My off-peak electricity runs from 10:30pm to 12:30am and 2:30am to 7:30am.
on our freezer you get condensation on the drawer fronts.
I don’t have an economy 7 timer. I have a smart meter that gives me access to a much cheaper tariff that E7. The tariff is designed for EV charging (and anything else that I can do in the time period).
Tim
Does that mean you have a higher tariff charge for electricity use outside of the cheap period?
Rather than just on during E7, it might be sensible to have them switch off several hours before the start of the E7, then back on when E7 is available - using either a time clock, or Smart Plug and Alexa. The timing would have to be overridden if the freezer was opened during the off time. You would also have to hope there wasn't a power cut, at the start of the E7 period.
They say a fridge or freezer can safely be without power, if left closed throughout, for eight hours.
Personally I would be wary of investing too much into something which is within the gift of the government to take away at the stroke of a pen. Like all the people who got stung with FITs when the rules changed.
Anyway, surely this is exactly what the "smart" in smart appliances should really be doing ? Not f****ng about calling China every 5 minutes.
Naturally. Swings and roundabouts etc. It only makes sense if you have some substantial power consumption that you can time shift into the off peak period.
My current rates are:
Day unit rate:
40.13 p/kWhNight unit rate:
7.5 p/kWhStanding charge:
49.38 p/day(These rates may no longer be available to new customers. I changed rates two weeks ago).
Tim
This really depends on the insulation. Ironically if it is very well insulated the compressor will run for less time in any case. How long is the economy 7 window and is it likely to alter when all the electric vehicles start to charge on it?
Brian
The clue is kind of in the name !
Err, no-one got stung. The FIT rate was progressively reduced and no-one gets it now (which is GOOD), but those who had previously signed up will continue to get their huge RPI-linked bung for the whole of the contract period.
Given that Brian has electric heating, I would have thought he’d know!
Tim
I did wonder why Jethro though any individual FIT recipient had been "stuffed", anyway there is now SEG instead of FIT, but mostly it pays quite low
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