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DYI Freezer Alarm


For those of you who are away from home occasionally there is always the possibility that your power will go out.   You can usually tell by the blinking lights on your gadgets.  It used to be the blinking VCR but those days are gone.   What you may have difficulty determining is  how long was your power out, it could be days, and is the food in your freezer safe to eat. 

I looked online at freezer alarms and most were exorbitant in price, cheaper than replacing a freezer full of food but still pricy.  Here is a simple solution.

marble on ice
I happen to have a goodly supply of used pill bottles. (the joys of aging)   The ones I used held approximately 4oz of water.   I filled the bottle to approximately 3/4" of their capacity and froze them.   Then I placed a marble on top of the ice and put the bottles in the freezer.   I use four bottles, one on the door and the rest through out the freezer.   In my tests it took approximately 2.5 hours of 76 degree heat for the water to thaw and the marble to drop to the bottom of the bottle.   That is certainly enough heat to ruin your food in the freezer. 

So you go away, you come back and you look at the bottles in your freezer.  If the marbles are on the bottom of the bottles then I would err on the side of caution and abandon that food.  (One battle with food poisoning was more than enough for me.)
Do NOT EAT!

It isn't elegant but it does work and it is FREE.  

If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

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