On Sat, 29 Apr 2017 10:11:35 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Sat 29 Apr 2017 12:38:19a, gregz told us...

gregz wrote:
Thomas wrote:
I aquired an older standup 16 qf freezer. I have the temp steady
at zero for a few weeks. I did not get an elec bill yet but ask
if 10f would save noticable cash. No numbers to give. Maybe a
gibson? Is 10f as good as zero?

24 hour test would tell how warm it gets with defrost cycle.
Measure on top.

Greg

I put a temp logger on a couple fridges with freezers.
Refrigerator held better than freezer. Temp was up in 20s after
defrost cycle, set on 0 F. If it was set at 10, could be a
problem.

Greg


IF the OP is looking for a way to save money by operating a freezer
at temperatures above 0° F., then they would best investigate the
food safety guidelines and consider the negative effect of raising
the temperature above 0° F. You would be sacrificing the quality of
your frozen food, perhaps even losing it, if stored above recommended
temperatures.

The vast majority of refrigerator/freezers were ideally designed for
the refrigerator secctin to maintain a temperature of 38-40° F., and
the freezer section to maintain a temperature of 0° F.

Self-defrosting refrigerator/freezers rarely if ever can maintain
constant temperatures in either section because the defrost cycle
itself raises the temperature when it's running. Deliberately
setting the temperature at higher than recommened settings is just
asking for trouble.

In an ideal situation, a standalone freezer that does _not_ have a
self-defrost cycle can usually be adjusted to maintain a temprature
as low as -10 to -20° F. The values are even more stable when the
unit is a chest freezer than an upright freezer. The lowest possible
temperature that you can maintain will maintain all frozen foods for
a much longer period of time.


I keep a thermometer with a probe in my side by side fridge freezers
and it is amazing how much swing there is in air. If you put some mass
in there you can get an average temp (bottle of water).
To maintain an average of 0F it will swing 10 degrees either way but
+10F should still be cold enough to keep your stuff reliably frozen
assuming it might actually be worse with the door open. Theoretically
+31 would do.