Insulating blanket for chest freezer?

[flatbutt]

We lost power today for several hours. I went into the basement after 2 hours to check my freezer and found that it had risen nearly 4 degrees F in that time. So assuming a linear progression in 16 hours it would be on the brink of just being a refrigerator. BTW the temp in the basement was 71 F at the time.

That sounds a wee bit on the short side so I'm looking for a way to extend that time with a blanket of some sort. Anyone here use one?

[Tobra]

What about that radiant barrier stuff like the use in attics?

[Evans, Marv]

A small generator that can hancle the freezer might be a better bet.

[island911]

Any insulation will help, even cardboard, but what Marv sez is best. /\

[wdfifteen]

We throw furniture moving blankets over our hot tub when we are expecting especially cold weather. They are fairly cheap and useful for other purposes. Those foil “space blankets” might be an option.

[cabmandone]

Put more stuff in it! More frozen food... less drop in temp! I recommend lots of ice cream.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Put more stuff in it! More frozen food... less drop in temp! I recommend lots of ice cream.

Or even just jugs of water to fill up that airspace and add thermal mass.

If your condenser circuit is in the walls of the freezer be sure to remove the insulation once the power's back on. Ours will even overtemp and shut down if we stack too much stuff close to it.

[cabmandone]

Frozen jugs of water don't taste as good as ice cream but yeah they're effective. I suppose you could add some flavoring to the jugs of water and have an enormous popsicle!

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Frozen jugs of water don't taste as good as ice cream but yeah they're effective. I suppose you could add some flavoring to the jugs of water and have an enormous popsicle!

Kinda tough to get the "popsicle" out of the jug!

[cabmandone]

Utility knife. Problem solved.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by mjohnson

Or even just jugs of water to fill up that airspace and add thermal mass.

If your condenser circuit is in the walls of the freezer be sure to remove the insulation once the power's back on. Ours will even overtemp and shut down if we stack too much stuff close to it.

My vote is water jugs. My guess is that jugs of ice probably absorb more heat than ice cream and are cheaper than ice cream. And I suspect, if these items are supposed to be sacrificial, you're probably much happier letting your jugs of ice thaw than $30 of ice cream. And if the theory is that you just eat the ice cream before it thaws, then that seems counter-productive. But, a freezer full of ice cream sound like a good thing (assuming we are ignoring the health implications of inflammation, weight gain, cholesterol, etc...).

After jugs of ice, then generator.

After generator, then insulation.

[flatbutt]

I do indeed have a gererator but it's a portable not a standby. Cranking that sucker up for an outage of a few hours isn't worth it. I'll go for the jugs....as any red blooded American boy would.

[cabmandone]

You eat the ice cream as it thaws! And make sure you buy the stuff with real berries in it so it has more nutritional value!

[KFC911]

Yep.... tig ol' bittys .... err jugs. Goes without saying... don't open it too gawk at them jugs either !

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cabmando

You eat the ice cream as it thaws! And make sure you buy the stuff with real berries in it so it has more nutritional value!

Sounds good, but I'm not sure that 1 opening and closing the freezer to get the ice cream out and 2 eating your "thermal mass" is as productive in practice as it sounds in theory. But not a bad plan. If your freezer does thaw, but you just ate a couple of gallons of ice cream, you probably won't be as upset as you otherwise would have been.

[cabmandone]

Okay! I've figured out how to solve this although what I'm suggesting will not freeze. Put a bottle of Crown in the freezer. Before the bottle of Crown gets warm, drink it! That way you won't care if the freezer thaws or even remember it thawing for that matter!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Okay! I've figured out how to solve this although what I'm suggesting will not freeze. Put a bottle of Crown in the freezer. Before the bottle of Crown gets warm, drink it! That way you won't care if the freezer thaws or even remember it thawing for that matter!

PROBLEM SOLUTION

tagged for future reference.

May want to include some bourbon, Scotch, vodka, rum and gin to ensure all bases and moods are covered, besides extra "thermal capacity."

[cabmandone]

I'm a problem solver... it's what I do.

[Zeke]

What, you have room in your freezer?

[Tobra]

Water has a very high specific heat so frozen where is better than ice cream