A freezer alarm could save your bacon — and all your other frozen foods. Keeping a regular and safe freezer temperature is key to preserving your food and avoiding waste and freezer burn.
What’s a freezer alarm and how can it help you? Learn how this simple gadget can you save you money and worry so that you don’t waste food in your freezer when the temps rise too high.
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Perhaps you’re heard stories from friends or acquaintances who came home to find that a power failure or open freezer door open had caused the contents of their freezer to thaw completely, leaving a soggy, stinky, sad mess.
You commiserated with their plight, but inwardly you were sighing, I’m so glad that’s not me.
But life happens. Kids forget to shut the door. GFIs trigger unexpectedly. The seal onthe freezer fails.
There are any number of things that could happen, causing your refrigerator or freezer to rise to unsafe temperatures, triggering food loss.
A freezer alarm can help prevent food loss. It’s this little doo-dad with sensors to place inside the unit and a screen that clips to the outside — and screams its little head off if things start to heat up in there.
While some refrigerator and freezers come with their own sensors and monitors, even these can fail you. We’ve had it happen where the unit displayed a cool temperature while inside the heat and humidity were on the rise.
Having a secondary product to read the temperature level in your freezer can be cheap insurance against food loss.
Types of Freezer Alarms
This is the particular freezer alarm I own, hanging on one of the magnetic hooks I keep for hanging heavy stuff (and light stuff) on my fridge and freezer.
There are several types of freezer alarms and freezer door alarms. Some alert you to the temperature rising to unsafe levels while others ping a reminder when the door is left ajar.
These products typically work for both fridge and freezers.
In fact, we’ve had several refrigerators die on us in the last ten years (one was ours and one was our landlords). In both instances, I temporarily removed our freezer alarm from the freezer to monitor our refrigerator. It quickly alerted me to the exact temperature inside the fridge, showing that the unit was failing to keep things cool.
Do you need a freezer alarm?
Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes!
If you store more than ice and ice packs in your freezer, it’s in your best interests to have a freezer alarm so that you can be alerted when the deep freeze reaches unsafe temperatures. This may give you time to correct the problem and/or move the food to another location to prevent food loss.
What to do in case of a power loss?
If the power loss is temporary and soon to be remedied, leave the freezer or fridge door shut and do not open it. The food in a half to full freezer will be safe for 24 to 48 hours.
If there is no hope of restoring power to the unit and the food contains ice crystals, some food may be refrozen. See this chart from FoodSafety.gov for details. (Yes, meat can be safely refrozen!)
If the food has been at temps higher than 40 degrees for longer than 2 hours, you will need to throw it away. (Again, consult the chart for the few exceptions to this rule.)
More Tips for Freezing Food
This post was originally published on January 25, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Christa
I didn’t know these existed so I was glad to hear about it, ordered one the same day!
Arlene
In addition to the alarm I would suggest you keep a sealed baggie of ice cubes in a spot you can keep your eye on. If you notice that all the ice in your baggie becomes one big chunk of ice you know your food defrosted and refroze.
Great idea especially when you will be away on vacation.
Lawanna
Cool! I looked at the alarm and it sounds like it has a digital display so you can see the temp of the freezer/fridge. BUT the picture doesn’t show any display. Help, I’m confused…..does this just alarm when it’s too warm? Or how does it know it’s in the fridge instead of the freezer?
Jessica Fisher
@Lawanna, the particular model that I have just sounds the alarm when it gets too warm inside.
J Walt
Jessica
Thanks – you have been a great help.I will get this ordered today and hope there will be no more freezer loss. Have a wonderful day. Walt
J Walt
Jessica
Thanks for the reply,but additional information would be greatly appreciated.I am still in the dark as to what I am suppose to be looking for on Amazon. Item number, model number, or even the name of the item would be helpful in placing a order. Finally, do you think this device will be loud enought to hear while in a room in the house which is near the garage? Thanks, J Walt
Jessica Fisher
The link in the post will take you to the item. And the third to the last paragraph explains how my husband installed it so that we could hear it in the house. Hope that helps.
J Walt
Just read your comments – where can I purchase one of these devices?
Have had freezer loss twice now and have been searching for some type of alarm sinc our freezer is in the garage and we are not in there daily
Jessica Fisher
We bought ours through Amazon.
Leah
We actually have a fridge/freezer that has this device built in and you are right about it screaming its head off! I am glad to know that you can purchase them though, I really need one for an older freezer that keeps getting left open.
A side note and off topic, I want say Thank You and Money Saving Mom so much for hosting the Eat from the Pantry Challenge this month. I learned some really important things about managing our stockpile better and how my shopping habits don’t always work for our eating preferences…things I never really considered before but are making a big difference in what we do now. It was fun, so thanks again 🙂
Dana @ The Coupon Challenge
So sorry to hear about your loss!
I had never heard of a freezer alarm until our brand new refrigerator arrived Monday 🙂 The kids were admiring the inside of the freezer (I guess since they’d never seen 1 empty) when I hear this beeping sound. I finally realized it was the fridge! How great!
Also, we fortunately found out that our Verizon (cable TV, ect) backup that’s in the garage is also plugged into the same outlet as our extra fridge. I had no idea the outlet was tripping and causing my fridge to turn off (recently moved). I would have definitely lost ALOT of food as well if I hadn’t gone investigating the noise.
Gina S.
This is happened to us 3 times. 1. Power Failure 2. Stupidity. 3. Stupidity. Ha.
Now we check the freezers (yes, freezers 2 big uprigths and 2 attached to the fridges, ha, yes fridges.) every night before bed, when we check all the doors to house to make sure they are locked. Ha. Paranoid a little? YES! Ha.
Elaine H
That is a great product and at only about $10 certainly affordable!!
One question though, does the cord disrupt the seal very much?