Why a Freezer Challenge

In last week's blog post we shared that the environmental impact of refrigerants is thought to be one of the greatest contributors to climate change. This alone would be a great reason for holding an international cold storage competition. It turns out, there are also several others:

• Collectively, cold storage is often the highest energy consumer in labs. A single older -80C freezer, also known as an ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezer, can consume as much energy as a home every day (~20 - 25 kWh/day)!
• Cold storage is expensive to replace. A properly maintained freezer or refrigerator will last a lot longer than one that is not well cared for.
• Cold storage takes up a lot of valuable real estate in a lab. By removing old samples and consolidating units, it's possible to free up some extra space for other types of equipment.

... and it's fun! :)  Where else could you get your photo in Nature by properly maintaining and caring for your cold storage units?!

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