Choosing a Unit and Freezer Failures

Choosing a Unit

Refrigerators

Below is information to help you decide if a residential unit will meet your need.  However, if your lab needs a lab grade refrigerator, fortunately there are now options to consider at this Lab Grade Refrigerators and Freezers ENERGY STAR site.

  • Most labs find that residential refrigerators work fine for their research unless you need a unit for 1)  flammables or 2) storing material that needs a very specific, tight temperature range.
  • Labs save a lot of money by purchasing residential units instead of lab grade units.
  • CU Green Labs suggests residential Energy Star refrigerators when it will fit the needs of your lab.
  • However, you should know that residential Energy Star refrigerators (of comparable price to Non-Energy Star units) only come as freezer/refrigerator combos and the freezer portion is only auto defrost.   There are typically no residential freezer/refrigerator combos available that have manual defrost freezers unless you are going purchase a unit from a lab supply vendor which will likely cost significantly more money.
  • Freezerless Energy Star residential refrigerators are now available on the market, but typically significantly more expensive.
  • Non-Energy Star Freezerless residential refrigerators are very efficient and almost as efficient as the Energy Star freezerless refrigerators.  
    • Thus, when it will work for your lab, CU Green Labs suggests that for an energy efficient refrigerator that is also economical you consider either an Energy Star residential style refrigerator-freezer (auto defrost) combo unit or a non-Energy Star residential style Freezerless refrigerator. You can find these type of units from stores such as Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears.
-20 ⁰C Freezers
  • Below is information to help you decide if a residential freezer will meet your need.  However, if your lab needs a lab grade unit, fortunately there are now options to consider at this Lab Grade Refrigerators and Freezers ENERGY STAR site. 
  • Most labs find that residential freezers work fine for their research unless you need a unit for 1)  flammables or 2) storing material that needs a very specific, tight temperature range.
  • Labs save a lot of money by purchasing residential units instead of lab grade units.
  • CU Green Labs suggests residential Energy Star -20 ⁰C freezers when it will fit the needs of your lab (although manual defrost residential freezer are becoming harder to find with Energy Star rating, but they still are generally very efficient even without the Energy Star rating).
  • Residential -20 ⁰C freezers come in auto defrost or manual defrost.
  • For labs with samples sensitive to temperature changes, such as enzymes, choose manual defrost units (which can come in upright or chest units)

CU Green Labs suggests that for an energy efficient -20 ⁰C freezer that is also economical you consider either an Energy Star residential style freezer (auto defrost) or a non-Energy Star residential manual defrost freezer. You can find these type of units from stores such as Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears.

Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) Freezers

CU Green Labs can assist you with finding an energy efficient ULT freezer. Please reach out to us so we can help you, as there are many options and various manufacturers to choose from. Check out the ENERGY STAR rated ULT freezers. Incentives towards these ULT freezer units are only availabe to CU Boulder labs and only for the most energy efficient ULT freezers at the Energy Star site.

Freezer Failures

For failures of ultra low temperature (ULT) and -40/-30 ⁰C freezers

  1. Reach out to your building manager to find out if your building has any back-up ULT freezer resources.  If you building manager is not able to help, reach out to greenlabs@colorado.edu and we will do what we can to help find you space for your samples.
  2. While you wait to find space, pack empty space in your freezer with dry ice until a solution can be found. Sources of dry ice on campus and around Boulder can be found on this poster.
  3. Contact someone to help diagnose and repair your freezer. The contact information for two repair companies are listed below.

Facilities Management will change filters, freezer batteries, and provide basic troubleshooting (not repairs) for a fee. Facilities Managment provides Preventative Maintenance (PM) on your freezers, on an annual basis, if your freezer has been tagged with an equipment number. Contact Robin Arellano-Valles at arellarl@colorado.edu to verify your freezer is on the PM schedule.

For failures of -20 ⁰C freezers (including for flammable materials)

  1. CU Green Labs has some mobile freezers that are available for -20 ⁰C freezer failures including one mobile freezer suitable for the storage of flammable materials. Contact greenlabs@colorado.edu to utilize this resource.
  2. If your -20 ⁰C freezer or flammable freezer is not lab grade, the cost of the freezer repair may be as high as buying a new freezer and thus, often times, it makes better sense financially to just purchase a new unit.