Maintaining samples at an optimal temperature while in storage is vital for many lab professionals and this makes choosing the right freezer or refrigerator a crucial task. While the average kitchen freezer operates at about -20°C, laboratory variants have a much wider range of options depending on the storage conditions needed.
Freezer types currently in use as reported by survey respondents:
| Upright general purpose lab freezers | 21% |
| Upright ultra-low temperature freezers | 14% |
| Low temperature upright lab freezers | 12% |
| Under-counter general purpose lab freezers | 9% |
| Flammable materials storage | 6% |
| Explosion-proof | 5% |
| Low temperature chest lab freezers | 5% |
| Chest ultra-low temperature freezers | 5% |
| Blood bank and plasma | 4% |
| Other | 4% |
Service used to repair/maintain cold storage equipment as reported by survey respondents:
| In-house service department | 27% |
| Third-party contract | 16% |
| Instrument manufacturer time/material | 14% |
| Instrument manufacturer service contract | 13% |
| Third-party time/material | 11% |
| Our department | 7% |
| Multi-vendor service provider | 5% |
Nearly 30% of respondents plan on purchasing new or additional cold storage equipment in the next year. The estimated budgets for these purchases are:
 | Less than $5,000 |  |
 | $5,000 - $15,000 |
 | $15,000 - $30,000 |
 | $30,000+ |
Top 5 Questions You Should Ask When Buying Laboratory Cold Storage Equipment
- How is the product manufactured? Ask about the quality of the materials used and the product life expectation based on manufacturing testing.
- What is the warranty? What does it include and for how long? Will anything void the warranty?
- How green is the product? Ask the company to provide details on energy efficiency and have them relate it to your return on investment (e.g. in four years will you save enough money in energy costs to pay for your freezer/fridge?).
- How much sample capacity are you getting for your space?
- What are the optimal voltage/wiring conditions for running the fridge/ freezer? If the building is older, will low voltage or voltage fluctuations affect the performance of the freezer/fridge?
Top 10 features/factors respondents look for when purchasing cold storage equipment:
Completed Surveys: 228
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