An Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) freezer is an important piece of equipment that every research lab needs. It is so important that you can’t walk into the purchase blindly. It takes knowing a bit about the basics to understand what you need to have to make sure that you are getting the right one for your needs.
A ULT such as this PHCBI freezer is a major investment. Not only because of the initial cost of the freezer but also due to the cost to store samples. The wrong freezer can end up costing you a lot more money than you originally thought you would be paying. To give yourself some peace of mind, you have to understand what you’re getting. In this article, we will go over what to look for in a ULT freezer.
1 – Reliability
Your science depends on the samples being stored being viable for a long time. It costs a lot of money to get the samples and then store them after so a reliable freezer is essential to get the job done. An unreliable freezer can end up costing you a lot of time and resources such as time wasted.
There are a couple of facets regarding reliability. One is that it should work well enough without breaking down. It should be maintenance-free so that you don’t have any downtime.
The other facet is reliable performance. This means that there needs to be a consistent temperature across the entire cabinet. If there isn’t then some of the samples will not be viable and could slow down the research process. The integrity of the samples is essential and the freezer will be a determining factor in this.
2 – Ease of use
It shouldn’t take an expert to understand how to operate the freezer for maximum efficiency. Any trained lab employee should be able to use the freezer and perform routine maintenance to ensure it is always working properly.
Look for a robust interface that is intuitive yet has a lot of features that make it easy to use. Remote options are also something to look for. If there is a malfunction during the off hours then it is important to know about it.
Even the simplest operation such as opening up the door can be complicated on certain models. Look for ones that work as they should.
3 – Energy saving
A ULT freezer can be something of a resource hog since it requires getting to well below freezing temperatures and maintaining them. It is going to potentially cost you quite a bit of money to run an inefficient ULT. make sure to look for ones that have energy-saving features.
Green refrigerants are double sustainable because they have a low environmental impact when manufactured and they use less energy to stay cool. Make sure to not sacrifice performance for savings, however. There are models that are as effective as they are efficient, yet others will be less effective in the name of saving energy.
