Good freezer temp alarm?

Is there a quality freezer monitor, not dependent on batteries or wireless sensors, that doesn't cost a fortune?

Having recently burried a pickup load of spoiled meat from a friends failed chest freezer, I have freezer security on my mind.


My chest freezers are several hundred feet away.

So, any alarm that will do me any good needs to support a really loud alarm. It needs to not shut off without active intervention. I don't care if it pisses off the neighbours in case of an actual problem, I'd rather have angry neighbours than spoiled food. But, it needs to be configurable enough to set the trigger temps and delays so that it does not have false alarms.

I think wireless sensors add too many additional failure points; do not want.

It would be really nice if one alarm would handle 4+ freezers.

It would also be really nice if it also alarmed in case of power failure, and if it had some logging... but I'm not fixated on this part. Power failures are pretty rare here, usually in winter when the defrost time is very long, and usually connected to an event I will be aware of.. freezer failure is a much bigger risk IMO.


My guess is I need to build it myself, or spend a small fortune. Prove me wrong?

I know of nothing on the market that addresses all of the points on your wish list.  I have a piece of plywood mounted near my back door. I have remote thermometers in my freezers, high tunnel, and one stall in my barn. But they do use batteries and I have to check them because there is no alarm.  Other approaches get expensive.  

I did once use an old back up battery for a computer.  The issue was not that the battery would do much good for running the freezer, it was all but dead, but it did have a loud alarm on it and there was enough battery to operate the alarm if the power went off.

Everything I have seen on the market with a temp alarm now operates through a cell phone.

look at greenhouse alarms theres a whole host of them they might have bits you can use if nothing is exactly right.

I have to say that chest freezers rarely fail though. why not just put it on the house insurance?

I use this power failure alarm, It doesn't monitor temp, and it does run on batteries but it does tell me if a GFCI has tripped and the freezer is off.
it is very loud and must be turned off manually, batteries last very well....depending on how often, and how long it alarms.
While I'm sure it happens catastrophically on occasion, freezers usually fail gradually.
I've got 30 year old freezers chugging along without incident, but GFCI circuits trip all the time.


https://www.amazon.com/Failed-Circuit-Alarm-New-Style/dp/B0077Q9NC6/ref=sr_1_13?crid=B6Y8YSQS1NGZ&dchild=1&keywords=power+failure+alarm&qid=1598018616&sprefix=power+failure+alarm%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-13

Skandi Rogers wrote:look at greenhouse alarms theres a whole host of them they might have bits you can use if nothing is exactly right.

I have to say that chest freezers rarely fail though. why not just put it on the house insurance?

Thanks, will take a look.

I have neither a legal house on the property, or insurance... and as nearly all the food in my freezer was produced by me or someone I know, I couldn't easily replace it with equivalent items for any amount of money..

Bill Haynes wrote:I use this power failure alarm, It doesn't monitor temp, and it does run on batteries but it does tell me if a GFCI has tripped and the freezer is off.
it is very loud and must be turned off manually, batteries last very well....depending on how often, and how long it alarms.
While I'm sure it happens catastrophically on occasion, freezers usually fail gradually.
I've got 30 year old freezers chugging along without incident, but GFCI circuits trip all the time.


https://www.amazon.com/Failed-Circuit-Alarm-New-Style/dp/B0077Q9NC6/ref=sr_1_13?crid=B6Y8YSQS1NGZ&dchild=1&keywords=power+failure+alarm&qid=1598018616&sprefix=power+failure+alarm%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-13

Thanks. Yes, that is my experience with GFCI circuits too. Fortunately the garage powering my freezers predates this 'helpful' technology!

John F Dean wrote:I know of nothing on the market that addresses all of the points on your wish list.  I have a piece of plywood mounted near my back door. I have remote thermometers in my freezers, high tunnel, and one stall in my barn. But they do use batteries and I have to check them because there is no alarm.  Other approaches get expensive.  

I did once use an old back up battery for a computer.  The issue was not that the battery would do much good for running the freezer, it was all but dead, but it did have a loud alarm on it and there was enough battery to operate the alarm if the power went off.

Everything I have seen on the market with a temp alarm now operates through a cell phone.

Thanks; I suspected there was nothing in my narrow niche..  probly time to buy something crummy until I have time to build a good one..

I wired an emergency light into the same circuit as my freezers.  Its one of those lights you see in public buildings that turn on when the power goes out. This way if I lose freezer power the light comes on.  I expect you could wire an audible alarm to the same circuit as the light bulb.