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Blog by Lydia Wunderley, LEAF and 6R champion, heading the Faculty\u2019s recycling working group.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Following on from the <\/span>Manchester Institute for Cancer Research blog<\/span><\/a>, nine principal investigators (PIs) from the Molecular Cellular Function division have turned their ULT freezers up to \u201370C.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A special thank you to: Philip Woodman, Viki Allan, Joan Chang, Alex Davies, Ximena Soto, Gino Poulin, Martin Lowe,\u202fHilary Ashe and Mark Ashe.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the lab, the top two energy consumers are fume cupboards and ultra-low temperature freezers (ULTs). Based on a typical 4-bedroom house consuming 11.2 kWh\/day in the UK, on average, a ULT set at -80\u00b0C the equivalent of 1.2 homes. In FBMH, we have about 600 ULTs!\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The energy consumption of your ULT depends on the ambient temperature, and how often the door is opened. \u202fEvery time a sample is retrieved, the temperature rises and must be lowered again. ULTs also release a lot of heat, and we use additional energy to cool them down.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Actions we can take to save energy with ULTs and lengthen their life span:<\/span><\/b> \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Until relatively recently all freezers were set at -65\u00b0C or -70\u00b0C and the types of samples being stored have not changed significantly. The storage temperature decreased because manufacturers designed compressors which could reach lower temperature.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many Institutions have switched back to -70\u00b0C or -75\u00b0C<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It can be a big decision to be made by PIs, sometimes it may require an agreement with regulators such as the HTA. We have put together a <\/span>short Powerpoint to review the evidence on chilling up found in the literature so far<\/span><\/a>.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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