BEHIND THE SCIENCE

 

Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) preservation equipment plays a vital — although often overlooked — role in protecting valuable research and products. If any of this equipment fails, the consequences can be catastrophic, with years of research potentially destroyed and life-saving treatments lost.

 

To help minimize the chance of this happening, it’s important to procure the right ULT freezers. And that means applying appropriate scrutiny when evaluating and selecting any new unit.

 

But what does that look like in practice? What should you pay attention to in order to help maximize your chance of securing a fit-for-purpose ULT freezer that you can be confident in?

 

Here, we summarize our five top tips to help you make the best decision.

 

Before anything else, you will need to be clear on exactly what amount of storage you need and have a clear idea of the floor space available within your lab to house any ULT units. No matter how good your ULT freezer is, if it can’t fit in your lab or store all the necessary inventory, then it won’t be much help. A range of ULT units are available on the market to meet a wide variety of capacity and floor space requirements, from high-volume products ideal for bulk storage to slim upright or chest units that maximize capacity in a small footprint, so be sure to evaluate what would be the best fit for your specific needs.

 

Additionally, keep in mind that many ULT freezers need a certain amount of clearance at the front and back of the unit to allow adequate ventilation, which can catch some people off guard when planning how units might fit into their lab space. Some ULT freezers, however, including all PHCbi brand ULT freezers, do not have any ventilation clearance requirements for the left and right sides of the equipment.

 

The impact of frequent ULT freezer breakdowns and repairs is hard to overstate — from a higher-than-anticipated total cost of ownership and increased risk of ruined samples and products, to severe operational disruption. It’s no surprise, then, that reliability should be top of mind in your ULT freezer search.

 

Thankfully, several ULT freezers have been specifically designed with reliability in mind and include technologies and features that help ensure smooth operation throughout the entire freezer lifecycle. Take the TwinGuard Series of PHCbi ULT Freezers, for example — these units include two refrigeration systems that work independently to hold ultra-low temperatures. If one system experiences a service event, the other can take over to ensure continued operation.

 

While checking features is important, to really maximize the chance of selecting the most reliable equipment, we recommend looking for ULT freezers from equipment providers with a strong reputation and a history of field-proven reliability. It’s unlikely that an equipment provider will last many decades in the space without having consistently delivered dependable products.

 

Speaking with colleagues who might have already used the equipment can be just as valuable, as is seeking out repair technicians for any insights they can share about units that frequently break down. Browsing public and professional forums can help give an early indication into the reliability of equipment such as ULT freezers, too (although information from such sources should be interpreted with caution).

 

The ability of a ULT freezer to maintain a uniform temperature in its chamber and to return to its set temperature quickly after door opening are critical for preserving the quality of stored samples and products. That’s why these performance metrics should be near the top of the consideration list when selecting a ULT freezer.

 

Understanding and comparing temperature uniformity and recovery claims, however, isn’t always easy: testing practices and conditions can understandably vary on account of the lack of standardized industry guidance, claims may cover product families rather than individual units, and definitions can sometimes be unclear. For example, when it comes to temperature recovery, the ambient temperature at which freezers are tested is not necessarily the same across equipment providers. This can lead to different temperature gradients between the unit interior and the exterior environment, and, consequently, different temperature deviations and recovery times, even when the door is open for the same duration.

 

That said, ENERGY STAR® testing results (if a company has them) can help provide an unbiased one-to-one comparison of temperature recovery results, since ENERGY STAR testing is standardized and conducted by verified independent organizations. If the lab equipment provider doesn’t have ENERGY STAR testing results for their product, you can always ask for full details about the conditions they used during their own testing. For example, what was the ambient temperature and how full were the units during recovery testing? How many temperature probes were used, both in recovery and uniformity testing? These are just a few of the factors that can impact results.

 

The most advanced ULT freezers today offer a host of features and functionality that can better ensure temperature uniformity and quick recovery after door opening. PHCbi VIP ECO freezers, for example, use a unique internal heat exchanger that increases the performance envelope to provide uniformity and stability even in high ambient temperatures. Moreover, the TwinGuard Series ULT freezers achieve temperature stability during initial startup and maintain uniformity following routine door openings and throughout the steady state. You can review the ENERGY STAR testing results for these and other PHCbi freezers in ENERGY STAR’s regularly updated spreadsheet of test results.

 

Budget restrictions are a reality for many laboratories, and they can all too often influence purchasing decisions for equipment such as ULT freezers. But while choosing a lower-cost (and potentially lower-quality) ULT might help reduce capital expenditure and help purchasing teams meet spending goals on paper, it could in fact lead to a much higher cost overall. When considering equipment, then — especially cheaper equipment — it’s important to consider more than just the upfront costs.

 

For example, check if there are any additional charges for maintenance call-outs and if the product’s warranty provides both parts and labor coverage. Perhaps most importantly, though, you should consider the potential impact of more frequent breakdowns on your lab (which could be a problem if your cheaper unit is of a lower quality) — including the time researchers have to take away from research to transfer samples to a working unit. When frequent breakdowns become a significant problem, companies may even find themselves needing to purchase a newer, better-quality piece of equipment, and sooner than anticipated, which can drastically increase lab expenditure.

 

In many scenarios, then, buying lower-priced preservation equipment is not the prudent cost-saving measure it first appears to be. Often, the pitfalls and unexpected costs can push the cost of ownership of lower-priced units higher than investing in a more reliable solution at the outset. Thankfully, ULT freezers are now available that offer a good balance between cost and reliability, helping minimize risk at a more palatable upfront price point.

 

Reducing the environmental impact of research is becoming an increasing priority for many labs. But it’s not just the planet that benefits from greener ULT freezer technology and design — laboratories do too.

 

Less sustainable ULT units can negatively impact your lab in ways that aren’t always obvious. For example, ULT units that consume more electricity to maintain the same level of performance likely expel relatively more heat into the lab space, which can put more stress on HVAC systems, as well as increase the temperature recovery time of the ULT unit (owing to a larger difference between the ULT chamber temperature and the ambient temperature). The elevated strain on both the HVAC system and the ULT unit may even lead to premature failure, which can be costly and disruptive.

 

So, before you make your purchasing decision, be sure to thoroughly review ULT units’ sustainability and energy efficiency claims to make sure the ULT freezer you select offers performance without compromising on sustainability and energy efficiency. When doing this, it’s best to review any available independent data. ENERGY STAR certification is a great place to start, providing easy access to trusted, independent performance and energy consumption measurements that help you better understand and compare manufacturers and products so you can make more informed decisions.

 

In many cases, finding which ULT units are ENERGY STAR certified and their energy efficiency performance is just a few clicks away (we have a dedicated page detailing all of our PHCbi ENERGY STAR Certified Preservation Products, for example).

 

There’s a lot to consider before purchasing a ULT freezer. But with ULT units playing such a critical (albeit often overlooked) role in preserving precious samples and products, it’s important to take the time to properly evaluate each option.

 

To maximize the chance of making the right decision for your lab, make sure you consider your capacity requirements and available floorspace; the unit’s reliability, temperature recovery, and uniformity performance; the potential lifetime cost of the purchase; and the unit’s energy efficiency.

 

In doing so, you stand a better chance of settling on a dependable unit that delivers on performance while mitigating risks, leaving you and your lab to focus on the things that matter most — driving scientific progress.

 

Keen to learn more about confidently selecting a ULT freezer that meets your specific needs?