We decided to do some home testing of a standard basement freezer with the Watts Up Pro power meter. How much energy is used, and how cold does the freezer get when the compressor is running? To find out, we used a LabQuest and a Watts Up Pro to log the data over a 48-hour period. The graph tells an interesting story and raises several questions:

  • Why is the pattern so regular?
  • Why does every other spike in the temperature data go so much higher? What happens to the power use when the temperature spikes?

Watts Up Pro calculates a wide variety of data, including maximum watts, frequency, and cumulative costs. Logger Pro or LabQuest App collects data on the following types of data simultaneously: Real Power, Potential, Current, and Apparent Power.

Temperature and power recorded for a home freezer. The temperature falls while the compressor runs. Spikes are from the self-defrost cycle.