Blast freezer protocols

Some years ago (before I joined the staff), my library decided to
keep its blast freezers turned off unless they were needed, in order
to save energy.  (I know there are differing opinions about whether
keeping them off most of the time actually saves energy, but we're
hoping not to reexamine that now.)

Earlier this week, a technician working on our cold storage unit
expressed surprise that the blast freezers were kept off most of the
time--in his experience, this allows mold to develop.  (The cold
storage unit and blast freezer are near each other).  We haven't
noticed any up till now (and didn't spot any when we looked again
yesterday), but it made me wonder--those of you with blast freezers,
do you keep them on or off? If you keep them off, have you noticed
mold? (or anything else that shouldn't be there?).

Rebecca Hatcher
Preservation Coordination Librarian
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale University, New Haven, CT
203-432-2960


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:26
                 Distributed: Sunday, November 27, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-25-26-016
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