What design features specifically make a lab freezer easy to clean and decontaminate in the event of spills or accidents?

There are actually several different features that have been developed for use in lab freezers that make them very easy to clean and decontaminate as necessary. While most labs will have very few issues with spills or accidental contamination it can and does occur. The manufacturers of medical freezers have created a molded plastic interior that has no interior seams. This means that spills and contamination is never hidden from sight in cracks or seams in the interior as you would find in a standard freezer. Since there are no hidden areas cleaning is simple and, using a standard disinfectant and cleaning solution, accidental spills or frozen materials are simple to remove. With a smooth surface internally decontamination is a snap.

In addition the specific material used for the shelves and bins is heavy gauge steel that is treated with a baked on epoxy. This ensures that there is a uniform, smooth and resistant surface area on shelves, bins and wire racks found within the unit itself.

Is there any type of freezer that is specifically designed for enzyme freezing and what features does it offer over a standard laboratory freezer?

In fact there are specific enzyme freezers that can also be used as a general freezer. There is also the option to have an enzyme freezer and a general freezer, which is a good idea in busy lab or where a lot of specimens and samples are handled on a daily basis. The specialized features of the enzyme freezer include slide out and removable drawers that can be used as an effective and very accurate inventory system of what is in the freezer at all times. This is particularly important when you are working with very small samples where individual labeling can be extremely difficult.

Another feature of the enzyme lab freezer is that it does have a slightly larger temperature range than a standard lab freezer. Usually the lower end of the range is -32 degrees Celsius in an enzyme freezer and -30 in a standard lab freezer. The upper end of the range in an enzyme freezer is -12 degrees Celsius with the laboratory freezer at -20 degrees Celsius.

What is the size and weight of a lab freezer?

There are two general sizes, a full sized unit that will be just under 21 cubic feet and a smaller under the counter sized option that is approximately 6 cubic feet. Some manufacturers also make a 7 cubic foot freezer which is similar to the larger free standing unit but is smaller in overall internal and external measurements.

Depending on the size of the unit the weight will vary the larger units, both the 7 and the 20 cubic foot models are usually about 178 pounds or 80.74 kilograms. The smaller under the counter options are just over 100 pounds or approximately 45.8 kilograms.