What Is The Dollar Value of Your Fridge/Freezer Contents

MeesusEff on 24/11/2023 - 18:45
Last edited 24/11/2023 - 18:48

Lost power to our area at 10pm 2 nights ago and Western Power kept pushing out the estimated restoration time whenever it got close. Because they did that, we didnt think to bring over what we could save to my family and everything was gone by the time power was restored - 26 hours later on a 39 degree day.

Already submitted a claim but now just curious, what is the value of your fridge/freezer contents? My insurance only covers up to $400, but most of them have no excess except…. Woolworths Insurance (that I've looked at so far anyway) , felt pretty ironic

Food & Grocery Refrigerator

Comments

  • Some Human on 24/11/2023 - 19:05

    About $150.
    But I have a generator for these events. My power goes out for like 5 days a year after a major storm.

  • outlander on 24/11/2023 - 19:18
    +1

    Very little, most of it locked up in various condiments. Nothing I'd bother claiming over but it would be annoying.

    For these situations, there's always
    A. Ice from the servo
    B. Running from a car battery+ inverter (New fridges have some pretty small compressors. I saw one that ran on 60watts)
    C. Portable fridges
    D. Generator if you have it, as mentioned above by Some Human. But they are large, heavy, require maintenance and fresh petrol, so not my first choice for just one fridge

    • MeesusEff on 24/11/2023 - 19:59

      We don't go camping so I can't justify buying a car fridge that we might use once every 2 years lol, same with generator.

      Freezer was where we had the $$, I have a bad habit of buying meat and then just chucking it in the freezer lol.

      • Davo1111 on 24/11/2023 - 20:14

        Call a friend and ask them if they can store. I'd do it for my mates.

        • MeesusEff on 24/11/2023 - 20:46

          At first we didn't think it would be that long. Power out at 10.20pm they said 1.30am. Then 8am, then 1.30pm, so we went out to my mums at 10am. Then ETA kept delaying til 11.30pm. Went home at 7pm to grab shower stuff and freezer stuff was already soft. We didn't open the fridge and freezer the whole time until then

          • Davo1111 on 25/11/2023 - 03:29

            @MeesusEff: Shrugs. I think you need a new freezer. Mine didn't soften at all

    • lordriffington on 29/11/2023 - 16:59
      +2

      Anyone who has an electric vehicle with vehicle-to-load capability could run an extension cord and plug the fridge into that. That's my plan if we ever have a power outage that looks like it's going to be long enough to make it worth the effort.

      For EVs that have vehicle-to-home/grid, you can power the whole house. That requires having the house set up to use it, but if you had a vehicle with the capability, you'd be silly not to use it.

      • outlander on 30/11/2023 - 09:20

        That's pretty awesome. It's one of the benefits of EV that doesn't get mentioned as often as it should. With the size of their battery, and the power of the inverter system, you can run pretty much everything. Fridge, TV, AC, you're sorted. Battery gets low, you drive to a shopping centre or something and fast charge it

        Have you looked at the output with an oscilloscope? Is it pure or modified sine?

        • lordriffington on 01/12/2023 - 12:38

          I don't even own an oscilloscope, so no. :) I'm sure someone out there has, though.
          This is the most in-depth testing that I've seen anyone do.

          But yeah, it's really useful, not just for emergency situations, but also camping, job sites or anywhere else having a mobile power point is desirable. Hell, I used it to power a decoration for Halloween.
          It's a feature that I think is eventually likely to become standard, at least on anything other than the most basic EV models.

  • 7ekn00 on 24/11/2023 - 19:25

    Freezers ~ $9000 (three freezers hold one whole beef each)
    Fridge ~ $200

    But I also have 3 x ZBM3 batteries that can power the fridge and freezers for about 6 weeks ;)

    Batteries topped up by solar, wind (4 converted windmills and 3 rooftop turbines), hydro (our property has two lakes of approx 1m litres), diesel generator or mains (depending on which is functional and producing charge)!

    • MeesusEff on 24/11/2023 - 20:02

      Oof, yes protect the beef! We just did a big shop on the blackout day and spent $70 on meat, so that was a bit of a heartache. No solar either :( least insurance covers it but now we gotta clear out and restock

  • Davo1111 on 24/11/2023 - 20:13
    +1

    Had the same issue a few months back. Got my $100(?) back from WP. Subsequently i dont freeze that much food.

    Also, my freezer lasted the whole time frozen. I just kept it closed.

  • AustriaBargain on 24/11/2023 - 20:28

    For my own food, probably $250 to replace it all. A lot of that is maple syrup tho.

    • MeesusEff on 24/11/2023 - 20:48

      I'm quite surprised at the dollar values so far, they seem quite low. I think our meat itself is already upwards of $300. Too much Costco bulk buying :( ahh my Costco pizza was one of the casualties, there goes our easy dinner

      • Davo1111 on 29/11/2023 - 22:00

        When you get burnt, you learn and you cut back. I live in a pretty good neighbourhood with underground power, and when the power went out it was a shock. Particularly that my neighbour (whom I share a common wall with) had power.

  • AlienC on 25/11/2023 - 10:11

    Right now it's under $150 but I think I have stored up to $400 once in the fridge or at least my half of it. This includes freezer which right now is just mostly ice cream and pies.

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