Monitor your Freezer When you are Away

Mar 7, 2026 by Chef David

By Chef David [Updated February 2025]

What do you worry about when you leave for vacation? I worry about the food I have stored at home, and what will happen if the house loses power. This is most concerning when I have a packed freezer and a full refrigerator. The loss can be devastating, and a mess to clean up. Fortunately, if the refrigerator and freezer doors remain closed, food can remain safe for two to three days at a safe temperature, which is 0° F for a freezer and 40° F for a refrigerator.

Now you can monitor the temperature when you are away from home using thermometers made by ThermoWorks. We monitor the temperature and humidity levels and receive alerts on our phones when the readings are outside acceptable levels.

A Trick

A packed freezer stays cold longer. If your freezer is not packed with food, fill it with bottles or bags of ice. And since heat rises and cold air sinks, try storing more perishable items at the bottom of the freezer. In the event of a power failure, your food should stay colder longer.

NODE – Lets You Know

The NODE TX-5404-Y monitors and provides temperature readings directly to your phone. Once you have installed the ThermoWorks application on your phone, the NODE keeps you connected and informed. It sends alerts if the temperature goes outside your target range or when the battery is low.

The application lets you change your high/low alarms remotely. You can schedule notifications and configure your account on the application (including customizing the names of each NODE device and channel). You can view the temperatures as graphs or numbers.

Setting up the ThermoWorks application was a bit trickier, but once we installed the app, it worked like a charm. It’s easy to physically install the NODE and to add multiple devices to the app.

The NODE is waterproof. It can either be mounted to the wall with powerful magnets or screwed in place. We have ours attached to the freezer door with a probe in the fridge and the freezer with the NODE itself tracking the room temperature. It works using batteries or can be plugged directly into an electric socket. Overall, it works wonderfully.

The NODE is a versatile device that is compatable with ThermoWorks’ full range of probes. It can be used for smoking meats or monitoring other temperature-sensitive appliances, even aquariums or hot tubs.

NODE Wi-Fi Temperature and Temperature/Humidity Monitor

We recently also tested the Temperature/Humidity Monitor, which provides 24/7 monitoring for both humidity and temperature using the ThermoWorks application to send alerts to your phone. One thing to note, the Temperature/Humidity Monitor does not have the probes, which means you can only monitor one environment at a time.

While everyone understands the importance of tracking freezer temperature. Freezers allow us to adjust the temperature setting, but they do not control humidity.

The optimal humidity level for a home freezer should be below 20%. (We were surprised to find that our freezer was at a higher-than-optimal humidity.)

Proper humidity helps prevent moisture loss in frozen food and quality. Too dry can cause freezer burn, while excessive humidity can cause moisture condensation. High humidity forces the compressor to overwork, resulting in higher energy costs and potential equipment failure. You can also use it to monitor home humidity levels, since high humidity can cause mold growth and indicate an issue, or to monitor wine cellars.

ThermoWorks believes temperature affects your daily life, and makes thermometers that can make life better. ThermoWorks, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, has decades of experience in the temperature measurement and instrumentation industries.

Thermapen One

Thermapen One Instant-Read Thermometer

ThermoWorks is focused on elevating the user experience from great to extraordinary. We are big fans of Thermapen One. This ‘instant-read’ thermometer is our new favorite and has become an indispensable kitchen staple. It comes in a great variety of colors, which is perfect for the kosher kitchen, allowing you to easily differentiate between meat, dairy, and pareve.

Thermapen One provides functionality and accuracy, making it a delight to use. It is waterproof, rotates, and is easy to read. Thermapen offers speed, with a truly instant read-out in under one second and with accuracy ± 0.5°Fareinheit. The automatic backlight is bright, and the light sensor is sensitive to changes in ambient lighting conditions. The foldaway design protects the probe. In addition to being waterproof, the Thermapen is shockproof and dustproof and uses Biomaster Antimicrobial Silver Ion technology to reduce microbial growth.

This thermometer is smart. It has a motion-sensing sleep and wake mode, which lets it turn itself off and on. The sleep mode saves battery life, allowing a single AAA battery to provide approximately 2,000 hours of power. We have been using ours for over 2 years with the same battery. The display automatically rotates 360° by taking advantage of accelerometer technology to intuitively turn right-side up.

ThermoWorks products can be ordered online.

ThermoWorks eliminates the guesswork from monitoring temperature. Thermapen One makes cooking easier, while NODE lets you monitor your freezer and humidity, sending alerts to your phone, even when you are traveling.