Last Thursday, the government presented its savings plan in the face of the current energy crisis, indicating the possibility of potential cuts this winter. These cuts would occur in the event of too much pressure on the network, in the case therefore of significant consumption peaks. The said cuts would be temporary and planned by the RTE network manager, and would aim in this case to restore a balance between electricity supply and demand, as a last resort to avoid the occurrence of widespread outages, according to TF1.

As reported by Midi Libre, the EcoWatt site will allow you to keep an eye on the situation, by means of a map of the network and a color code, turning red in the event of overwork of the network, allowing according to the site a “responsible consumption”. In any case, if this device does not make it possible to prevent “blackouts”, it can at least be used to indicate to users in advance the arrival of a power cut.

But what to do in this scenario? Is emptying your freezer and consuming all your frozen foods quickly really the best course of action? No. Indeed, as Xavier Piechaczyk, president of the RTE, stipulated on the TF1 set last Friday evening, these planned cuts will not exceed two hours. However, a good quality freezer would keep the cold for up to 48 hours, still according to TF1.

This prolonged preservation of the cold, even without a power supply, is made possible not only by good insulation of your freezer, depending mainly on its quality, but also by the fact that frozen foods act as a cooler, like a block of ice would do in a cooler.

Emptying the freezer completely will therefore not be necessary, and removing food would considerably speed up the process of heating the appliance. Indeed, according to TF1, a half-empty freezer would keep its contents frozen for only 24 hours, compared to 48 hours for a full freezer.