I am off grid solar, so thanks for the KWH. I might be able to run the freezer at night and the second 12 hours during the day, since it uses more power with the pump. With the sun out, should not be a problem. Thank you.
Which solar battery are you running? I’m looking at a Bluetti AC300 with 4 batteries has a max capacity of 12kwatts. Wondering if I can run a cycle off that system.
It IS well worth it. I have had mine for a year and a half, and it's paid for itself in the camping and survival food I have prepared. I make scrambled eggs and bacon bits for camping for less than 20 cents vs. $4 if you buy Mountain Home. And we don't even own a freezer any more.
I suspect you have a 7.5CFM pump hooked up to that thing. Keep an eye out for a 10-12CFM pump that makes a least as high of vacuum as that one (20 micron?). It SHOULD shorten up your run time. The pump oil on those get pretty dirty pretty fast. What you can do is add a mineral oil pre filter. Basically you run two tubes in to a sealed container(strong enough to hold vacuum safely), one long and one short. Put mineral oil in the container high enough to cover the long tube but well clear of the short tube. Connect the long tube to the vacuum chamber and the short tube to the vacuum pump. The "air" drawn out of the vacuum chamber will be bubbled through the mineral oil filtering the "air". If you do not release the pressure in the chamber before you shut off the vacuum pump, the mineral oil will be sucked into the vacuum chamber.
Thank you for all the videos, they help a lot. I have a large freeze dryer and mine never uses less than 50kw each time. I always freeze everything before I load. Any idea why mine is so high?
41.90 per month running it 3 times per week. Just over 500.00 per year. Still falls short of the over all cost of food from the store or commercial freeze dried.
I disagree. Have you priced freeze dried food? It will depend on your situation. It's not for everybody. Have you measured to see what years of running a deep freeze costs?
Yes but if you are using the numbers that you are saving by using your own grown goods then you have a savings. I would agree otherwise. I do buy freeze-dried and it is not cheap. Very true.
Reading your responses it really seems like it is a toss up as to if it is a cost saver. I had been considering one, but this throws it in doubt especially since I am moving towards off grid power. I think what defines if makes sense is, where you are getting a majority of your food supply. If you are growing it yourself and only occasionally are processing store bought items it would seem more viable than if you where just further processing store bought foods. I think of canning the same way. Yes, I can buy a can of peas or jelly much cheaper than I can process one, but I like my stuff better and know exactly what went into it. Furthermore, if the grocery store goes away for whatever reason, I can still carry on as I have the tools and skills to do it.
The person above has not done the math correctly. Also, think of this. If you store something in a deep freeze for 5, 10, 20 years, how much would it cost in comparison to a freeze dry cycle? You pay up front, but reap many benefits later on. You also have little to no waste of food (no freezer burn, no power outage loss of deep freeze contents, etc.) You also only need to rehydrate what you need at the time. That is just 1 of the many many positives. I also like to know what is in my food and where it came from. Try figuring that out on a commercial freeze dried product. To me that is priceless.
Great info to know... Is there some "minimum" run time regardless of size? So, for example, is a very small batch gonna cost the same as a "medium" batch... so you might as well make a Medium? or something like that?
Outstanding share, I live off grid for the most part and this info. will be VERY useful as I upgrade my solar/batt setup and capture more warm season abundance here in southern VT. I just bought the large unit from Harvest Right, and am thrilled about this now being within reach of even thrifty part-time instructors/solar crew worker bees who make less than 30K per yr. NOT retired at 40, heh heh. This is a huge deal, we could all use less plastic in our oceans and bellies, and the increase in nutrient density and decades of storage potential are mighty bonuses! Here come more Ball jar & O2 absorber purchases, oh yeah. Guess I can put my "high flying autonomous drone-based personal atmospheric freeze dryer" plans on hold. Keep posting these great videos, merci mate.
if you are using ball jars, you don't nee oxy absorbers you can vacuum seal using the freeze dryer. That way you are only dependant on the seal, not the seal and the packet. Here's the video: ruclips.net/video/fJXYPaYvKL0/видео.html
I would love to hear how you are going running your freeze dryer off grid. I want to get one, but two things are stopping me - the fact it costs about the same as a used car to buy and if it will run my batteries down too much trying to run it on solar. I don't want to ruin my batteries or have to stop a run halfway through because I am running out of power. Any information on your off grid set up you are using to run it would be helpful.
While you are thinking of the cost to run a batch of food in a FD, consider what it costs to run a freezer for the length of time the food will be good. The Freeze-dried food will last 20-30 years and not spoil if electricity goes off. Plus, you will lose everything in a freerzer if power is off for a long time (months or years). So freeze drying it is a one-time cost, whereas keeping food frozen in a freezer can be longterm.
Interesting. Thanks for the information. It's good to know what your options are, and be able to compare the ROI between them. Few people would argue that a chest freezer is a poor investment, although it's a bit hard to eat the cost of that as well. About $900 vs $2,500. 314 KwH / year, so $2.62 / month. So it's cheaper, yes... But only if you don't need more than 24.8 cubic feet of frozen food storage, and only if you aren't planning to store the same food in it long enough to develop freezer burn, aka, the taste of true sadness. I like to find the ROI at home, but you need to take into consideration the broader picture. From a pure ROI perspective my upgrade from CFL to LED wasn't enough to be worth the effort. They're about 20% more efficient. That sounds good, but it's only a difference of 3 watts per bulb. I went ahead and did it anyway because CFLs suck and the LEDs were on sale. It took over 2 years for the bulbs to pay for themselves financially, but they became worth it immediately with the quality of life going up. I don't think any of my CFL's even lasted 2 years. The LEDs are as good as the day I got them. Now if it was replacing an incandescent that's a very different story. It would pay for itself after about 40 days.
My freeze dryer has more than paid for itself in a year and a half, and I don't even own a freezer any more. I prepare all our emergency and camping foods in the FD. I also use dehydrators. There is a place for both.
GET equal billing from your utility company--My Gas & Elect. never vary more than a few $$$/month and with a shop behind my house that is heated and cooled and uses some high amp motors my bill would bounce from 80-450/month
I was just thinking about the price of all the meat that has gone up in the last 4 years I have been looking at this machine. As retired people I told my husband if we want to stay on this healthy keto diet we maybe need to bite the bullet. Nice video! Thank you.
Totally understand and can relate... we have been keto for nearly a year now, and I just started saving everything I can for a small or medium harvest right... THANK GOODNESS there's a company only 125 miles from my home here in oregon, that sells them... just travel to visit with the sister in law, and don't have to pay any shipping! WOOHOOHOO!!! WIN, WIN!!!
Just got ares first thing we put in it was sour cream because were on keto and use a lot of it tried freezing it but it separates when it thaws I tried some tonight when it came out added a little water whisked it with a fork nice creamy and delicious
Average price in the US is 12 cents per kwh - in the summer during peak hours I pay 47 cents per kwh. I'll be buying Honeyville freeze dried thanks.....
I noticed that your Amps were running at almost 15A during the final drying. I mainly run 15A breakers available in my house, so will I run into issues having a standard sized freeze dryer? Do I need a dedicated 20A? great video..thanks!
I was told to plug my Harvest Right into a DEDICATED 20 amp circuit because when the pump motor starts up it draws A LOT of current. Later, it settles down, but motor start up sucks a lot of juice.
It does pull more when it first starts up. I had a current meter on the pump that was only 15 Amps and it never pulled more than that. I do have the old JB pump though.
you say that your bill will be higher . ? is if you are canning food does that come out free ? so its going to cost you one way are another just depends on how long you want to save it
I have been trying to find something like or an equivalent to this, for larger home appliances, like a 240 volt, 30 amp, 4 prong plug clothes dryer. Any suggestions?
Mkay, with a freeze dryer you're effectively running 2 motors. Compressor to run the coolant and a motor to run the vacuum pump. So yeah, Basically equivalent to 2 refrigerators being run at the same time. Still, $3.49 + cost of materials per mylar bag is still cheaper in most cases than buying prepackaged freeze dried foods. Still looking forward to getting my own machine. :D
I was looking at solar systems to run mine, as a back up. I have purchased a medium sized unit, does anyone have any suggestions on the appropriate sized solar system to keep one of these running 24 hrs a day?
I think freezing ahead of your cycle would cut the time down quite a bit. I have so much food that gets frost bitten in my freezer(s), I think this will be well worth the electric cost. I hate throwing food out.
Curious...wonder if one of those simple 'solar dryer' gadgets that don't use electricity but costs quite a bit; i am not tech minded to make my own especially with the black insect netting so i'd find it better to go ahead and buy one...bit curious, could the non electric/solar 'dehydrator' be used during the day and then at night(s) be placed into an electric dehydrator and this might stretch the savings without sacrificing quality...???
I have both a freeze dryer and TWO dehydrators, and there is a place for all. I use them for different foods and applications. The dehydrators prepare stored food that lasts a short time (months for some things, up to 2 years for others) and never rehydrate back to the original. The FD prepares food for storage of 20-30 years, and most of it will rehydrate back to looking and tasting just like the original. You can't tell the difference in most cases, although much FD food can be eaten without rehydrating. My grandkids love FD fruit as is. FD whole-kernel corn tastes like candy. All our emergency food is FD food, as is most of our camping food and my celiac grandson's GF foods. The cost of electricity is not prohibitive. Compare the cost of buying FD foods to the cost of making your own.
I constantly experiment. Better to start with frozen corn or fresh corn than canned. Canned has too much liquid. My next project will be freeze drying seeds for long term storage, in their packets and separately. That has to be what was done to those long-term packages of seeds you can buy.
I too have multiple dehydrators and a freeze dryer and do a ton of canning also. You are right all of these options have their place. I love dehydrating and powdering things. I also have a vacuum sealer that seals bags and jars of dehydrated goods. Keep up the good work.
@@Lewisusa11 I use one dehydrator for onions, peppers, and garlic only --- outdoors at the end of my long orange extension cord. If the neighbors come out and sniff the air with a puzzled look, I go out and sniff the air with a puzzled look, too! 😆
I just got my Harvest Right machine and was interested in setting up a Kill A Watt. How do you have yours set up? Are you using an extension cord instead of directly plugging into wall? My Harvest Right manual specifically tells me not to use an extension cord. It would make my life much easier if I could. What weight extension cord are you using? I would like to add an extension cord as long as it won't screw up my machine.
If you need to make an extension cord, make it as short as possible and use 10/3 wire. My large FD uses the 5-20R plug/outlet so you will need to use those. Just make the cord yourself as you will have a hard time finding one that is the right length etc. I have the Kill-o-watt meter but it is not 5-20R compliant. I will see if they offer one. Good luck.
Well in California you’re totally off on your costs. Here in Los Angeles using SCE its $0.13 per KW/HR plus an additional $0.20 per KW/HR in delivery charges, fees and taxes. So if you live in California you’re actually paying $0.33 per KW/HR.
Join my facebook group and post your question. There are some people in the community that go sell at tradeshows and events. facebook.com/groups/retiredat40livelifesimple
Would a small pharma freeze dryer consume less energy or the small and medium are about the same? i did notice someone said the large cost more than the small and medium but i have no idea.
a major consideration for buying one of these machines for a church, family or home is power outages. it is better to run one of these than to have expensive food rotting in a freezer.
AMEN! I use mine to prepare survival food and food for taking camping. It's pennies on the dollar. Mine has well paid for itself in about a year and a half. I did buy a good vacuum sealer. Ziploc bags don't keep a vacuum. We don't do anything for hurricane warnings except top off the gas in the car. I don't even own a freezer any more. That is a huge savings of electricity.
$3.5 isn’t a lot for food storage for 25 years! This doesn’t present ongoing cost for storage. You can continue to store who refrigeration. If you were storing your food a freezer will fill up, freeze dried food can be stored on a shelf.
A small solar set up could greatly offset some of the cost of operation for us especially in the summer. I will have to look at your video on solar if you have one.
I am building a solar dehydrator for off-grid, too, but dehydrated food lasts a brief time. Freeze dried food lasts 20-30 years. Also most dehydrated food doesn't rehydrate back to the original state. You can't make a grape out of a raisin. Jerky doesn't turn into a steak. Dried apples can't pass for fresh apples. Much of the freeze dried food, when rehydrated, can't be told from the original. I use mine to make emergency food and camping food and food for my celiac grandson. It's awesome! I also have 2 electric dehydrators for different tasks. One is for far outdoors for peppers, onions, and garlic.
freeze drying is not meant to be a replacement for refrigeration or freezing. Freeze drying is for long term storage (even six months onward) and only then will the initial cost of the unit make sense. Also consider that most foods kept to long in those will go bad in short term or within a year for the freezer. Dig to the bottom of your deep freeze or the back of your freezer and see what spoiled food you have been paying to keep spoiled. You can also achieve things culinarily or make snacks that cannot be made any other way. Use your watt meter on any led tv and you'll be surprised at what it draws. Personally I have a hot tub so all worries about that stuff is not worth worrying about unless the power goes out. Then if you had a freeze dryer or bought freeze dried food you'll be glad.
Good points. I live over 20 miles from the nearest food market but have a ton of farmers within arms reach. Abundance in the fall and starvation in the winter. Have three Freezers that are only as good as the power company's ability to keep power on and since I have plenty of storage space Freeze Dried is my go to. I tried some of the Companies that sell survival food and it's quite tasty and when the cyber attacks take out the power grid this source just might be your salvation--Never Forget WATER---You can live for weeks w/o food only days w/o water.
Ran it for a week which resulted in 4 batch's, 126 more KWH more than last week, additional cost per week of $22.60, which calculates out to be $1175 of electricity per year if you run this none stop.
Not a question, but we have a site we are building for people like us. and I would love for you to be on the forums. I think there is alot of things people would like to ask and be able to search for answers. RUclips is not a good medium for that.
Hi, hope you don’t mind me going off thread but I’ve searched everywhere for the answer (Harvest Right haven’t answered my email yet) done our first batch and there is a lot of ice forming around the door, mostly by the handle. Any ideas what the cause could be. I’m certain the door is shut completely. Grateful if anyone can shed some light here. Thanks very much, great videos.
If the door is sealed, you will see a suction ring all the way around from the rubber seal meeting up with the door. It looks like a sucker fish on the side of an aquarium.
@@jonathangomez1172 Yep - that's why I bought it. I hated dealing with the oil pump. Mine did have a fail in the first 8 months of use, but HR rebuilt it under warrantee and even covered the shipping. That was 18 months ago with no issues since. I run my large dryer almost 24/7, so my pump gets a work out.
940 KWH ? What do you live in a Cave of 350ft/sq? I have an 1100 ft/sq house and equal shop with 6.5 tons of A/C and I average 1900 KWH/month in the Deep South. I'm trying to catch Al Gore's 23,000 KWH for one of his properties.
I spent over 20 years travelling the world for various Oil DRILLING Contractors and have a huge prejudice for Petroleum and I believe any reasoning person can see that the World is Petroleum Driven, including the Freeze Dry equipment your tube is reviewing. I'm also a huge fan of Nuclear since I was one of Hyman Rickovers Students. Alternative energy sources are fine and one day they will become economically viable along with algae fuel instead of Corn Ethanol.(I love my Pork and I like them Corn Fed). In my 80 years I have seen 90% of all the technological advances in man kinds existence and I have witnessed more Phony Science get silently swept under the carpet for fear of killing the entire EPA, whose initial objective was Clean Air & Water, which they have had some degree of success even while pushing the narrative that fracking was causing methane in drinking water from a 35 ft. well? When you rely on the general Publics ignorance about water & oil & fracking to Kill something that has been going on since the turn of the last century seems a bit out of bounds in my opinion. To the point of a very "efficient" home. I built one in Friendwood TX. in the 70's I was using variable speed technology for my A/C before people knew what SEER was and the Vent skinning of my house and Roof caused a 25 degree delta "T" when the outside temp was 98 with 90+% RH. The problem was I subjected my family to Sick House Syndrome before Legionnaires disease was discovered. My current home is well ventilated to prevent that mistake again and using reverse air flow for efficient use of Nat.gas(methane) and electricity (0.11cents /KWH) Contrary to the "Scientists" who forecast we would have mass starvation by the year 2000 if we didn't do something about the world population reaching 2 Billion souls. Another Myth busted after 40 years of scare mongering. I have finally reached the point in my life that I can honestly say--I was born a Narcissist Liberal ( Me, Me, Me !) and somewhere about graduation from HS I figured out my parents were not as stupid as I first imagined and by age 30-35 I was the smartest SOB on the planet ( Just ask Me) Then a few years short of my 80th year I finally came to understand Man is on the cusp of great discoveries ( you ain't seen nothing yet!) BUT -we still know 1/10 of 1% of practically NOTHING. We may be Smart but we have barely scraped the surface of being Intelligent! I enjoyed your analysis of the Harvest Right and the oilless Vacuum pump is new to me. I spent the last 20 years owning my own HVAC business and have a shop full of Robinaire & JB vacuum pumps. I'm going to inquire about the refrigerant used in the HR, since more and more are on the outlawed list. don't get me started on that farce.
900kw average. My LOWEST month the the past 12 months was 1304kw and my highest was 3533 and my average is 1870… 😮 . I haven’t gotten past that part yet, because obviously we go big or go home on electricity consumption.. 😢😂
Almost $4 to stop food from spoiling in less than 30 days on average potentially having the ability to last 20 years plus I think that cost is nothing if you divide it out that way
Nice video... My only question would be the comparison of usage cost for the 3 different sizes. If they all use the same compressor and vacuum pump and cycle times are similar, what would the price per pound usage be.
Thanks for your comment. Price per pound would vary for what type of food you are drying as cycle times vary dramatically, even doing the same types of foods. My dryer is the medium size, which i think is the best value out of the 3.
I know it depends on what your drying, I'm just wondering if the 5 tray adds 25% more food than the 4 tray machine, does it take 25% longer to dry? cost 25% more to operate? Or are the cycle times the same for each machine (if all machines were drying the same food, just different amounts) I know you don't have this info, was just a passing thought, I did request that info from Harvest Right after watching your vides.
After receiving a response email and calling and talking to Harvest Right and some extensive math, here is the conclusion. Cost per batch is 23% lower with the medium machine but the large machine gives you about 25% more product. So using an average price per batch based on power consumption to dry the same type of product (60 trays worth) the small machine would cost $30.00 for 20 batches, the medium machine would cost $28.88 for 15 batches and the large machine would cost $28.80 for 12 batches . So total cost to use the medium or large machines is pretty much the same, it comes down to how much you do and how fast you want to do it it.
Thank you for this as it solidifies my decision not to purchase one. I live in Alaska, where our energy costs are a little over 20 cents per kwh. To justify the cost of the machine and to build my food supplies, I would need and want to keep it running all month. That would add around $90 per month to my already high bill. The math makes the machine fiscally irresponsible.
I think it is a matter of time before there is competition. Competition = lower prices. Right now there is not anyone even on the same planet as far as price so there is no incentive for Harvestright to cut their price.
Who said cut price? This is a social media platform. My point is everything is data-mined and this is owned by Google which admits it. If there is positive data and enough comments such as "I have to get one..." Prices go up. The tiny home movement is losing it's hold as a way to beat home taxes (on wheels) due to the increased numbers of people doing it and not all but much data was gathered right here. Rules are changing because the government views the movement as a tax loss and they have strongly suggested recuperation efforts to county and city governments. How long yo can have a tiny home (mobile) on a property or public street. States are increasing in numbers where if a tiny home is parked on anyones property exceeding a time limit they are thereby taxed as a home and the land owner suffers the tax. We need to rethink our communications. Let me give another example. All operating systems now have to be designed with loophole accessible for national security to access all personal computers and a built in method of listening and viewing. Windows 10, readily admitted for awhile, every keystroke is recorded and if the user is off-line, when they access the net that info is immediately absorbed by Microsoft, Google and subcontractors. As a hobby, I write. If I wrote something worthy of publishing and a deal was struck, it could already be claimed in rights under some insane internet clauses the government says ar so complex they don't know where to start in an attempt to ensure privacy restrictions. There has actually been cases of writers ripped off via their own computer. The old way was a typewriter, non accessible to others and you mailed yourself a copy of the manuscript and kept it sales. The postmark served as proof of when written and was known as the poor mans copyright. That ability, won many suits against unsavory publishers in the past. Now there are other tricks up their sleeves. My brother has been privately servicing big banks (systems) for years. I once asked about us going cashless and two years before it started he said you'd b able to walk in a store and the inventory loads to your cell and you check yourself out. He won't comment on cashless and has refused to answer any such questions related and or political. Basically he thinks Bill Gates is a god and I no longer have anything to do with my sister or brother in-law who have some pretty sick ideas of how the world should be run. No big deal, I'm no sellout for the U.N., a one world government or bringing America down in any way shape or form. Trump, love him or hate him, he's the most real President since Rockefeller got Jimmy Carter to initiate actions that would advance a one world government and for financial gain to countries to play, they get our jobs. Housing took a dive, unemployment climbed, a recession resulted and Canda shipped in lumber while American loggers and mill workers lost their homes not to mention jobs. I've been keeping an eye on this crap for over 30 years and it mazed me how still ... people are so damn dumb as to think it's a left vs right issue when the sellouts are in both parties and why things were able to advance faster with George Jr., as President and almost raced forward with Obama. China, has a software system designed by none other than Google. It's used in a way Google, wants to here. If you speak or go to anything or associate with anyone in opposition to the coming dictatorial government your credit rating goes down and how far determines your communication use accessibility. It's also used to publicly humiliate people in favor of whatever the politics are and a person becomes and outcast. Check out Glen Beck on youtube. Time to go ... @@thefreezedryingcommunity
It's too bad that I didn't see your video before I purchased my medium size freeze dryer. Something that I didn't take into consideration was that here where we live in San Diego California is that we currently pay $0.41 per kilowatt hour. We have made 91 batches since we got the freeze dryer and we usually run from $5.60 a batch to $12.00 a batch. This is not too bad if we are freeze drying from our garden but it makes it much worse if we are purchasing from Costco or other supermarkets because with the cost of the food plus the energy cost it really isn't very cost effective especially since the California Public Utility Commission is going to approve a power rate increase later this year. It makes Mountain House not look too bad cost wise.
Wow! That's a lot for power. Probably about 3 or 4 times more than the national average. I supposed it makes you much more strategic about what you are freeze drying.
Do the metal trays come with the unit or do you buy separate ? Was at the website and thinking of doing the layaway plan for the standard. They are including other items such as sealer and mylar bags. I have been buying #10 cans of Augusta farms products eggs lentils etc, but the meat is so expensive and to me protein is what is needed most.
The metal trays do come with and mine also included the sealer and bags. The meat that comes out of the harvest right is excellent. It reconstitutes well! I get lots of beef and pork from relatives who are farmers and we always have leftovers. The harvest right has been a great way to keep it from going to waste.
Richard D Keep in mind that eggs are not only a great source of protein, but the protein in eggs is considered the "gold standard" because of how well your body uses it.
Ok, I’m confused. Is the cost $3.49 per typical load (30 hours +/-) or $3.49 per each hour that the load is running? I’m seeing people freak out over this cost... but if that is the total cost per load, I don’t understand why they are freaking out. 🤔
@@richardgray8593 Then why on earth are people so damned upset over this?! Have they never priced retail freeze dried food? That’s a bargain beyond bargains! Not to mention the fact that freeze dry is far more nutrient dense than dehydrated.
@@highlandmary33 Why? The same reason that if you were on a street corner giving away $100 bills, some people would be mad at you if you couldn't break the $100 down into smaller bills. Keep in mind that he was doing this test on a extra-long run, so the average cycle would be less than $3.49
@@richardgray8593 That’s just it. It’s cheap as all get out to run these machines. I can’t understand why some are freaking out... am convinced that “Idiocracy” was a predictive documentary of America’s future, not a comedic movie. Lawdy, flash freeze first and it’s less! Could pay this off in no time by charging others to FD their food for them.
So why did you run for two days instead of 24 hours like you intended, which in itself was supposed to be an extra long cycle? That extended time obviously drove the electrical price way up.
Why am I so confused with Amps and Watts here. Why are the numbers so different? 1348 Watts at 110 volts should be 12.3 amps. Why does it say 14.6 amps? Which value is right? Bigger one would be 290 watts vs 5.2 amps (which should mean 572 watts). My guess is the Watts measure is right and the Amps is somehow incorrect.
1348 / 14.6 = 92 volts. I don't think your house is 92 volts. US electrical should be 114 volt to 126. I was wrong to say 110 volt. So 1348 should be 11.3 amps at 120 volts.
It seems strange to me that someone would be willing to spend $4000 to buy a freeze dryer and then be hesitant to actually use it? Thank you for the test, it helps complete the picture. As the saying goes "Count the cost!"
Technically yes, green energy (solar & wind) would help/be free but only after the break even point has been met re purchase/installation costs. Ideally, you would want to set up your system so you could $sell$ extra power back to the electric company, this way your energy costs would actually be 100% free PLUS you would be making a small profit(!) Technically, you also have to factor in maintenance costs, since your solar/wind storage batteries will need replacing apprx every 5yrs, while your solar panels and/or the generator inside your wind turbine, will need replacing every 15-20yrs (OR SOONER) depending on the quality and/or warranty of the equipment purchased (o:
That's true for dehydrating foods but not for freeze drying that lasts 25 years and has a totally different texture. I have both a freeze dryer and 2 dehydrators. I use each for different applications. I use one small dehydrator far out in the back yard for dehydrating onions, peppers, and garlic. I use a 10-tray for dehydrating foods inside. And I use the freeze dryer for preparing foods that I want to last for years or rehydrate to their original state (not all does). You can't tell the difference between some freeze dried foods that have been rehydrated and the original foods. I'm building a couple of solar dehydrators for use off grid. They all have their place.
I have more than made my freeze dryer pay off in 1 1/2 years by freeze drying foods for camping and survival foods. WELL worth it. I bought a 5-tray for just under $3,000 and have been busy with it. It costs me less than 20 cents to FD 3 scrambled eggs with bacon bits for camping. Compare that with the same FD camping foods you buy ($4). I have a grandson with Celiac disease and prepare GF food for him and can save it as well as make snacks and camping food for him. We are always prepared for hurricanes and power failures or just too tired to cook tonight.
Kathy Young, I'd be interested in knowing what/how you use the two appliances differently. I have a good dehydrator (an Excalibur) but would like to know why you feel it's a good idea to freeze-dry vs dehydrate.
If you can save money by not having to run to grocery store all the time or prepare for disasters and camping Ahead and save from not having a big huge meat freezer in your basement plugged in all the time . I would also like to compare the waste of electricity when someone plays video games, an Xbox , a big huge screen tv, for 8 hours at night for 3 nights in a row.
Only the large dryer is the size of a "Small" dishwasher - the other dryers have a smaller foot print. I use a large dryer. The large dryer will process more food than the small and medium dryer.....combined.
That's good to know. There is so many folks who think $2.50 per cycle is so expensive. If you look at what electricity is saved vs. how much is spent, it far outweighs the cost.
@@thefreezedryingcommunity I'm a little late to the party, just now studying this process, but it seems to me that a FD would be an additional monthly cost if the freezer would still be running. Especially, when I'm reading, the best way to reduce the FD process time, is to pre freeze the food first? Unless I'm missing something.
I decided to go with Gardia. I just drink from mountain streams in the summer. This gives me the ability to consume raw or undercooked food at anytime. No fridge , no freezer, no stove If you are always having diarrhea then you are unlikely to notice more. It's all about the gut flora! Go Gardia or go home!
The self life of the food depends on how it is packaged and stored. If you store it good quality mylar bags with O2 absorbers, you will have an extremely long shelf life.
Without a doubt, if you use it to its full potential, it's saves you money. Food costs, will go up, electricity will go up, prepackaged FD food will go up (everything will go up). Meanwhile, you have freeze dried food from 20 years ago that has not cost anything to keep cold. You did not have to pay the current cost of food and it's the kind of food that YOU chose to freeze.
I am off grid solar, so thanks for the KWH. I might be able to run the freezer at night and the second 12 hours during the day, since it uses more power with the pump. With the sun out, should not be a problem. Thank you.
So how has the last four months been?
Smart thinking Lovepeacejoy!
Which solar battery are you running? I’m looking at a Bluetti AC300 with 4 batteries has a max capacity of 12kwatts. Wondering if I can run a cycle off that system.
retired at 40???? truly??? your my hero! Found you by way of Canadian Prepper. hi from Canada Like the science of your video. good job.
Many people wonder how much it cost to run a cycle in the Harvest right. When they find out, some are shocked and some think it's well worth it.
It IS well worth it. I have had mine for a year and a half, and it's paid for itself in the camping and survival food I have prepared. I make scrambled eggs and bacon bits for camping for less than 20 cents vs. $4 if you buy Mountain Home. And we don't even own a freezer any more.
I suspect you have a 7.5CFM pump hooked up to that thing. Keep an eye out for a 10-12CFM pump that makes a least as high of vacuum as that one (20 micron?). It SHOULD shorten up your run time. The pump oil on those get pretty dirty pretty fast. What you can do is add a mineral oil pre filter. Basically you run two tubes in to a sealed container(strong enough to hold vacuum safely), one long and one short. Put mineral oil in the container high enough to cover the long tube but well clear of the short tube. Connect the long tube to the vacuum chamber and the short tube to the vacuum pump. The "air" drawn out of the vacuum chamber will be bubbled through the mineral oil filtering the "air". If you do not release the pressure in the chamber before you shut off the vacuum pump, the mineral oil will be sucked into the vacuum chamber.
Thank you for all the videos, they help a lot. I have a large freeze dryer and mine never uses less than 50kw each time. I always freeze everything before I load. Any idea why mine is so high?
We live in texas and we use around 1500 in summer and use more in the winter with 2 heat pumps.
Bless you and Merry Christmas
41.90 per month running it 3 times per week. Just over 500.00 per year. Still falls short of the over all cost of food from the store or commercial freeze dried.
I disagree. Have you priced freeze dried food? It will depend on your situation. It's not for everybody. Have you measured to see what years of running a deep freeze costs?
Yes but if you are using the numbers that you are saving by using your own grown goods then you have a savings. I would agree otherwise. I do buy freeze-dried and it is not cheap. Very true.
Reading your responses it really seems like it is a toss up as to if it is a cost saver. I had been considering one, but this throws it in doubt especially since I am moving towards off grid power. I think what defines if makes sense is, where you are getting a majority of your food supply. If you are growing it yourself and only occasionally are processing store bought items it would seem more viable than if you where just further processing store bought foods. I think of canning the same way. Yes, I can buy a can of peas or jelly much cheaper than I can process one, but I like my stuff better and know exactly what went into it. Furthermore, if the grocery store goes away for whatever reason, I can still carry on as I have the tools and skills to do it.
The person above has not done the math correctly. Also, think of this. If you store something in a deep freeze for 5, 10, 20 years, how much would it cost in comparison to a freeze dry cycle? You pay up front, but reap many benefits later on. You also have little to no waste of food (no freezer burn, no power outage loss of deep freeze contents, etc.) You also only need to rehydrate what you need at the time. That is just 1 of the many many positives. I also like to know what is in my food and where it came from. Try figuring that out on a commercial freeze dried product. To me that is priceless.
Don’t forget cost 2500 and with warranty 3000 van tons buckets freeze dryied.
Great info to know... Is there some "minimum" run time regardless of size? So, for example, is a very small batch gonna cost the same as a "medium" batch... so you might as well make a Medium? or something like that?
Outstanding share, I live off grid for the most part and this info. will be VERY useful as I upgrade my solar/batt setup and capture more warm season abundance here in southern VT. I just bought the large unit from Harvest Right, and am thrilled about this now being within reach of even thrifty part-time instructors/solar crew worker bees who make less than 30K per yr. NOT retired at 40, heh heh. This is a huge deal, we could all use less plastic in our oceans and bellies, and the increase in nutrient density and decades of storage potential are mighty bonuses! Here come more Ball jar & O2 absorber purchases, oh yeah. Guess I can put my "high flying autonomous drone-based personal atmospheric freeze dryer" plans on hold. Keep posting these great videos, merci mate.
if you are using ball jars, you don't nee oxy absorbers
you can vacuum seal using the freeze dryer. That way you are only dependant on the seal, not the seal and the packet. Here's the video:
ruclips.net/video/fJXYPaYvKL0/видео.html
I would love to hear how you are going running your freeze dryer off grid. I want to get one, but two things are stopping me - the fact it costs about the same as a used car to buy and if it will run my batteries down too much trying to run it on solar. I don't want to ruin my batteries or have to stop a run halfway through because I am running out of power. Any information on your off grid set up you are using to run it would be helpful.
Would love to see a redo of this video with the new software and pre frozen product. Thanks
Thanks for your comment Tom. I did this fruit video using the new software and prefrozen items.
ruclips.net/video/LyiYigzvIeI/видео.html
Can you re-do this test on your LARGE freeze dryer? Even though they use the same components it still might draw more power. I would like to be sure.
While you are thinking of the cost to run a batch of food in a FD, consider what it costs to run a freezer for the length of time the food will be good. The Freeze-dried food will last 20-30 years and not spoil if electricity goes off. Plus, you will lose everything in a freerzer if power is off for a long time (months or years). So freeze drying it is a one-time cost, whereas keeping food frozen in a freezer can be longterm.
Interesting. Thanks for the information. It's good to know what your options are, and be able to compare the ROI between them. Few people would argue that a chest freezer is a poor investment, although it's a bit hard to eat the cost of that as well. About $900 vs $2,500. 314 KwH / year, so $2.62 / month.
So it's cheaper, yes... But only if you don't need more than 24.8 cubic feet of frozen food storage, and only if you aren't planning to store the same food in it long enough to develop freezer burn, aka, the taste of true sadness.
I like to find the ROI at home, but you need to take into consideration the broader picture. From a pure ROI perspective my upgrade from CFL to LED wasn't enough to be worth the effort. They're about 20% more efficient. That sounds good, but it's only a difference of 3 watts per bulb. I went ahead and did it anyway because CFLs suck and the LEDs were on sale. It took over 2 years for the bulbs to pay for themselves financially, but they became worth it immediately with the quality of life going up.
I don't think any of my CFL's even lasted 2 years. The LEDs are as good as the day I got them.
Now if it was replacing an incandescent that's a very different story. It would pay for itself after about 40 days.
My freeze dryer has more than paid for itself in a year and a half, and I don't even own a freezer any more. I prepare all our emergency and camping foods in the FD. I also use dehydrators. There is a place for both.
Thank you for the awesome video! What size machine is that? Medium or large?
That is an older version medium. This video is an old one
You forgot to mention that electricity cost is higher in the summer so be sure to use it when cheaper rates apply.
Every dollar counts. Thanks for your comment.
GET equal billing from your utility company--My Gas & Elect. never vary more than a few $$$/month and with a shop behind my house that is heated and cooled and uses some high amp motors my bill would bounce from 80-450/month
I was just thinking about the price of all the meat that has gone up in the last 4 years I have been looking at this machine. As retired people I told my husband if we want to stay on this healthy keto diet we maybe need to bite the bullet. Nice video! Thank you.
meat does very well as long as it is not very fatty. If you ever have any questions or concerns before buying or after, feel free to reach out.
Totally understand and can relate... we have been keto for nearly a year now, and I just started saving everything I can for a small or medium harvest right... THANK GOODNESS there's a company only 125 miles from my home here in oregon, that sells them... just travel to visit with the sister in law, and don't have to pay any shipping! WOOHOOHOO!!! WIN, WIN!!!
Just got ares first thing we put in it was sour cream because were on keto and use a lot of it tried freezing it but it separates when it thaws I tried some tonight when it came out added a little water whisked it with a fork nice creamy and delicious
Average price in the US is 12 cents per kwh - in the summer during peak hours I pay 47 cents per kwh. I'll be buying Honeyville freeze dried thanks.....
How do you plug that meter in when the freeze dryer takes a special plug?
I noticed that your Amps were running at almost 15A during the final drying. I mainly run 15A breakers available in my house, so will I run into issues having a standard sized freeze dryer? Do I need a dedicated 20A? great video..thanks!
I don't think you need a dedicated circuit. My freeze dryer is in my basement on a 15 amp with other things on the circuit as well.
that's reassuring to hear...thank you!
I was told to plug my Harvest Right into a DEDICATED 20 amp circuit because when the pump motor starts up it draws A LOT of current. Later, it settles down, but motor start up sucks a lot of juice.
It does pull more when it first starts up. I had a current meter on the pump that was only 15 Amps and it never pulled more than that. I do have the old JB pump though.
You probably would want a 20 amp if available.
you say that your bill will be higher . ? is if you are canning food does that come out free ? so its going to cost you one way are another just depends on how long you want to save it
I have been trying to find something like or an equivalent to this, for larger home appliances, like a 240 volt, 30 amp, 4 prong plug clothes dryer. Any suggestions?
Mkay, with a freeze dryer you're effectively running 2 motors. Compressor to run the coolant and a motor to run the vacuum pump. So yeah, Basically equivalent to 2 refrigerators being run at the same time. Still, $3.49 + cost of materials per mylar bag is still cheaper in most cases than buying prepackaged freeze dried foods. Still looking forward to getting my own machine. :D
I was looking at solar systems to run mine, as a back up. I have purchased a medium sized unit, does anyone have any suggestions on the appropriate sized solar system to keep one of these running 24 hrs a day?
I’m wondering this…. Did you find anything out?
@@armestofamily7618 Not yet, but it has to be doable!
@@armestofamily7618 ruclips.net/video/YAB8kkd4-ys/видео.html
@@MaN-pw1bn Have you managed to figure this out. I am super interested to know if i can run it on solar, inverter etc. Would appreciate it!
@@tristinsolomon04 ruclips.net/video/YAB8kkd4-ys/видео.html
I think freezing ahead of your cycle would cut the time down quite a bit. I have so much food that gets frost bitten in my freezer(s), I think this will be well worth the electric cost. I hate throwing food out.
I prefreeze almost everything
Very useful information. Digging your thinking. Good job bro
Hello, in short what would be the electric pontecia (watts) of the freeze dryer please.
Curious...wonder if one of those simple 'solar dryer' gadgets that don't use electricity but costs quite a bit; i am not tech minded to make my own especially with the black insect netting so i'd find it better to go ahead and buy one...bit curious, could the non electric/solar 'dehydrator' be used during the day and then at night(s) be placed into an electric dehydrator and this might stretch the savings without sacrificing quality...???
This is not a dehydrator, this is a freeze dryer. It pulls 100% of the moisture out of the food. A dehydrator only gets some of it.
I have both a freeze dryer and TWO dehydrators, and there is a place for all. I use them for different foods and applications. The dehydrators prepare stored food that lasts a short time (months for some things, up to 2 years for others) and never rehydrate back to the original. The FD prepares food for storage of 20-30 years, and most of it will rehydrate back to looking and tasting just like the original. You can't tell the difference in most cases, although much FD food can be eaten without rehydrating. My grandkids love FD fruit as is. FD whole-kernel corn tastes like candy. All our emergency food is FD food, as is most of our camping food and my celiac grandson's GF foods. The cost of electricity is not prohibitive. Compare the cost of buying FD foods to the cost of making your own.
Never thought of Kendal corn I will have to give it a try. That is for your comment!
I constantly experiment. Better to start with frozen corn or fresh corn than canned. Canned has too much liquid. My next project will be freeze drying seeds for long term storage, in their packets and separately. That has to be what was done to those long-term packages of seeds you can buy.
I too have multiple dehydrators and a freeze dryer and do a ton of canning also. You are right all of these options have their place. I love dehydrating and powdering things. I also have a vacuum sealer that seals bags and jars of dehydrated goods. Keep up the good work.
@@Lewisusa11 The vacuum sealer is a must.
@@Lewisusa11 I use one dehydrator for onions, peppers, and garlic only --- outdoors at the end of my long orange extension cord. If the neighbors come out and sniff the air with a puzzled look, I go out and sniff the air with a puzzled look, too! 😆
I just got my Harvest Right machine and was interested in setting up a Kill A Watt. How do you have yours set up? Are you using an extension cord instead of directly plugging into wall? My Harvest Right manual specifically tells me not to use an extension cord. It would make my life much easier if I could. What weight extension cord are you using? I would like to add an extension cord as long as it won't screw up my machine.
If you need to make an extension cord, make it as short as possible and use 10/3 wire. My large FD uses the 5-20R plug/outlet so you will need to use those. Just make the cord yourself as you will have a hard time finding one that is the right length etc. I have the Kill-o-watt meter but it is not 5-20R compliant. I will see if they offer one. Good luck.
Well in California you’re totally off on your costs. Here in Los Angeles using SCE its $0.13 per KW/HR plus an additional $0.20 per KW/HR in delivery charges, fees and taxes. So if you live in California you’re actually paying $0.33 per KW/HR.
So that's an extra $3.49 for each full batch? Do I understand that right?
Is any commercial use of this machine viable in preserving foods and then selling with profit?
Join my facebook group and post your question. There are some people in the community that go sell at tradeshows and events.
facebook.com/groups/retiredat40livelifesimple
Would a small pharma freeze dryer consume less energy or the small and medium are about the same? i did notice someone said the large cost more than the small and medium but i have no idea.
a major consideration for buying one of these machines for a church, family or home is power outages. it is better to run one of these than to have expensive food rotting in a freezer.
AMEN! I use mine to prepare survival food and food for taking camping. It's pennies on the dollar. Mine has well paid for itself in about a year and a half. I did buy a good vacuum sealer. Ziploc bags don't keep a vacuum. We don't do anything for hurricane warnings except top off the gas in the car. I don't even own a freezer any more. That is a huge savings of electricity.
Live life simple... by checking the kilowatt hours used by your in-home freeze dryer. This is why people shouldn't retire at 40. They go mad. :D
HAHA too late for that
That was great ... thanks for the laugh Jason.
Mine runs between $4 and $5 per load. In the hot months the loads run about 10 to 12 hours longer than cold months.
kWh is really good. My ac uses 5kwh per hour
$3.5 isn’t a lot for food storage for 25 years! This doesn’t present ongoing cost for storage. You can continue to store who refrigeration. If you were storing your food a freezer will fill up, freeze dried food can be stored on a shelf.
Absolutely Mike. Run a deep freeze for 25 years and add up the cost! It would be very expensive!
A small solar set up could greatly offset some of the cost of operation for us especially in the summer. I will have to look at your video on solar if you have one.
I am building a solar dehydrator for off-grid, too, but dehydrated food lasts a brief time. Freeze dried food lasts 20-30 years. Also most dehydrated food doesn't rehydrate back to the original state. You can't make a grape out of a raisin. Jerky doesn't turn into a steak. Dried apples can't pass for fresh apples. Much of the freeze dried food, when rehydrated, can't be told from the original. I use mine to make emergency food and camping food and food for my celiac grandson. It's awesome! I also have 2 electric dehydrators for different tasks. One is for far outdoors for peppers, onions, and garlic.
freeze drying is not meant to be a replacement for refrigeration or freezing. Freeze drying is for long term storage (even six months onward) and only then will the initial cost of the unit make sense. Also consider that most foods kept to long in those will go bad in short term or within a year for the freezer. Dig to the bottom of your deep freeze or the back of your freezer and see what spoiled food you have been paying to keep spoiled. You can also achieve things culinarily or make snacks that cannot be made any other way. Use your watt meter on any led tv and you'll be surprised at what it draws. Personally I have a hot tub so all worries about that stuff is not worth worrying about unless the power goes out. Then if you had a freeze dryer or bought freeze dried food you'll be glad.
Agreed. Just making the comparison for energy consumption. A freezer or fridge is an appliance everyone has.
Good points. I live over 20 miles from the nearest food market but have a ton of farmers within arms reach. Abundance in the fall and starvation in the winter. Have three Freezers that are only as good as the power company's ability to keep power on and since I have plenty of storage space Freeze Dried is my go to. I tried some of the Companies that sell survival food and it's quite tasty and when the cyber attacks take out the power grid this source just might be your salvation--Never Forget WATER---You can live for weeks w/o food only days w/o water.
Ran it for a week which resulted in 4 batch's, 126 more KWH more than last week, additional cost per week of $22.60, which calculates out to be $1175 of electricity per year if you run this none stop.
Thanks for your great info. It's very helpful to have lots of peoples usage costs.
Do u have an email account? I'd like to ask a few things. Thanks.
Hey Tim, I would prefer not to give out my personal email. What kinds of questions did you have?
Not a question, but we have a site we are building for people like us. and I would love for you to be on the forums. I think there is alot of things people would like to ask and be able to search for answers. RUclips is not a good medium for that.
I can't find a way to send you a private message.
Hi, hope you don’t mind me going off thread but I’ve searched everywhere for the answer (Harvest Right haven’t answered my email yet) done our first batch and there is a lot of ice forming around the door, mostly by the handle. Any ideas what the cause could be. I’m certain the door is shut completely. Grateful if anyone can shed some light here.
Thanks very much, great videos.
If the door is sealed, you will see a suction ring all the way around from the rubber seal meeting up with the door. It looks like a sucker fish on the side of an aquarium.
Do you know if the oil less pump uses any more or less electricity? Or are they about the same?
It will consume a little more but you wont likely notice it on your bill.
@@jerrysmith372 cool! thanks! Ya I figured I'd just get it for the convenience.
@@jonathangomez1172 Yep - that's why I bought it. I hated dealing with the oil pump. Mine did have a fail in the first 8 months of use, but HR rebuilt it under warrantee and even covered the shipping. That was 18 months ago with no issues since. I run my large dryer almost 24/7, so my pump gets a work out.
Could you post the link for the moisture meter?
So confused. Started at 24, then?
HOW DID YOU PLUG IT IN TO THE METER MY CORD HAS SIDE WAY PRONG ON IT
A 20 amp meter would have to be hardwired somehow. The killawatt is for 15 amp (small and medium size fd'ers)
Here in Hawaii @ $.50/kWh, it would cost almost $15 to run a full cycle :-(
Just found your site, enjoyed the videos!
Thanks so much, Hope you found them useful!
940 KWH ? What do you live in a Cave of 350ft/sq? I have an 1100 ft/sq house and equal shop with 6.5 tons of A/C and I average 1900 KWH/month in the Deep South. I'm trying to catch Al Gore's 23,000 KWH for one of his properties.
HAHA. No, our house is pretty efficient. Funny how Al Gore promotes being "green" isn't it?
I spent over 20 years travelling the world for various Oil DRILLING Contractors and have a huge prejudice for Petroleum and I believe any reasoning person can see that the World is Petroleum Driven, including the Freeze Dry equipment your tube is reviewing. I'm also a huge fan of Nuclear since I was one of Hyman Rickovers Students. Alternative energy sources are fine and one day they will become economically viable along with algae fuel instead of Corn Ethanol.(I love my Pork and I like them Corn Fed). In my 80 years I have seen 90% of all the technological advances in man kinds existence and I have witnessed more Phony Science get silently swept under the carpet for fear of killing the entire EPA, whose initial objective was Clean Air & Water, which they have had some degree of success even while pushing the narrative that fracking was causing methane in drinking water from a 35 ft. well? When you rely on the general Publics ignorance about water & oil & fracking to Kill something that has been going on since the turn of the last century seems a bit out of bounds in my opinion. To the point of a very "efficient" home. I built one in Friendwood TX. in the 70's I was using variable speed technology for my A/C before people knew what SEER was and the Vent skinning of my house and Roof caused a 25 degree delta "T" when the outside temp was 98 with 90+% RH. The problem was I subjected my family to Sick House Syndrome before Legionnaires disease was discovered. My current home is well ventilated to prevent that mistake again and using reverse air flow for efficient use of Nat.gas(methane) and electricity (0.11cents /KWH) Contrary to the "Scientists" who forecast we would have mass starvation by the year 2000 if we didn't do something about the world population reaching 2 Billion souls. Another Myth busted after 40 years of scare mongering. I have finally reached the point in my life that I can honestly say--I was born a Narcissist Liberal ( Me, Me, Me !) and somewhere about graduation from HS I figured out my parents were not as stupid as I first imagined and by age 30-35 I was the smartest SOB on the planet ( Just ask Me) Then a few years short of my 80th year I finally came to understand Man is on the cusp of great discoveries ( you ain't seen nothing yet!) BUT -we still know 1/10 of 1% of practically NOTHING. We may be Smart but we have barely scraped the surface of being Intelligent!
I enjoyed your analysis of the Harvest Right and the oilless Vacuum pump is new to me. I spent the last 20 years owning my own HVAC business and have a shop full of Robinaire & JB vacuum pumps. I'm going to inquire about the refrigerant used in the HR, since more and more are on the outlawed list. don't get me started on that farce.
Emphasis on "ONE OF his properties". Not to mention the private jet and limo he uses to travel between them.
All very fuel efficient i am sure :)
Carl Smith I think you might really enjoy this. ruclips.net/video/R5KoYJ64vjA/видео.html
900kw average. My LOWEST month the the past 12 months was 1304kw and my highest was 3533 and my average is 1870… 😮 . I haven’t gotten past that part yet, because obviously we go big or go home on electricity consumption.. 😢😂
Almost $4 to stop food from spoiling in less than 30 days on average potentially having the ability to last 20 years plus I think that cost is nothing if you divide it out that way
$4 on the old units, now it's about $2-3 with the new software
Hello. What is the drying temperature?
The first cycle is to freeze dry the food to below minus 30 F. Then it holds that temperature while it sucks the moisture out of the food.
Confused. Is your $3.49 for the entire cycle, complete cost, if so that is not bad
Yes entire process. The new freeze dryers are 20-30% more effecient than when i made this video
I know this is older video but is it as loud as it sounded on camera?
I have a video being released today going over how much noise the new pumps put out
follow this link ruclips.net/video/eD3W1tZreUo/видео.html
900? I’m in south Florida and I use 2500 a month?
Also items bought in bulk or ir a good sale should also be considered.
Absolutely. Thanks for your input.
Nice video... My only question would be the comparison of usage cost for the 3 different sizes. If they all use the same compressor and vacuum pump and cycle times are similar, what would the price per pound usage be.
Thanks for your comment. Price per pound would vary for what type of food you are drying as cycle times vary dramatically, even doing the same types of foods. My dryer is the medium size, which i think is the best value out of the 3.
I know it depends on what your drying, I'm just wondering if the 5 tray adds 25% more food than the 4 tray machine, does it take 25% longer to dry? cost 25% more to operate? Or are the cycle times the same for each machine (if all machines were drying the same food, just different amounts) I know you don't have this info, was just a passing thought, I did request that info from Harvest Right after watching your vides.
You make a great point. If HR gets back to you, please share the info with us and maybe someone with a larger machine can chime in as well.
After receiving a response email and calling and talking to Harvest Right and some extensive math, here is the conclusion. Cost per batch is 23% lower with the medium machine but the large machine gives you about 25% more product. So using an average price per batch based on power consumption to dry the same type of product (60 trays worth) the small machine would cost $30.00 for 20 batches, the medium machine would cost $28.88 for 15 batches and the large machine would cost $28.80 for 12 batches . So total cost to use the medium or large machines is pretty much the same, it comes down to how much you do and how fast you want to do it it.
GREAT INFO! Thanks for sharing
Thank you for this as it solidifies my decision not to purchase one.
I live in Alaska, where our energy costs are a little over 20 cents per kwh. To justify the cost of the machine and to build my food supplies, I would need and want to keep it running all month. That would add around $90 per month to my already high bill. The math makes the machine fiscally irresponsible.
I have to wonder if we talk about the savings how long it will be before the cost of a freeze dryer goes up?
I think it is a matter of time before there is competition. Competition = lower prices. Right now there is not anyone even on the same planet as far as price so there is no incentive for Harvestright to cut their price.
Who said cut price? This is a social media platform. My point is everything is data-mined and this is owned by Google which admits it. If there is positive data and enough comments such as "I have to get one..." Prices go up. The tiny home movement is losing it's hold as a way to beat home taxes (on wheels) due to the increased numbers of people doing it and not all but much data was gathered right here. Rules are changing because the government views the movement as a tax loss and they have strongly suggested recuperation efforts to county and city governments. How long yo can have a tiny home (mobile) on a property or public street. States are increasing in numbers where if a tiny home is parked on anyones property exceeding a time limit they are thereby taxed as a home and the land owner suffers the tax. We need to rethink our communications. Let me give another example. All operating systems now have to be designed with loophole accessible for national security to access all personal computers and a built in method of listening and viewing. Windows 10, readily admitted for awhile, every keystroke is recorded and if the user is off-line, when they access the net that info is immediately absorbed by Microsoft, Google and subcontractors. As a hobby, I write. If I wrote something worthy of publishing and a deal was struck, it could already be claimed in rights under some insane internet clauses the government says ar so complex they don't know where to start in an attempt to ensure privacy restrictions. There has actually been cases of writers ripped off via their own computer. The old way was a typewriter, non accessible to others and you mailed yourself a copy of the manuscript and kept it sales. The postmark served as proof of when written and was known as the poor mans copyright. That ability, won many suits against unsavory publishers in the past. Now there are other tricks up their sleeves. My brother has been privately servicing big banks (systems) for years. I once asked about us going cashless and two years before it started he said you'd b able to walk in a store and the inventory loads to your cell and you check yourself out. He won't comment on cashless and has refused to answer any such questions related and or political. Basically he thinks Bill Gates is a god and I no longer have anything to do with my sister or brother in-law who have some pretty sick ideas of how the world should be run. No big deal, I'm no sellout for the U.N., a one world government or bringing America down in any way shape or form. Trump, love him or hate him, he's the most real President since Rockefeller got Jimmy Carter to initiate actions that would advance a one world government and for financial gain to countries to play, they get our jobs. Housing took a dive, unemployment climbed, a recession resulted and Canda shipped in lumber while American loggers and mill workers lost their homes not to mention jobs. I've been keeping an eye on this crap for over 30 years and it mazed me how still ... people are so damn dumb as to think it's a left vs right issue when the sellouts are in both parties and why things were able to advance faster with George Jr., as President and almost raced forward with Obama. China, has a software system designed by none other than Google. It's used in a way Google, wants to here. If you speak or go to anything or associate with anyone in opposition to the coming dictatorial government your credit rating goes down and how far determines your communication use accessibility. It's also used to publicly humiliate people in favor of whatever the politics are and a person becomes and outcast. Check out Glen Beck on youtube. Time to go ...
@@thefreezedryingcommunity
It's too bad that I didn't see your video before I purchased my medium size freeze dryer. Something that I didn't take into consideration was that here where we live in San Diego California is that we currently pay $0.41 per kilowatt hour. We have made 91 batches since we got the freeze dryer and we usually run from $5.60 a batch to $12.00 a batch. This is not too bad if we are freeze drying from our garden but it makes it much worse if we are purchasing from Costco or other supermarkets because with the cost of the food plus the energy cost it really isn't very cost effective especially since the California Public Utility Commission is going to approve a power rate increase later this year. It makes Mountain House not look too bad cost wise.
Wow! That's a lot for power. Probably about 3 or 4 times more than the national average. I supposed it makes you much more strategic about what you are freeze drying.
Do the metal trays come with the unit or do you buy separate ? Was at the website and thinking of doing the layaway plan for the standard. They are including other items such as sealer and mylar bags. I have been buying #10 cans of Augusta farms products eggs lentils etc, but the meat is so expensive and to me protein is what is needed most.
The metal trays do come with and mine also included the sealer and bags. The meat that comes out of the harvest right is excellent. It reconstitutes well! I get lots of beef and pork from relatives who are farmers and we always have leftovers. The harvest right has been a great way to keep it from going to waste.
Richard D
Keep in mind that eggs are not only a great source of protein, but the protein in eggs is considered the "gold standard" because of how well your body uses it.
a set of trays comes with the machine but you can buy extras.
Ok, I’m confused.
Is the cost $3.49 per typical load (30 hours +/-) or $3.49 per each hour that the load is running?
I’m seeing people freak out over this cost... but if that is the total cost per load, I don’t understand why they are freaking out. 🤔
The $3.49 is the total cost to run the machine at $0.12 per kW-hr for the entire cycle, beginning to end.
@@richardgray8593 Then why on earth are people so damned upset over this?!
Have they never priced retail freeze dried food? That’s a bargain beyond bargains! Not to mention the fact that freeze dry is far more nutrient dense than dehydrated.
@@highlandmary33 Why? The same reason that if you were on a street corner giving away $100 bills, some people would be mad at you if you couldn't break the $100 down into smaller bills. Keep in mind that he was doing this test on a extra-long run, so the average cycle would be less than $3.49
@@richardgray8593 That’s just it. It’s cheap as all get out to run these machines. I can’t understand why some are freaking out... am convinced that “Idiocracy” was a predictive documentary of America’s future, not a comedic movie.
Lawdy, flash freeze first and it’s less! Could pay this off in no time by charging others to FD their food for them.
@@highlandmary33 If you garden, it's a no-brainer.
So why did you run for two days instead of 24 hours like you intended, which in itself was supposed to be an extra long cycle? That extended time obviously drove the electrical price way up.
There are 3 cycles. You can set the 1st and 3rd. The middle cycles is determined by the freeze dryer and varies.
Thank you so much
Any time
5:11 *Freeze drys on meals, using an amp meter to calculate draw and cost*
Does anyone know the peak amperage of the large HR?
Why am I so confused with Amps and Watts here. Why are the numbers so different? 1348 Watts at 110 volts should be 12.3 amps. Why does it say 14.6 amps? Which value is right? Bigger one would be 290 watts vs 5.2 amps (which should mean 572 watts). My guess is the Watts measure is right and the Amps is somehow incorrect.
1348 / 14.6 = 92 volts. I don't think your house is 92 volts. US electrical should be 114 volt to 126. I was wrong to say 110 volt. So 1348 should be 11.3 amps at 120 volts.
It seems strange to me that someone would be willing to spend $4000 to buy a freeze dryer and then be hesitant to actually use it? Thank you for the test, it helps complete the picture. As the saying goes "Count the cost!"
jag35 and DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse
Use your solar system and it's free
Wish I could it costs to much and dont pay off we heard
Technically yes, green energy (solar & wind) would help/be free but only after the break even point has been met re purchase/installation costs. Ideally, you would want to set up your system so you could $sell$ extra power back to the electric company, this way your energy costs would actually be 100% free PLUS you would be making a small profit(!) Technically, you also have to factor in maintenance costs, since your solar/wind storage batteries will need replacing apprx every 5yrs, while your solar panels and/or the generator inside your wind turbine, will need replacing every 15-20yrs (OR SOONER) depending on the quality and/or warranty of the equipment purchased (o:
That's true for dehydrating foods but not for freeze drying that lasts 25 years and has a totally different texture. I have both a freeze dryer and 2 dehydrators. I use each for different applications. I use one small dehydrator far out in the back yard for dehydrating onions, peppers, and garlic. I use a 10-tray for dehydrating foods inside. And I use the freeze dryer for preparing foods that I want to last for years or rehydrate to their original state (not all does). You can't tell the difference between some freeze dried foods that have been rehydrated and the original foods. I'm building a couple of solar dehydrators for use off grid. They all have their place.
I have more than made my freeze dryer pay off in 1 1/2 years by freeze drying foods for camping and survival foods. WELL worth it. I bought a 5-tray for just under $3,000 and have been busy with it. It costs me less than 20 cents to FD 3 scrambled eggs with bacon bits for camping. Compare that with the same FD camping foods you buy ($4). I have a grandson with Celiac disease and prepare GF food for him and can save it as well as make snacks and camping food for him. We are always prepared for hurricanes and power failures or just too tired to cook tonight.
Kathy Young, I'd be interested in knowing what/how you use the two appliances differently. I have a good dehydrator (an Excalibur) but would like to know why you feel it's a good idea to freeze-dry vs dehydrate.
What size is the freeze dryer?
I purchased the medium size.
If you can save money by not having to run to grocery store all the time or prepare for disasters and camping
Ahead and save from not having a big huge meat freezer in your basement plugged in all the time .
I would also like to compare the waste of electricity when someone plays video games, an Xbox , a big huge screen tv, for 8 hours at night for 3 nights in a row.
I guess some folks use their efforts to save money or prepare, some use their efforts to watch tv or play video games. I know which one i do.
The cost IS WORTH IT. the issue is that machine the size of a washing machine and extremely expensive.
More the size of a dishwasher and you can make up the cost quickly.
Only the large dryer is the size of a "Small" dishwasher - the other dryers have a smaller foot print. I use a large dryer. The large dryer will process more food than the small and medium dryer.....combined.
how i could to buy it?
Harvestright.com (Mine is the Medium size)
It cost more to run an electric water heater then to run the freeze dryer. A deep freezer probably cost more then that as well.
That's good to know. There is so many folks who think $2.50 per cycle is so expensive. If you look at what electricity is saved vs. how much is spent, it far outweighs the cost.
@@thefreezedryingcommunity I'm a little late to the party, just now studying this process, but it seems to me that a FD would be an additional
monthly cost if the freezer would still be running. Especially, when I'm
reading, the best way to reduce the FD process time, is to pre freeze
the food first? Unless I'm missing something.
Is that 3.49 for how long .?
The $3.49 was based on the 47 hour cycle. That is a higher than average cycle time.
What a hoot!
Still going throw all your videos. Have you done this on your new machine?
What size freeze drier do you have?
My freeze drier is the medium
Our electric is going through the roof.
pre-freeze your food. it cut 1/3 time off your cycle.
I agree. I buy big bags of frozen fruit cheaper than fresh and they take less time to freeze in the FD.
3:55
47 hours?
Yep 47 hours. That is on the high side of freeze times.
I did not expect that :)
Dude, get a AAA+ freezer
You said MeWe was free now I’m finding out this will cost me ! Cancel this right now!
Mewe is free and always has been. You can upgrade to a better account but it's not necessary. I run the group and still use the basic free account
no your hot water heater almost 47%
I assume you are referring to the most energy using appliance? 47% is alot! It sounds like you might want to look into a new w/h
I decided to go with Gardia.
I just drink from mountain streams in the summer.
This gives me the ability to consume raw or undercooked food at anytime.
No fridge , no freezer, no stove
If you are always having diarrhea then you are unlikely to notice more.
It's all about the gut flora!
Go Gardia or go home!
Just wear brown pants and no one will notice 😬
Your freeze dried food won't last for 25 years multiply your one kilowatt for your refrigerator * 25 years and see what price is best then
Freeze dried will last at least 20 years.
The self life of the food depends on how it is packaged and stored. If you store it good quality mylar bags with O2 absorbers, you will have an extremely long shelf life.
Freeze it in you freezer before you put it in.
Thanks for the tip Shawn!
Did this tip help with your energy bill?
Use a generator
The fuel cost would eat you up. Big power can always supply for less.
This is aids. Don't save money after all
Without a doubt, if you use it to its full potential, it's saves you money. Food costs, will go up, electricity will go up, prepackaged FD food will go up (everything will go up). Meanwhile, you have freeze dried food from 20 years ago that has not cost anything to keep cold. You did not have to pay the current cost of food and it's the kind of food that YOU chose to freeze.
That’s not a lot of money for that amount of time lol. Y’all really must be broke
This man predicted the future at the end