How Much Energy Does Freeze-Drying Use?

Freeze drying four trays of food in a Harvest Right freeze dryer takes between 24 and 36 hours. You can freeze dry about 6-10 pounds of fresh food in each batch. One of the great benefits of freeze drying is that it can save you money by allowing you to buy food in bulk and preserve your own garden harvest while reducing food waste. So, how much does it cost to run a freeze dryer for a day? We care a lot about the answer to this question! We want to help our customers be good stewards of their finances, and of the Earth!

grilled chickenFor that reason we engineer our freeze dryers to run as efficiently as possible. Our freeze dryers use a standard 110 volt outlet, so running the freeze dryer costs about $1.00-$2.80 a day, depending on power costs in your area.

Here’s an example: The average price of chicken breast nationally is $3.14 a pound. If you were to grill or bake 10 pounds of that chili lime chicken breast we’re always talking about, then freeze dry it and preserve it in Mylar bags with an oxygen absorber, you’d have an investment of about $35 – for 10 pounds of chicken! That’s 40 servings of a delicious, versatile protein source can last up to 25 years.

Given how little it costs to operate, you can keep it running day after day (and many of our users do!) while barely impacting all of the money you save by creating your own food storage, taking advantage of supermarket sales, better using your garden produce, and reducing your overall food waste.