# Help, I Am Locked In A Freezer: Will I Suffocate Before I Freeze? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437 "2009-01-28T21:06:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/21 "2009-01-29T18:30:29Z")
That laptop you’re using to post is putting out a fair bit of heat, so my vote’s on suffocating. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/22 "2009-01-29T18:31:48Z")
Get out of the freezer before you die, fool! ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/23 "2009-01-29T19:27:22Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > For the purposes of this thread I’ve accidentally shut myself inside a chest freezer with a volume of 1.5 cubic metres and chilled to -4 degrees centigrade. I’m a largish guy, 180cm and 90kg. Will I suffocate before I freeze, or vice versa? First, assume **Scissorjack** is a sphere… ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/24 "2009-01-29T23:22:39Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > I think CO2 buildup is going to be the big killer here, no? On second thought, nevermind. CO2 respiration rate for an average person is 450L/day (0.3125L/min). Standard atmospheric content of CO2 is 0.039%. So with 1.4m^3 of breathable air, about 5L of it is CO2. To get to toxic levels (assume 8% concentration of CO2) would require about 112L of the air content in the freezer to be CO2. So to go from 5L-\>112L, it would take about (112-5)/0.3125=342 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/25 "2009-01-30T03:24:44Z")
Brings new meaning to, “Honey I’m going to the freezer to grab some nuggets. You want a frozen twinkie?” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/26 "2009-01-30T06:23:31Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Minus 4 C seems pretty hot for a freezer. Mine is at about -18C or 0F. Presumably you don’t have a live body in yours, though. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Agonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@Agonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agonist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/27 "2009-01-30T07:58:47Z")
Are freezers really airtight? Assuming the door is actually locked, or jammed shut somehow, would he really suffocate? I know there’s a seal on all fridge and freezer doors, but I don’t know that they’re all \*that \*efficient. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/28 "2009-01-30T09:59:19Z")
> [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > Get out of the freezer before you die, fool! It’s nice and quiet in here. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/29 "2009-01-30T14:42:58Z")
> [@Agonist](#): > > Are freezers really airtight? Assuming the door is actually locked, or jammed shut somehow, would he really suffocate? > > I know there’s a seal on all fridge and freezer doors, but I don’t know that they’re all \*that \*efficient. They’re close enough to airtight to suffocate you. Back in the 1970’s or so, there was a concerted effort to make sure that discarded refrigerators had their doors removed, in order to prevent children from playing with it, being trapped inside, and dying. I assume there were actual tragedies spurring this effort. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/30 "2009-01-30T17:24:47Z")
When I was a kid we had one of those upright freezers, looked like a refrigerator, but was all freezer. Sometimes when you’d open and close it you couldn’t open it again right away, or at least it was really hard to open. I saw this phenomenon on a recent Top Chef, too. Everybody was opening and closing the upright freezer and then Fabio wasn’t able to open it and had to brace himself and pull really hard to open it. Is this vapor lock or some other phenomena? Maybe this sort of thing happened to poor Scissorjack? Poor guy. Hey does anyone remember that time he started that hilarious thread about getting locked in a freezer? Too soon? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/31 "2009-01-30T17:48:19Z")
As Eddie Murphy said, take small shallow breaths. _sip…sip_ I don’t think this question can really be answered until the OP expires and we send in a forensic team. My suggestion is to figure out a way to drill a small hole into the fridge and take an air sample first to check CO2 levels, and then bring the OP out and do an autopsy. Cause of death should be fairly easy to determine at that point and then the results can be posted here to settle the question. After that we can throw the OP on the grill and serve him up with some baked beans and corn on the cob… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/32 "2009-01-30T18:00:25Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > They’re close enough to airtight to suffocate you. Back in the 1970’s or so, there was a concerted effort to make sure that discarded refrigerators had their doors removed, in order to prevent children from playing with it, being trapped inside, and dying. I assume there were actual tragedies spurring this effort. (some of) The refrigerators being discarded in those days were the old style (even then) with locking handles, you couldn’t open them from the inside. I don’t know if it was law or common sense that led manufacturers to adopt doors that can be open from the inside. I’ve seen chest style freezers with locks, but key locks you couldn’t activate from the inside. OK, who locked **ScissorJack in the freezer?** I doubt it was a confederate, unless he had showed up at a Civil War re-enactment dressed as Abe Lincoln, or something. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/33 "2009-01-30T18:13:58Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > They’re close enough to airtight to suffocate you. Back in the 1970’s or so, there was a concerted effort to make sure that discarded refrigerators had their doors removed, in order to prevent children from playing with it, being trapped inside, and dying. I assume there were actual tragedies spurring this effort. This was a concern since the 1950’s, actually — here’s [Cecil’s column on the subject](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2586/is-it-impossible-to-open-a-refrigerator-door-from-the-inside). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/34 "2009-01-30T18:31:26Z")
> [@Mogle](#): > > Personally I’ve never seen one with a lock, the only thing that’s keeping them closed is gravity and air pressure, so the only thing you’d need to do to open it from the inside is push. My home chest freezer has a lock on it. I’ve never used it (I assume it’s to keep others out of the girl scout cookies). Looks like the locks are fairly common on the largers chest freezers, [like this one from Sears](http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04616592000P?vName=Appliances&cName=Freezers+%26+Ice+Makers&sName=Chest). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/35 "2009-01-30T18:38:25Z")
> [@Mogle](#): > > Personally I’ve never seen one with a lock, the only thing that’s keeping them closed is gravity and air pressure, so the only thing you’d need to do to open it from the inside is push. I think a lot of spare freezers have locks - the thinking being that a lot of people keep them in their garages / carports / other unsecured areas. Mine does - it’s an upright as footprint / floor space was an issue. Although I’ve never used the key; mine lives in the basement. It’d be hard to get shut in one of those by accident, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/36 "2009-01-31T00:17:23Z")
> [@Khampelf](#): > > (some of)I don’t know if it was law or common sense that led manufacturers to adopt doors that can be open from the inside. Neither – it was cost-cutting for greater profit. Most current ones have a magnet that holds the door shut. That’s much simpler (and cheaper to manufacture) than any kind of a latch mechanism. And unlikely to ever need repair. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/37 "2009-01-31T00:25:54Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Neither – it was cost-cutting for greater profit. > > Most current ones have a magnet that holds the door shut. That’s much simpler (and cheaper to manufacture) than any kind of a latch mechanism. And unlikely to ever need repair. Cecil says pretty much exactly the opposite. Manufactures resisted using the magnetic seal until forced to by legislation. If the magnetic seal really was so much cheaper they would have made the switch on their own. MikeS put this link in a few posts ago I am repeating it for clarity > **[Is it impossible to open a refrigerator door from the inside?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343710/is-it-impossible-to-open-a-refrigerator-door-from-the-inside)** > [@](#): > > Some local jurisdictions passed ordinances requiring owners of old refrigerators to remove the doors or latches before discarding them, but eventually federal legislators decided the time had come for a national solution. Manufacturers balked, saying the technology wasn’t available, it’d cost too much, blah blah blah. Congress finally said screw it, you guys figure something out, and in 1956 passed the Refrigerator Safety Act, which required that the doors on all fridges sold after October 30, 1958, be capable of being opened with a 15-pound push from inside. Miraculously, a practical, inexpensive technology immediately appeared–a magnetic door seal. Truth was, the new seal had been developed some time earlier by General Electric, which offered to license the system to other manufacturers, but industry experts caviled that it still needed work. Faced with a deadline, however, pretty much everybody adopted magnetic seals, which in the event worked just fine, and we still use them today. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/38 "2009-01-31T00:34:21Z")
Ah, yes, the old Frözinger’s Cat experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437/39 "2009-01-31T01:32:14Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > This was a concern since the 1950’s, actually — here’s [Cecil’s column on the subject](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2586/is-it-impossible-to-open-a-refrigerator-door-from-the-inside). I remember that Stephen King very creepily alluded to the problem in a short story of his - “The Mangler,” maybe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-am-locked-in-a-freezer-will-i-suffocate-before-i-freeze/483437.md?page=1)