PROBLEM: How do you know if there's an extended power failure when you're out of town? Will your meat in the freezer spoil and refreeze before you return?
We're flying to Las Vegas to spend Christmas with our son. We'll be gone for a few days. The weather report at home is for high winds and power outages.
SOLUTION: I put a single ice cube in a glass in the freezer. When we return, if the ice cube is still shaped like an ice cube, any power failures were of short duration and without harmful consequence.