It should be at 0°F, which is the point where food stays safely frozen long-term. Anything above 5°F means the unit is losing ground, and that is worth a service call before the food is affected.

It stays frozen for about 48 hours in a full freezer with the door kept shut and roughly 24 hours in a half-empty one. Keep it closed, call us, and in most cases we get there long before that window closes.

Yes, we do. Chest freezers, upright standalones, garage and basement units, and built-in freezer columns from Sub-Zero, Liebherr, and Thermador. Standalone units are usually the fastest repairs we do.

It builds up because the defrost cycle stopped working, most often a failed defrost heater, thermostat, or timer. A worn door gasket letting in humid air causes the same thing, and both are inexpensive parts.

Yes, it is normal for a unit that is not garage-rated. When the surrounding air drops below about 40°F, the thermostat stops calling for cooling, and the freezer slowly thaws. We can tell you whether yours can be adapted or whether the fix is a garage-ready unit.

Yes, it usually can. Let it stand upright for a few hours before it is plugged in, then run it empty for a day. If it does not hold temperature after that, the fault is almost always a relay, a fan, or a gasket rather than the sealed refrigeration.