heat pad question

[mlove]

I just received an order of eggs and the seller used two tiny heat pads taped to the outside bottom of my package. Are the pads usually used on the outside or do they normally get placed inside the box? It was a small box so maybe that is the reason it was on the outside?

 

[MrsPinkKitty]

Wow you know i have never seen that. I dont think i have ever ordered in Winter .

 

[ksf59]

I have had some eggs shipped i with thoes. Both inside the box and outside. Don't know if they help on the outside, but will give you my opinion on the inside. They will make a lot of difference. I work for a biotech firm. We freeze a lot of products in a -20c blast freezer. We need to ship product and it has to fit in specific boxes and arrive frozen.So we tested many different methods of freezing and shipping our product. Our product would be placed in freezer at 100 degrees. We placed data loggers in pacakges with the product. We would freeze liquid blood plasma in packages from 500 ml to 10000 ml. so about 1 pint to about 4 gallons. It was surpizing that in open air these varying sizes would freeze at about the same rate, If we placed them in boxes that were open , it would take about 24 more hrs to freeze to the same temp as bags laying on the shelf. This is at a freezer temp of - 4 f with the wind = 20 mph. If we closed the boxes , it took over 72 to 96 hrs to freeze. So a simple cardboard box was a hugh insulator. And this was with a constant wind over the product. to help disapate heat. Thses heat packs provide heat up to 72 hrs and get to anout 120 degrees. It may be detrimentale to place them to close to eggs, in a box during shipping. They may heat the eggs to the point of starting the embryo developement. Most mail isnot exposed to that extreme of temp. Bubble wrap and other packing material adds more insulaton. Most eggs, if packed and shipped , can get there with out danger of freezing. How ever, they may be frozen before shipping if they come from a cold area of the country. I have never recieved frozen eggs, even in the coldest months in the midwest.

 

[mlove]

Thanks for the info. By the time I got my package the heat packs were no longer heating (4 or 5 days in transit) so I have no idea if they kept the eggs warm inside the box or not. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they eggs will be okay. The shipper did a great job packaging them so maybe there is still a chance.