I am going to purchase a freezer. Which type is better -- chest or upright and why? Also, I was told to buy a manual defrost freezer not a frost free. Is a frost free freezer for short term freezing? I would appreciate any feedback?
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For the little difference in cost, I think you should go with the upright freezer. Its much more convenient for retrieving frozen goods. Items seems to get lost in chest freezers, as its a pain to reach down deep for items on the bottom. I always heard it was better to purchase manual defrost, which is what I have, although I'm not certain why. It is really easy to defrost yourself and only has to be done maybe twice a year. Just take out whatever is left and run a hair dryer over the frost. There is a drain in the bottom, with a hose that you can put in a pan for all the water. An upright is also more compact if you don't have much floor space keep the freezer - the bulk of the freezer will rise upward, not take up floor space.
I agree with the PP, upright is the way to go .. imagine which would be easier: trying to find somthing in the bottom of a really deep cooler or in your refrigerator! I think the idea with the manuel defrost is that you can control it. My sister in law has a autodefrost freezer and came home to a flooded basement and a freezer of half frozen food!
Rebekah
Manual defrosting is an absolute PAIN and you will live to regret buying it.
You need to go for convenience and easy accessibility or this will have been a waste of your investment. Get an upright that is self defrosting!
A chest freezer is more economical to run, and manual defrost also saves energy.
HOWEVER --- I wouldn't wind up USING it very much unless it was an upright. For me, it's a better deal to get the more expensive upright and actually USE it more easily.
First, buy the upright, much easier to find the food you are looking for. The frost free kind will dry your food out. The sales people will tell you not to buy the frost free. It doesn't take long to defrost a freezer if you do it more often than I do. I wait much too long and it will take about 5 hours.
We just bought our 2nd freezer, couldn't live w/o one. The chest type would be ok for long term storage of items, but for daily use, nothing beats an upright. Get the frost free model....I did some serious checking around before I bought this 2nd one. Average annual energy cost for mine (21 cubic feet, frost free) is only $63.00 a year. A manual defrost is only $20.00 a year less to run. That $20.00 a year less is worth it to me, to not have to empty the whole thing out, especially true of the chest model, as the drain plug is at the bottom, even if it is only 2 times a year....Highest rated models are Kenmore and Whirlpool. Hope this helps.
Absolutely - an upright!!! I've had my manual defrost upright about 15 years now - I bought it used $125 & it was a few years old. I only defrost every 6-8 months. Look in the newspaper - you can get a pretty good deal.
It's all up to how much you will put in one and how often you want to defrost it.
I am somewhat lazy and would never again own a manual one.
I also like the convience of the upright for finding what I want and I seem to be able to get alot more in an upright.
Just be honest with yourself on whether you will keep it defrosted or not. By the time I'd break down and do mine it was an all day job.
I owned an upright freezer for 15 years before I moved last year. I sold this freezer with the house and promptly bought a chest freezer. Numerous times someting got caught and the door did not close properly, causing me to donate all of the contents to my friends and family. You can now buy chest freezers with baskets built in to help organize.
The upright frost free freezer works best for me. I put like items together on each shelf, beef on one, chicken on another et. I date each package too. As for defrosting a freezer I did it years ago. What a pain in the butt! As one reader pointed out the electricity saved by the non-defrost unit is not much per year. Why have all that mess to deal with? Not worth it. Size your freezer to your life style. Do you garden? Buy in bulk? Have a large family? Good luck with your purchase.
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