Chest Freezer Recommendations

I can't give you a recommendation on a chest freezer, I have an upright freezer (and I don't remember the brand). My in-laws have a chest freezer and I find it more difficult to find things in theirs. At least on my upright freezer it's more like looking into a refrigerator. Have you considered an upright?

We bought our ""Kenmore"" at Sears and have been pleased. But if I was doing it again I would buy an upright freezer.

With the chest freezer I keep a list of what is in there and mark it off when I get the food out. I don't like the bending over either.

Are the upright freezers connected to refrigerators?

I'm considering a 7 cuft max, so it's pretty small. I don't have issues bending over. I have issues with the avalanche that happens when I open my top fridge.

Honny, I would buy just an upright freezer. Go on Sears.com and check out the freezers.

If you have the room, I would go with a commercial size freezer.

Sears, Kenmore Elite with the organizing sections and hanging baskets. It also has an alarm in case the temp goes too high along with a digital read out on the top of the door so you always know the temp. Most uprights are frost free which contributes to freezer burn.

When I worked in the restaurant business we always had walk in freezers, but I'm sure that's not what you mean when you say commercial size. Although, I've seen some for sale on craigslist recently if you are.

Chest freezers are typically more efficient since cold air is heavier than warm air. When you open the top of a chest freezer the cold air just sits there, much like the open topped freezers in supermarkets. Upright freezers tend to have a waterfall of cold air cascading out each time you open it and then that cold air is replaced with room temperature air which has to be cooled all over again. It's not a huge deal if you don't open and close the freezer a lot, but over the lifespan of a freezer it can add up to a pretty good amount of change. The less the compressor has to run the longer it's likely to last too. If you don't mind the bending and diving in to get stuff then a chest freezer is a good option even though they take up a bit more floorspace.

I don't really think there's much difference from one brand to another. We have an old WT Grant chest freezer in our basement (and Grants has been out of business a long, long time) that still works fine. One more small point on a somewhat lighter note, if you're the type who may find yourself with a body to dispose of, chest freezers seem to be preferred by the TV/movie/novel writers. It's apparently much easier to just dump a body in a chest freezer than force one into an upright.

On 8/26/2014 jaxs mom said:

When I worked in the restaurant business we always had walk in freezers, but I'm sure that's not what you mean when you say commercial size. Although, I've seen some for sale on craigslist recently if you are.

You are right, not a walk-in but a larger freezer since she has two teenage boys. We always bought in bulk and had a large chest freezer.

Now that the boys are grown we have a small chest freezer but I would prefer an upright.