Recommendations for a manual defrost chest freezer?

Writer with Flair · ‎08-21-2013

We need to replace a small Holiday brand upright freezer that used to belong to my mother. This time, we want to go with a manual defrost chest model since they are supposed to keep things colder than an upright one does if the power goes out. Does anyone have any recommendations? I would appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks!

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

Why don't you want a self defrost chest freezer?

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

Love my grandkids · ‎11-24-2013

@Writer with Flair Do those dinosaurs even exist anymore? Where did you get the info that the manual defrost types keep things colder? It really doesn't make sense to me.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

I would not recommend any chest freezer unless you love to spend hours standing on your head digging to find something.

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Desertdi · ‎03-13-2010

@Kachina624 wrote:
I would not recommend any chest freezer unless you love to spend hours standing on your head digging to find something.

@Kachina624 I'd probably fall in.........

♥Surface of the Sun♥

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

I have two chest freezers and one upright. All need defrosting.

I would never own the self defrosting models because they take a ton more energy to operate and it is difficult to maintain a constant temp.

In addition, they cause freezer burn and ruin your food.

A chest freezer does keep food frozen longer during a power outage and when you open the door, nothing falls out, or shifts and leaves the door ajar.

I have plastic containers in mine that I use to keep the food separated like shown in the picture below.( not my freezer) One container for chicken one for beef, one for veggie, etc. when I need to dig to find something, I just lift the containers out and move them around to find what I need.

One of my chest freezers is almost 50 years old, the other one is maybe 4 years old. I have found that there is so little to go wrong with a freezer that any brand will work. They last a long, long time. I suggest you get one in a size to suit your needs.

My newest one is a Koolitron...made in Canada.

onlyshopsonline · ‎03-09-2010

Before we became empty nesters, I had a fairly expensive upright freezer. Lasted 3 years! When my husband dropped it off at the landfill, the guy there told him to check out all of the uprights, and how few chest freezers there were.

So, being that it was just myself and my husband when we decided to replace it, we went to Costco and bought the $200 model manual defrost chest freezer. It's not huge. I have back issues and I have no problems finding what I want. It also has a nice basket that holds smaller items.

It only needs to be defrosted about once a year....if that. It's already more than 10 years old. If that one dies, I'll replace it with the same type.

"I've been here since October 2006. Wow!"

software · ‎06-08-2016

You should be able to find a sale, almost everything is on sale this weekend,

Not sure if the brand matters, buy from a retailer with good customer service.

Put me in the category of a chest freezer over an upright.

A well organized chest freezer is very easy to navigate, I've had one for years.

And I'll tell you another plus for a chest freezer, you almost NEVER leave the door open!

Never send out one of your kids to bring you something from the upright freezer.

The door doesn't automatically close, like a refrigerator.

software · ‎06-08-2016

@Love my grandkids wrote:
@Writer with Flair Do those dinosaurs even exist anymore? Where did you get the info that the manual defrost types keep things colder? It really doesn't make sense to me.

According to refrigeration experts, it's true

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

My old chest freezer dates back to WT Grants, so unless you have a time machine getting one like it is nearly impossible.

Chest freezers are more efficient as cold air is denser and heavier than warm air so it settles downwards and doesn't move around a lot. With an upright freezer, every time you open the door there's a waterfall of cold air spilling out of the freezer that gets replaced with warmer air that then has to be cooled. With a chest freezer that cold air largely just sits there and it takes very little energy to keep it cold.

Think of cold air as water and imagine what would happen if you opened both a chest freezer full of water and an upright freezer full of water. The chest freezer might have a few drops of water splash out, but the upright would have a flood of water coming out. That's pretty much what happens with cold air in both types of freezers.

Self-defrosting freezers defrost by heating up the freezer to melt the frost that then drains and pools in a tray for evaporation. Heating up freezers is generally not the most efficient way to handle frozen food. The heat that's generated to melt the frost has to then be removed and that uses a lot more energy. For a freezer to stay absolutely frost free the cycle has to occur fairly frequently which means you're both heating and cooling the items stored in the freezer fairly frequently. In a manually defrosted chest freezer, the frost will eventually have to be removed manually, but it's not a huge issue. Take the food out, plop in a big old pot of boiling water, close the lid and in a relatively short period of time, the frost is gone. Then you just dry things up, restart the freezer and replace the food. It's easy-peasy and you only have to do it when the frost really starts to annoy you. The frost is actually helping keep the food in the freezer cold, so if it doesn't bother you, you can leave it there forever.

A well-insulated manual defrost chest freezer will hardly be noticed on your electric bill. An upright will add substantially to your bill. The more you're in and out of the freezers, the bigger the difference will be. If you don't mind standing on your head to get stuff out of a chest freezer, it's by far the most economical option. Parts don't wear out as fast as they don't get used as much. A compressor in a good chest freezer might only run a couple of times a day. In an upright, it might run a couple of times an hour. Your energy usage will be much less. They're just a better option in nearly every way.

Probably the ideal design for a chest freezer would be one that was incorporated right into your kitchen cabinets with the countertop serving as a lid. It could be shallow (twelve to eighteen inches deep), but long letting you easily reach stuff in it while still storing a lot in it. The countertop just lifts up and there's your frozen stuff. You'd give up a bit of cabinet storage but gain a whole lot of freezer storage. (The freezer drawers they have now tend to be a bit pricey and small, but work that way to some extent.)

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