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Old 07-20-2020, 08:51 PM   #21
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I read accounts of people selling crappy used freezers on Craig's List and are asking outlandish prices.
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Old 07-20-2020, 09:01 PM   #22
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Frost-free is not good for long term food storage. That's because the freezer automatically periodically warms up to over 32 degrees to melt the accumulated ice on the walls and floor. That water is drained off and the temperature then drops again.
This. The best way to keep food is to make sure it stays at zero (or below) as much as possible. Manual defrost is also more efficient, however that is based on not allowing too much ice buildup (which can hamper efficiency).

I have two manual defrost freezers, one upright and one chest. All other things being equal (build quality), a chest freezer will be more efficient. However, with the upright it is much easier to find things and having a door (with shelves) is nice.
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Old 07-20-2020, 09:37 PM   #23
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Frost-free is not good for long term food storage. That's because the freezer automatically periodically warms up to over 32 degrees to melt the accumulated ice on the walls and floor. That water is drained off and the temperature then drops again.
Actually, I don't thinks it is anywhere near that bad. As I understand it, at least on modern frost free models, the coils are tucked away behind a panel, and a fan circulates the inside air over them. Only the coils get frost on them (they are the coldest part), and only the coils are heated (with the fan off, so the air around the food is not really heated much at all). The water drips off and through a tube to the drain pan (which evaporates with the hot air from the compressor blown over it.

They can actually apply quite a bit of heat to the coils directly to do it fast, and they sense when the temperature of the coils rises above 32F (which won't happen until the ice is melted). So it doesn't run the heat any longer than needed.

On our manual defrost freezer, the coils are in the shelves, and that is where the ice builds up (and grows from there).

Think about it, if they warmed the whole compartment above 32F, it would still take a long time for any frost to melt with all that food in there keeping the temperature stable. And the water would drip all over. Have you ever opened a frost-free and actually seen water dripping anywhere? Not me (unless it was broken).

The other thing - since that defrost cycle is removing water from the air every cycle, there isn't enough moisture to frost up on the walls. I think it is this dry air (freezer burn) that has more detrimental effect on long term storage than a slight temperature rise of 10 minutes once or twice a day (or whatever it is set for).

-ERD50
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Old 07-20-2020, 09:48 PM   #24
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I agree about supply chain issues. I tried to buy a fridge for a rental unit and all three basic SS models were out of stock and at least 6/8 weeks out before being inventories.
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Old 07-20-2020, 10:28 PM   #25
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A couple of years ago I bought a 5.0 cf Insignia chest freezer from Best Buy. They loaded it in the SUV and I got some help to get it into the house. I paid $99 on sale for it. Today I checked and the freezer is in stock in a couple of fairly local stores. It's now priced at $190 and you can get it delivered here for $70.

The freezer is basic but it gets the job done. Perfect for two or three people and good for stocking up on sale items. Might not get half a pig in it, but probably fine for most small households.
The electrical cost can really add up over the useful life of the freezer. You can almost always save money by spending a bit more upfront for a more efficient one.
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Old 07-21-2020, 06:33 AM   #26
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Ordered one from Costco in June and it arrived with dents and a crushed lid. Returned it and found a nice 5 cubic foot model at Home Depot and they let me take it out of the box to inspect it before buying and then took $30 off for a tiny mark on the lid. Have 1/4 cow coming in August and 10 big whole chickens tomorrow.
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Old 07-21-2020, 06:51 AM   #27
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After having a chest freezer for too long, we are looking for an upright freezer that has more shelves, and easier access to the buried items. Nothing sucks more than having to empty half of the contents to find something.
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Old 07-21-2020, 11:52 AM   #28
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...I have two manual defrost freezers, one upright and one chest. All other things being equal (build quality), a chest freezer will be more efficient. However, with the upright it is much easier to find things and having a door (with shelves) is nice.
The reason chest freezers are more energy efficient is because cold freezer air is heavier (denser) than room temperature air. When the door of an upright freezer is opened, most of the cold air spills out, being replaced with warm room air that must be cooled. But when a chest freezer is opened, most of the cold air remains in the freezer, kind of like a bowl holding water, and does not need to be chilled again. Also, the frost buildup will be lower on a chest freezer because less room air enters the freezer. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air and is a major source of freezer frost (although some of the freezer frost does come from moisture outgassing from poorly wrapped food).

The 8 cubic foot upright we have has an energy label that states 413 kilowatts of electricity are used a year and the new 16 cubic foot freezer energy label states 308 kilowatts of power are used each year. Some of this added efficiency definitely is from thicker cabinet insulation in the new freezer, and some increase in effeciency is probably due to the fact it's a chest freezer.
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Old 07-21-2020, 12:00 PM   #29
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Actually, I don't thinks it is anywhere near that bad. As I understand it, at least on modern frost free models, the coils are tucked away behind a panel, and a fan circulates the inside air over them. Only the coils get frost on them (they are the coldest part), and only the coils are heated (with the fan off, so the air around the food is not really heated much at all). The water drips off and through a tube to the drain pan (which evaporates with the hot air from the compressor blown over it....

-ERD50
This is correct. No-frost freezers also have an evaporator fan that blows air across the cooling coils inside the freezer when the compressor is running and this will cool the freezer faster than a manual defrost model, so both these taken together probably keep frost free models from warming up the freezer contents during the defrost cycle.

Now a frost free freezer will use more electricity than a manual defrost freezer having the same capacity, insulation, compressor, etc. simply because of the heating element (typically a defrost cycle is once a day and lasts 30 minutes).
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Old 07-21-2020, 12:44 PM   #30
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A chest freezer is much better than the upright if you have a power outage.


My BIL had a chest freezer and lost electricity for a couple of days... when the electricity came back on he went out and found that only the very top items showed any sign of melting but were still 'frozen'... the bottom items were rock solid...


My upright will lose its cold in half a day but the items are still frozen enough to be OK...


I like the upright for the ease of storing and shelves...
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Old 07-21-2020, 04:51 PM   #31
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I guess we will see what the freezer shortage looks like in our area. Just saw that we have a puddle under our chest freezer. Everything seems to still be frozen, but that can't be a good sign. Called around a few places....some say they don't have any, some say they have no idea when they might get any. One said to check with what their on-line ad says, that they can't/aren't allowed to tell you that over the phone. And she said just because the on-line says they have one, doesn't mean they will have it when you come in AND they won't hold it for you. Looked on-line at WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot, and a couple local small stores. No luck. On-line Menard's appears to have a few in our area. We will see. Hope to pick one up there in the next few days just in-case ours really does quit or that the supply and demand situation gets worse. Crossing our fingers.
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Old 07-21-2020, 06:36 PM   #32
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We got this one:



from WebstaurantStore.com and are really happy with it. They seem to have a fair number of freezers and whatnot in stock still. The warranty does warn that it potentially doesn't cover non-commercial use, but eh, was worth it to us. We've stored at least 100lbs of meat, plus a multi-week supply of smoothies. It is building up frost and at some point we will eat it down, throw everything in a cooler and defrost and drain the freezer, seems like we can hose it down on the inside to speed up the process once it is off. The baskets are great for organization and while I do sometimes need to excavate to move things around on the bottom, it isn't too bad.

It took a lot of strain off the freezer compartment in our kitchen fridge, which is not the most spacious, and has been fantastic for our new penchant for buying beef primals/subprimals, 10lb. packages of chicken breast, etc.
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Old 07-21-2020, 06:51 PM   #33
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After having a chest freezer for too long, we are looking for an upright freezer that has more shelves, and easier access to the buried items. Nothing sucks more than having to empty half of the contents to find something.
that's precisely why we sold the chest and bought a small, manual defrost upright for the garage several years ago. we also have our still chugging along nearly 40-yr old fridge in the garage. we use both.
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Old 07-28-2020, 04:29 PM   #34
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In rural Montana all of my neighbors have freezers as do we. Many of us have multiple freezers because we tend to be hunters, gatherers, and fisherman.

When a supply crisis like this happens, suddenly everyone in the big city thinks they are a hunter/gatherer, baker, etc. when they are really just hoarding whatever they can get their hands on. While I don’t blame them, having and making good use of a freezer are different skills.

Most of the city fold don’t have and won’t acquire the skills necessary to store and use foods over a long period of time. My own citified sister and brother-in-law could probably die of starvation with a full freezer, because they have eaten out three meals a day for life. They don’t know how to preserve food or cook. There is more to it than meets the eye. And if you don’t do it right it’s simply wasting good food. Unless of course you intend to just fill it with ice cream you found on sale. Even then you should rotate it. And invite me...
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Old 07-28-2020, 04:36 PM   #35
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Freezers have been hard to find since about March/April. It's all about people being fearful of not being able to find meat and other frozen foods at the stores due to the virus. When these items are available, people are buying them in quantity and filling up their freezers.

Hmm.. I had twelve 25cuft used chest freezers to sell in Nov 2018 (business closure) Had a bit of a hard time selling them. I should have market timed!
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Old 07-28-2020, 04:55 PM   #36
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I have a little 6 cu ft upright freezer, and when I defrost it I use a few large pots of hot water and wait about 15 minutes.
That loosens the ice so I can take it out in sheets with very little melt water.
I use a plastic spatula to help it
our upright is in the freezer so no hassle on defrost. puke away!
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Old 07-28-2020, 05:35 PM   #37
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When the COVID food shortages started happening we went to Lowe's right away in March in N.H. We had just moved to our little retirement home and didn’t think we’d need a freezer any longer. We always had a Big stand up one in our former home in the garage for easy access.

Because the garage in our new home is very small we reluctantly settled for a small chest freezer. I hate chest freezers (and bottom freezers in the fridges) because you have to dig into them and remove stuff just to find what you need. A real pain. Not to mention they need defrosting.

But the price was right at $149. And glad to have it because we had gotten a counter depth grudge fir our kitchen and the freezer in it is ridiculously small.

The COVID situation is a reason there was a run in freezers and now the stores can’t get them. But I think you might be able to find limited ones online like at Amazon maybe.
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Old 07-28-2020, 06:23 PM   #38
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Thanks. That reminds me that I gotta chest freezer under a tarp in the backyard that I gotta move into the newly built shop. That old girl (the freezer) is the size of a VW Beetle. I think she was built back when Eisenhauer was a boy. I gotta electrical doodad that will turn her into a refrigerator (lowest setting on a conventional freezer is, well, FREEZE).
DW has been bugging me to getter (the freezer/fridge) set up as canning season is coming soon and we'll need to chill down a load of cukes, sweet corn, beets, etc.

I think I'll put her on casters, that way I can wheel her (reference ambiguous) around in the shop where's convenient.
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Old 07-28-2020, 06:40 PM   #39
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For one of the few times in my life we timed it perfectly. DW has been nagging me for years that we should get a small chest freezer (sometimes she would get attacked by one of my ice cream containers when she'd open the freezer).
I gave in and we got one in early March. As it turns out, we got one of the last ones, got a great price to boot. And I gotta confess DW was right; I wish I had gotten it sooner, but at least we did have one in time for this pandemic/hoarding.
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Old 07-28-2020, 08:22 PM   #40
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My son ordered a chest freezer last week. He said they will deliver it promptly when it arrives....in October.
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