Freezer Options
Massachusetts
Contributors to this thread:
I figured this would be a great place to ask this question. I am sick and tired of these cheap chest freezers crapping out on me. So I was wondering what brands you guys have had good luck with and if any of you are actually using an upright, or prefer the good old fashion chest type. Upright would save some space and certainly make it easier to get at stuff. Pete
Pete, we have had the same Kenmore since we moved to this house, so 14 years. It's been good. I'm very hopeful that it doesn't die soon... If it did though, I'd go upright and probably stick it in the garage vs the basement for simplicity sake. Ill be curious what others have noted.
To be clear, that's the last Kenmore thing I've bought that held up. My wife wanted to get fancy high end dishwasher and fridge a few years ago. She'd gotten a signing bonus from a new job, and coupled that with black friday and a lot of consumer reports reading to get a Kenmore Elite dishwasher and fridge. They both died in 3 years, after the warranty of course. Very disappointed in both. The fridge mind you was repaired at 6 months for a leak, and was ok for a year before we had to start defrosting it every month. Not ok for a modern "quality" fridge. Any thoughts of a new bow this year were dashed when I spent the $ on a new one about a month ago. Grrr. I used to really have good luck with Kenmore, but they are on timeout for me now.
Mr Frugal said :
Upright is nice. My advice is to look in the "for sale" section of local stuff for sale site. When you find a prospective unit, do your homework. The last two freezers that I bought were $100. each . the first is still used in my old home and lasted more than 16 years and was used when I got it. The newer one in this home is a commercial freezer that was almost new and was also $100. 2 years making cold stuff now, perfect and big too.
I say Keep looking for a good used one (industrial grade if possible) and save your money for the butcher and taxidermist. Mr. Frugal
You may want to buy on the tax free days the state graciously gave us minions.
I have 2 stand up freezers that ive had more than 20 yrs. still running great. I actually have forgotten the brands. I'll go look tomorrow. They are in the garage.
But won't you have to get into "the way back machine " to get something of lasting performance?
Maybe now it's just a name... if getting a new one check consumer reports and reviews. Good luck.
Another thing to factor in is that the uprights are self defrosting but use a lot more energy because of that feature. The chest types will have to be unloaded and shut down every two to three years (depending on how often you open them) to manually defrost and drain. Plus with the chest type it's a lot easier to loose track of what ends up stored on the bottom, never to be seen again, unless you are an organized type that rotates stock. We have an upright that we use for vegetables, breads, etc. and a chest type for fish and meats.
Hunterma raises a good point... I thought we were out of venison burger until moving the chest freezer while finishing the basement this past May. Low and behold, there was, (embarrassed) about 15# from last year on the bottom that had gotten covered in various veggies, fish and frozen fruit. It was like finding buried treasure :)
Ya, I am leaning toward a stand up based on some of the comments above and from what I have read elsewhere. Going to stay away from any BJs no names and go with a well known brand.
Getting ready for actually putting some venison away. Plus I am beginning to build a nice stock of striped bass, which is taking up a bunch of space in my little freezer. Good problem to have :)
So, I have another question, but that one will require a new thread.
When my stand ups build too much frost and ice I empty the meat into several coolers wheel them out into the driveway from the garage and blastem with the hose. Takes about 15 min each. Then dryem with an old towel and voolah back in bussiness
Can you put a freezer in an unheated garage or barn through the winter? Any info or experience appreciated
Skippah , there shouldn't be any problem with a freezer-only unit, in this part of our country unless it gets below zero for several days even then it should perform as it warms up and wouldn't need to kick on when it's that cold. In extreme conditions, it would be wise to wrap the compressor with heat tape and keep any draft off of the compressor as moving air will chill it more thoroughly/ more quickly. The reason for having a heat source on the compressor is to keep the oils from getting too thick and preventing the unit from turning on if needed at that time. ( deep freeze and then quick substantial warm up) .
In a pinch, You can achieve the same results with a light bulb left on under/ next to, the compressor during extreme cold but heat tape is best.
The heat tape should have a built-in thermostat ( same stuff as used to keep pipes from freezing )And this would take the worry out of the equation. Apparently, the old freezers were built tougher and therefore less of an issue.
This does not apply to a standard -home -refrigerator- freezer combo. They do not function properly in that environment but a freezer only unit should be fine even without compressor protection but I'm into extra/overkill / sure bet / never fail / belt and suspenders protection. you know, a bit on the Neurotic side.
Skippah, yes. I've not done it, but some good friends keep a meat freezer, a chest in this case, in their barn. It's been working well out there for 25 years or more...
Awesome guys, thanks for all the info