Freezers
 

Does a freezer count as technology?

I'm looking for opinions on freezers, upright vs. chest. Or freezer vs extra fridge.

I have been freezing a lot of produce from my garden since it is easier and quicker than canning. Also more nutritious, so they say. I've used up my 5 cu.ft. chest freezer and I'm looking for something bigger, but not sure how big, also wondering if a large fridge/freezer combo may be enough extra freezer space and be useful for some things like root crops (spuds. carrots, beets etc).

Anyone out there have any ideas?

Combos aren't cold enough for long term storage and more expensive to run. :)

Thanks Bruce, Is there any appreciable difference between the bottom mounted freezer combo units and top or side by side, or are they all about the same as far as long term storage/expense goes?

BTW, you might be able to unload all those green shirts to your local greenpeace chapter. :0

For me, I find the upright to be the best. Things stay hidden in a chest type. Also a frost free tends to dry things out. But good luck on finding one that's not.

If you can wait, prices may be dropping. The $6billion energy bill that George Jr wanted became $14 billion mostly to profitable energy producing companies. But in that bill are some pork for you. Refrigeration products will now be subsidized by the government. It was something thrown to the energy 'consumption' industry so that big oil and other fossil fuel 'providers' could obtain big government subsidizes.

When you open the door on an upright, cold air spills out from the bottom, while warm, humid air sneaks in at the top. That makes the freezer work harder (and use more energy) to stay cold, and temperatures may fluctuate a bit. Self-defrost models compensate by using a fan to circulate cold air from the cooling coils, which are in the back wall.
Manual-defrost uprights don't have a fan to circulate cold air. That can result in uneven temperatures. Optimally, a freezer should maintain a temperature of 0° F throughout. Like refrig/freezer combos door shelves on manual-defrost uprights can be 15° to 20° degrees warmer than the main space. That's unacceptable for long term storage.
Since you already have a freezer in you fridge plus a chest type, I assume you'll be moving stuff into your refridge freezer as you use it. That makes things getting hidden or forgotten in the chest less of a problem. :)

busterb, That is my thinking about the upright, but Bruce has a good point about that.

tw, Hmm, I like the idea of gov't subsidies working for me even though I don't manufacture SUVs, So that's a point. How long must I wait? How soon is now?

Bruce, good point about the migratory aspects of frozen food, I am a little swayed by the poor use of vertical space but as my wife points out, I can build shelving above a chest.

Also I see the fault in the big temp diff of the door vs the interior. Why I never put milk in the door of the fridge.

I think the chest is the front runner now.

Three companies make most freezers sold in the U.S.: Frigidaire, which makes models sold under the Frigidaire, GE, and Kenmore labels; W.C. Wood, which makes units sold under its own name as well as Amana, Danby, Magic Chef, Maytag, and Whirlpool, and Haier which specializes in small chests for its own brand along with GE, Kenmore, and Amana. ;)

So Bruce, If I was going to buy an Amana, I'd be buying it because I liked the way it looked, the arrangement of the shelves/ whatnot, or would I be buying it because W.C. Wood makes better stuff?

I always wondered about contract manufacturing. To what extent are things made according to someone's specs? e.g. An acura is a honda, but it isn't a civic.

I'm not sure if I'm making sense ( was out in the sun all day) in fact, I can barely type.

I think what I'm trying to ask is, is there a difference between brands made by the same manufacturer?

For a fridge, I like the amana bottom mounted freezer. all our other appliances are frigidare, the price is right and they look ok.

Shop price, as far as I can tell. :)

Go to library and take a look at consumer reports, see if they have anything. Cheaper than paying the sub fee.

3foot, Penn State says don't freeze more than 2 pounds of food per cubic foot of freezer capacity per day. :mg:

My sister just melted a freezer full of meat. Think about going with a chest so kids can't leave the door open.

Party on Sis! When's the Barbecue? :lol:

I'm pretty sold on a chest. Now I need to figure out what size :eyebrow:

For the roots and such, I'm partitioning off a small chunk of the basement to make a root cellar. My neighbor gave me a WWII era victory garden book with instructions on how to make about five different types of food storage caches and a few types of root cellars. Man have things changed in 60 years.