Large and Small Chest Freezers
Large and small chest freezers are manufactured in a simple design and, on the whole, are quite reliable appliances.
Size for size, you get more food into a chest freezer than into the drawers of an upright freezer because you can pack the food in more efficiently.
Storage
- Chest freezers are efficient in that when you open the lid, most of the cold air stays in the box because cold air is denser than warm air.
- Chest freezers are generally cheaper to buy than equivalent cubic sized upright models.
- You can get small chest freezers for small families and large ones, great for home food producers.
- Running costs size for size for a chest freezer is generally less than for an upright one.
- Chest freezers work best for large households wanting to freeze food in bulk.
- Chest freezers can be kept in a garage or outhouse but remember to check for the ambient temperature rules of the freezer manufacturer.
The disadvantages of both large and small chest freezers are:-
- Both large and small chest freezers can be difficult to fit into kitchens neatly due to their size but especially as the lid is on the top. They do not fit under a worktop or can you use the top as shelf.
- Chest freezers usually contain a number of wire baskets but have no internal shelves. This may make it trickier to divide the space up into sections for different types of food
- Food packages can be hidden or forgotten at the bottom of the chest but this can be overcome with the use of baskets, good labelling and an inventory.
- Many chest freezers need manual defrosting every six months or so.
So many people buy chest freezers and then only keep them half full, so size is very important. If it is too big, the extra cost of buying it, running it and giving up more floor space will be wasted.
Points to consider are:-
- Why do you want a chest freezer?
- How are you going to manage it?
- What are you going to use the freezer for?
- Have you space for a chest freezer or would a free standing upright model?
- Where are you going to put it?
- How will you use it?
- How much freezing capacity you will need?
- What is your budget for buying and running costs. Will both these factors justify the expense?
- Will you need it to be child proofed with a lock?
- If you are placing it outside the main house, will the temperature of the storage area fulfil the guarantee conditions of the manufacturer?
Features offered on many large and small chest freezers
- Adjustable thermostats that enable you to select the temperature you prefer,
- Fast freeze functions to seal the nutrients into your food as soon as you bring it home,
- High/rising temperature alerts
- Freezer baskets of in various sizes
- Spouts to make defrosting easier
- Ice trays,
- Safety locks and open door warnings
Both large and small chest freezers come in a large number of brands, models, prices and efficiency.
Remember to check the following:-
- The Energy Star Rating indicates how long food can be safely stored for. The higher the rating, the longer the food will last.
- EU Energy Rating Labels rate from A++ for the most energy ef ficient to G for the least efficient.
- Energy Efficient Recommender logo is a scheme operated by the Energy Saving Trust (EST). The EST uses this label to endorse the most efficient products on the market.
- EU Ecolabel (flower symbol) may appear on goods which have a lower environmental impact than similar products performing the same function.
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