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Freezer Buying Guide

Nearly every household has a refrigerator, usually one that has a freezer attached. Sometimes more space is needed to store frozen goods for many reasons. Two types of dedicated freezers are upright and chest freezers.

Upright freezers are open fronted and generally come in the size of normal refrigerators. Foods are placed on shelves or in bins. Bins are more efficient at keeping energy in and can be specialised for specific foods. They are mostly suited for households that use large volume of frozen foods and need easy access to those foods. They can be placed in utility rooms, garages or in the kitchen. Upright freezers can be built-in to the cabinetry, built-under or integrated. They can also stand alone.

Chest freezers are large white freezer boxes and open at the top. Food can be placed in wire racks or shelves and is often stacked on top of each other. Since food can be more difficult to get at, chest freezers are suited mostly for long term storage. Being more utilitarian, many people place this in a garage or utility room. Chest freezers are almost never built-in. They are primarily of the stand alone variety.

Mini freezers can be used mostly for those who need expanded freezer capacity but are limited in space. These are usually upright freezers that open in the front and are the average size of a mini-fridge. Slimmer chest freezers are also available and are normally shorter in width.

Temperature/Defrost

Temperature is important to maintain in a freezer for energy efficiency and for food safety. Every freezer has a thermometer to keep track of temperature. Some will have a thermometer on the outside to check. Each degree colder that a freezer must maintain itself causes a 5% increase in energy requirements. Some freezers have the option of fast freeze. Fast freeze allows food to be quickly frozen to maintain nutrients. This is useful for fresh vegetables and meats. It also maintains the temperature of already frozen foods when warm products are added and maintaining safe temperatures for all food.

Freezers by nature build up frost inside and it is due to ice crystals forming on the walls and food. Upright units have automatic defrosting systems called frost free which can be done once a day and warm up the inside of the freezer long enough to melt the frost on the walls. It does not affect the temperature of the frozen food. Chest freezers and other uprights must be manually defrosted. This requires all of the food to be removed and the freezer to be warmed up to melt the frost. A defrosting drain must be supplied or the water will collect in the bottom. Some manual defrost freezers come with a power defrost cycle to speed defrosting.

Shelves vs. Bins

Bins are only available in upright freezers. They are more efficient at keeping energy in by maintaining a constant temperature when the door is open and closed. They are useful for properly maintaining specific foods. Meat drawers keep the meat safer at a constant 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Vegetable drawers keep the humidity at higher levels than other food requires. Cheese and dairy drawers are also available. Bins are not as easy to clean as shelves, but give easy access to the frozen goods that have been pushed to the back of the freezer.

Shelves can be made of glass, plastic or wire. They have the advantage of being adjustable in height and easy to clean. Disadvantages are that the food in the back of the freezer is more difficult to reach, and the freezer must work harder to maintain a constant temperature when the door is opened. Wire shelves can also be accompanied by wire baskets. These are mostly used in chest freezers to keep smaller frozen packages from being buried among by the larger ones.

Size

Freezers are measured in width, height and depth. Upright stand alone freezers range in height from 40-200 cm, width from 45-75 cm, and depth from 40-70 cm. Integrated freezers range in height from 80-180 cm, width from 45-65 cm and depth is usually standard to cabinetry. Upright freezers are always taller with the exception of compact freezers which have dimensions closer to being equal. Work top, under counter and compact freezers have smaller comparable dimensions than tall freezers which will be the height of a normal refrigerator.

Chest freezers will be wider and will be about waist high. Smaller versions are available to save space by cutting width or depth, but not height. Chest freezers range in height from 80 -100 cm, width from 45 -125 cm though they can go larger and depth from 50 - 80 cm.

Volume/Capacity

Freezers range can be different depends on how much food they can hold. Freezer measurements are made in litres and cubic feet. Volumes range from 100 litres to more than 566 litres, or approximately 3.5 cubic feet to more than 20 cubic feet. Most freezers range from 200 - 450 litres. Compact, work-top and under the counter freezers are around 60-100 litres.

It’s important to consider shelf size as well. A large rack of lamb may fit in a 450 litre chest freezer without shelves, but would probably not fit into a 500 litre upright with bins.

Energy Use

Upright freezers and frost free freezers are less energy efficient than chest freezers and those with manual defrost. Bins will increase energy efficiency by keeping compartments cold when the door opens. Freezers have energy labels that should say energy usage in Kilowatt hours. They are graded on a scale from A - F with being most efficient. Some units are labeled with A+ where each additional + means increased efficiency.

Energy Recommended is a label that units receive when they meet strict energy standards set by advocacy groups.
Features that you may look for are lid locks, magnetic door seals (safer if a child climbs in) and low noise levels. Noise is given in decibels. Freezers should not go above 60 dB unless you plan to keep it in an area where the hum won’t bother the household. Some freezers have multiple doors to take advantage of a compact design but still have bins and shelves side by side.