Im buying a deep freezer. Need your help

**Dancing Lotus** · 12-27-2007, 01:35 PM

MY mom gave me soem money for christmas and I am thinking about buying an upright deep freezer. I can
A. buy one at a thrift shop for around 50 bucks but Im not even sure if it works right or if it has auto defrost.

B. Buy a nice ( but used ) auto defrost thats slightly smaller then I want for 175. or

C. A newer but still used and in excellent shape , the large size I want for 125.00 the down side is it doesnt auto defrost.

My Question is how bad is it to have to defrost the freezer? Do I have to wait tell we eat it almost empty or does it defrost fast enough that I can put everything back in it before it thaws out? I am leaning toward C but dont want to be sorry I didnt get the auto defrost.

**Darlene** · 12-27-2007, 01:41 PM

My vote is for C but we do ours in winter and put the food outside for the hour it takes to defrost. I see you are in Florida so that option is out. We put a small heater inside tomake it go quick. If you can get your stash down to a cooler managable level you'll be all set whenever it needs defrosting. since ours only needs defrosting once a year, it's no big deal.

**Dancing Lotus** · 12-27-2007, 01:50 PM

One a year ? Cool, I thought I would have to do it more often.

**Domestic Gal** · 12-27-2007, 02:43 PM

Plus if you get a new one you can get an energy star one and save on your electric bill.
With a used one you will not know how much it will cost to run until you get your first electric bill. And you are stuck with it if it zaps lots of energy.

**bumplett** · 12-27-2007, 02:58 PM

I'd vote C

I don't have auto defrost, and it's not that much of a biggie.

**dcompton** · 12-27-2007, 05:29 PM

When I defrosted the freezer (it was in the house), I would get a laundry basket or two, line them with a blanket, fill, them, and wrap the blanket over the top. Try to packs meats or slow thawing things around the edges, quicker thawing things in the middle. I never had any trouble with things thawing -- if there was frost on the package, it was still there when it came out of the blankets.

How often you need to defrost depends on a lot of factors. If you let the frost build up too much, through, your freezer will not be able to work as effiently - at least that's what I've read. I found I had to defrost my upright more than the chest freezers I've had.

I also agree to go with the newest you can - the energy efficiency is likely to be better. I would skip A completely. Too many unknowns.

**Jamauk** · 12-27-2007, 05:57 PM

We just bought a new chest freezer a few months ago and it does not have auto defrost. The sales person told us it is less efficient to have a frost free because it is constantly cooling down, then heating up a bit to keep it frost free. With a manual defrost you pretty much plug it in and it just keeps your stuff cool - its not trying to regulate the temp as much.

We bought a 21 cu ft freezer and wish we had gone ahead and bought the 25 cu ft one.....oh well, live and learn!

**Jamauk** · 12-27-2007, 05:58 PM

P.S. Chest freezers are more efficient than upright ones as well.

**Dancing Lotus** · 12-27-2007, 06:47 PM

We had a chest freezer a few yrs ago and I hated it becuase I had to climb into it and dig. Things got lost and crusted at the bottom.

Im pretty sure I will go with C. especialy sense it seams they are more effecient. Thanks.

**happydog** · 12-30-2007, 01:30 PM

Personally, I'd go with C. I don't like auto defrost for deep freezers, because it will eventually freezer-burn your stored foods. The auto defrost cycle pulls all the moisture out of the freezer--and also out of your foods. Foods will keep in much better shape, for much longer, in a freezer that has no defrost cycle. I'd take a look around for new ones, too. The non-defrosting kind don't cost much new, and you might be saving on electricity with the more efficient models they have now. Plus, inventory sales will be coming up soon. Congrats on your new freezer, whichever one you decide to get.

**shortcake** · 12-30-2007, 05:18 PM

I can't comment on the auto defrost because I have never had one with that option. I can tell you I have the stand up model and would never go back to the deep floor model. Stuff would just get burried at the bottom and wasted. In the upright model nothing gets wasted you open the door and see everything in one quick glance. Just my 2 cents

)

**justpeachy92** · 12-30-2007, 05:29 PM

We have a chest freezer I got at Sams Club. It has baskets that go across the top, those are nice for storing frozen vegis or juice. I also keep a freezer inventory of everything that is in there, so we have yet to have food go to waste and I know at a glance what I am running low on.

**kaykwilts** · 12-30-2007, 05:52 PM

I would love to have a new freezer. The one I have is too small. It's an upright. When I have to defrost it I put everything in my washing machine. Takes about an hour to do.

**foxxyroxie** · 12-30-2007, 06:26 PM

I wouldn't want auto-defrost on my freezer. We have a frost-free freezer on top of refrigerator and it doesn't keep ice cream solid so we have to keep it in the freezer.
As far as defrosting it, once or twice a year is good. Doesn't really take that long and then you can do a really good freezer inventory at that time -- this way you can use/give away/discard anything that is bad or you're not going to use.
As a kid my parents always and a chest type and I thought it was a pain in the rear because you had to crawl in to get things out. But now that I'm grown and have an upright, I think it's a pain in the rear because it doesn't store nearly the quantity that the chest type freezer did. I guess each has their advantages/disadvantages.