Chest freezer: worth the cost of electricity

**Bethany** · 05-19-2008, 09:32 PM

Just wondering if you think it's worth it to invest in a freezer for stockpiling frozen foods/meats. Two issues, the cost of buying it. Secondly, the cost of running it. What do you think?

**Frugal Cook** · 05-19-2008, 09:38 PM

Of course. I just got mine, rated at about $30/yr in electricity. It's paid for itself in savings within the first month.

As for cost of buying, it depends on the size and whether you get a regular Manual Defrost or the very expensive frost free. Manual defrosting is easy and should take about 20 minutes or less once or twice a year.

**Bethany** · 05-19-2008, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by Frugal Cook

Of course. I just got mine, rated at about $30/yr in electricity. It's paid for itself in savings within the first month.

Gee, that's great!!! I'll definitely keep it in mind while we are renovating.

**jamie79** · 05-19-2008, 10:10 PM

I would not live without my freezer and I have a 15 cubic ft upright. A small chest freezer you can get new for about $140. Well worth it

**heartofmine** · 05-19-2008, 10:17 PM

I love my freezer. Its paid for itself time and time again and well worth the cost of having it. I not only put garden stuff in it but buy meats and frozen vege's as well as keeping extra flour, meal, sugar, oats, pasta and other things in it to keep them fresher longer.

**FrugalMomof3** · 05-19-2008, 10:41 PM

I love my freezer, I paid $100 for it on my local craigslist and it doesnt even put much of a dent in my electric bill, I think it's rated at $30 a year as well.

Mine currently holds all my frozen bags of chicken, a HUGE turkey, chicken patties, chicken nuggets, veggies and it's stocked up

**Buc-O-Mama** · 05-19-2008, 10:45 PM

I bought mine on clearance at best buy 4 years ago. It's paying for itself these days, allowing me to stock up on meat sales and saving me from shopping so much. Did you know that you can even freeze milk? I love my freezer a little too much. Some days I want to give it a name and decorate it with hot pink bows. But I don't. Just wait and scout out a good deal, you'll love yours too.

**kaykwilts** · 05-19-2008, 11:45 PM

I'm wanting a bigger freezer. Mine is an upright and way too small.

**StaceyS** · 05-20-2008, 09:57 AM

I don't currently have a freezer, but as soon as I can get a good deal, I'm getting one. DBF and I and a couple of friends want to get beef from a local farmer. My bosses did this last year and not only is it better for the environment to not buy the trucked in stuff, they say it tastes so much better. Their son always askes them if they can have the "good beef" for dinner tonight. LOL.

**mombottoo** · 05-20-2008, 10:45 AM

I save way more money on the cost of meats, etc than it would ever take to pay for the electricity to run my freezer.

**rudypoo98** · 05-20-2008, 11:45 AM

I bought my 15 cu. ft. chest freezer in 1985.It has saved me lots of money and when it gets low on food I freeze water in milk and 2 liter pop jugs to take up space in it.My daughter likes to go camping so when going she stops by to get some for her coolers.Also it's a way to have water if the city here is working on a line and shuts it off.

**Jamauk** · 05-20-2008, 12:04 PM

Jessica Heart's her Deep Freezer!!!

We got an amazing deal on turkey's last Thanksgiving - we bought five turkeys for around $20 (total!!!) Each turkey feeds us several meals (they're all around 20 lbs) - without the freezer we couldn't have done this.

I currently have:

One freezer/refrigerator in the kitchen (freezer used for day to day stuff) - came with the house
One freezer/refrigerator in the garage (found for $50 on craigslist) - holds a week's worth of milk and other fridge overflow. Freezer is used for bread so it doesn't get crushed (we go to the bread outlet once a month)
One 27 cu ft deep freezer in the garage (used to hold turkey's and other meats, huge bags of frozen veggies, frozen meals & ice cream that I'm hiding from the kids! (momma's got to have her "sanity food")

otherwise I'd go

The sales person at Sears also told us that by getting a manual defrost (we have to defrost it less than twice a year), it saves in energy because the fan isn't constantly cycling on & off trying to keep the frost away (it also holds food longer, for that very reason). It just keeps things cold and we worry about the frost ourselves!

**C@rol** · 05-20-2008, 03:46 PM

We've been talking about getting one for a while now and we are going tomorrow to purchase the other appliances for our kitchen remodel. It's been just the two of us and we figured we didn't need one. But with the price of gas and groceries rising so fast we figure we better stock up so as to save gas and money.

**della92** · 05-20-2008, 03:59 PM

My freezer is a must! I always buy meats & vegetables when they are on sell and stick in the freezer. So no matter what I am in the mood to eat, I almost always have it on hand.

We used to have it on the back porch and someone unplugged it (I think it was one of my nieces or nephews) we lost a lot of stuff, but I did get it cleaned out really good! Anyway now it is in its own little are inside the house, haven't had a bit of problem since.

**StaceyS** · 05-20-2008, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by Jamauk

Freezer is used for bread so it doesn't get crushed (we go to the bread outlet once a month)

Doesn't the bread get stale quicker from the freezer? I've tried to freeze bread, but if I'm not toasting it, it seems stale. Maybe it's our low humidity here