In preparation for ordering a quarter of a cow and stocking up other foods, we are buying a new freezer. I have never bought a new large appliance before, they have all come with my home or we bought what we could find cheap and used.

I am looking for some good feedback to help us to decide what is best for us.

 

We used to have a small chest freezer.  What a hassle!  Every time I wanted something, it always seemed to be hidden under a bunch of other stuff that I had to move to get to it.  Now I have a large upright - so much easier!  I can even have different shelves for different "categories" - ready-to-eat stuff (frozen pizza etc), meats, nuts, fruits, & vegetables, and two shelves for my many bags of frozen tomatoes.

I have an old and small chest freezer now. I appreciated it when my Grandmother passed hers on to me after I married but I know what you mean about not finding things.

I love Mom's upright, so much neater. I am not sure I can put one where my little chest freezer is though, I have it on my parents' carport.

 

 

The problem with an upright freezer is that everytime you open the door you loose a lot more cold air that you do with a chest type.  Make sure you check your energuide labels (or what ever the equivalent is down there.  And buy the one that uses the least amount of power per cubic foot of storage space.

I would add to Jim's advice on energy savings that you look for one with an Energy Star rating. That's a national rating and not every appliance qualifies for it. They usually exceed government standards. Read the labels and compare for the best energy use.

There's a good, detailed study on buying a freezer here: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05feb28a.cfm 

 

Thank you, Jim and Pat.

We are doing a bit of shopping this weekend and we plan to look at freezers before making a final decision.

 

Here's a great argument for buying a freezer in the first place, as well as some good tips on using one to get the most from it.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/07/07apr23h.cfm 

 

In my opinion, It may be ok to buy a used freezer, but still you are taking a chance whenever you buy an appliance or car etc, in used condition. It would mainly depend on how cheap you could get it and whether you trusted the source you were getting it from. A freezer, even a new one, is a very good investment for saving money in the long run.. (it will pay for itself in no time if you use it the right way!) and.you can stock up on the best sales, cook ahead and freeze meals, and preserve vegetables and fruits for out of season times. If you could get a new one without putting it on credit, I would go with that.(unless of course you know someone who is just giving one away!) Buy one that best suits your needs, of course, not too big, not too small. Best wishes! 

Bellypotamus, if someone I knew personally was selling a freezer then I might consider a used one. As it is, I am too concerned about water damage to take the risk for some initial savings.

I don't have the option of putting a freezer on credit. We pay with cash.

As for size, I was thinking one size up from our old one but I am afraid that I may be just trading problems there. One size up may be too small. But then what happens when we do move if I get a larger one? We may run into some space issues.

 

 

 

 

 

We bought a fridge size upright one from Sears- and got rid of the chest one that came with the house- I'm a paranoid mother, I thought someone would sleepwalk downstairs and lock themselves in- I love my upright!  I rotate the same way I do in the pantry, I move everything up before I go to the store, in the freezer and pantry, and feed food in from the bottom, try to use things from the top down.  We use it for bread, sometimes even milk, butter, veggies, plus two emergency meals for if things are too hectic- frozen pizza and lasgana!  Sometimes if there's a good sale, I'll but 10 loaves of bread, or 10 bags of frozen veg- I know I always have room.  I also keep flour, cornmeal, and frozen tortillas in the freezer.

I think you would love having a bigger, especially being rural.  

Tracy