ISO Appliance (upright freezer) Reviews

[The Z]

Does anyone know of a good web site for appliance reviews? I'm in the market for a frost free upright freezer but haven't been satisfied with my google results.

Thanks.

Z

 

[The Z]

Okay... no replies. Let me rephrase the question.

In your experience, how does 'frost free' compare to 'NOT frost free' in terms of food storage? Does the frost free feature impact the quality of the items being stored... such as ice cream?

 

[Uncle Bob]

Z you may find THIS discussion interesting...It may answer some of your questions

 

[The Z]

Thank you, Uncle Bob. I don't know why, but I'm really struggling with this Frost Free vs. Not Frost Free decision. I've read a lot of stuff all over the web... and a lot of the 'advice' is contradictory. The convenience of Frost Free is a strong attraction, but it seems that it also comes at a certain cost in terms of longer term storage. The Not Frost Free seem cheaper to run, have fewer things that can go wrong, and would be a 'greener' choice... so that is also attractive.

I guess I'm now leaning toward the Not Frost Free variety. If it only has to be defrosted once or twice a year, it can't be THAT inconvenient... can it?

 

[Uncle Bob]

Inconvenient? Not really...I defrost, clean out etc, about once per year...You just have to have everything ready to go...A couple of coolers can be nice...Then get the ice build up off the sides...dispose of it in the sink...it can be done in under an hour if you move fast...It makes a mess of sorts...towels, and a mop may come in handy. Ya gonna get water on the floor no matter what you do!

You're right...there are pros and cons to both types ..Uprights vs. Chest --- Frost free vs. manual defrost ... In the end it's just a personal choice based on how you look at things....HTH

Have Fun!!

 

[Mama]

The Not Frost Free seem cheaper to run...

I don't know what it costs to run a manual defrost freezer but I just bought a Frigidare 25.5 cu. ft. upright with automatic defrost (Is that differnet from Frost Free?). It is an Energy Start appliance and claims to cost $73 a year to operate. Don't know how true it is because I haven't had it long.

 

[The Z]

I don't know what it costs to run a manual defrost freezer but I just bought a Frigidare 25.5 cu. ft. upright with automatic defrost (Is that differnet from Frost Free?). It is an Energy Start appliance and claims to cost $73 a year to operate. Don't know how true it is because I haven't had it long.

Yeah... I don't know how close those estimates are. My guess is that they use a certain 'standard rate' but rates vary from location to location. I also assume that they're measuring in a temperature-controlled environment, but it sounds like many folks put their freezers in garages or on porches in climates that may be considerably different from season to season. Here in Vegas, freezers in garages have to work pretty dang hard for a few of the summer months but then get to rest a little during the rest of the year.

I noticed as I was shopping that the difference in estimated energy usage in similarly sized automatic defrost (I guess that's frost free) and manual defrost freezers is about $20 a year more-or-less. So it's not really 'significant'.