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After selecting the freezer type, you can choose from different available sizes. Most chest freezers are around 15 or 20 cubic feet and can store over 300 pounds of food. This means that you can stuff in a lot of food, but just try to keep everything as organized as possible, since getting out an item in the back of the freezer might turn into a chilly adventure. The smaller upright freezers also offer good storing capacities. Such models have several shelves and compartments for quicker access to your favorite food items. Frozen fruits are best kept in pull-out shelves, so look for such a model if you plan on doing this. If you also store a lot of cans, look for a model that offers ridged shelves that will stop them from falling around.
Another choice concerns the method of defrost. Manual defrost is standard for chest freezers – so the freezer actually keeps the low temperature using humidity. The negative part of manual defrost is that, once in a while, you have to empty the freezer and remove the excess ice that was formed. This time-consuming option is balanced by the fact that such a freezing procedure actually keeps food fresher and it eliminates freezer burn. Manual defrost freezers are generally more economical, saving about 40 percent in electricity costs. With upright freezers you can choose between manual and frost free options. Frost free freezers eliminate the need for defrost, but are more energy demanding and store food in a drier environment.
George Anderson has seen how the right refrigerator freezer can make a lot of difference in a family's life.