OT: Auxiliary Fridge and Freezer

oldgeezeystax

OT but not wayyyy OT.  

I've been wanting to get an additional freezer for the basement for a long time and now that my family is growing it's time.  Our kitchen fridge is relatively small and the freezer is even smaller so you can't really squeeze much in there and good luck keeping it organized.  My hope is to get both a separate fridge and freezer and I don't particularly care what they look like as they will be living in the basement, do you have any tips for buying used appliances?  Things to avoid?  How much money should I expect to shell out?  What's your auxiliary keep food cold or frozen setup like? 

Thanks all!   

Eggcelsior

There is a place on East Street by Monocacy Brewing and Triangle Motors that sells used appliances cheap(around 100 bucks for fridges, $75 for W/D) I think he buys them from yard sales and whatnot and sells them once he makes sure they work. Otherwise, you can find floor model/scratch and dings at local retailers(Bray and Scarff, Lowes, etc) 

Eggcelsior

Otherwise, Craigslist is an option as well. 

tikigriller

We have our old side by side as well as a floor Freezer to hold all the frozen nuggets in the garage.  We decided to upgrade our Kitchen Fridge with the money, even though it was more, rather than do the used thing. I want to say our floor freezer was only a couple hundred bucks, as it really is nothing special at all.

I would check new vs. used......if you are not looking for anything fancy, fridges and freezers really are not very expensive at all, and buying a used one, could lead to an early repair that would cost you the same as just buying new.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Danby-Designer-24-in-W-11-0-cu-ft-Freezerless-Refrigerator-in-White-Counter-Depth-DAR110A1WDD/205471286

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Freezers-Ice-Makers-Chest-Freezers/N-5yc1vZc3nr/Ntk-Extended/Ntt-freezers?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5

fishlessman

i have three fridges, the newest is maybe 35 years old. do todays fridges last that long. my old one is maybe 30's/40's vintage. was talking to an appliance guy recently and he said new lasts about 10 years, is that right

oldgeezeystax

fishlessman said:

i have three fridges, the newest is maybe 35 years old. do todays fridges last that long. my old one is maybe 30's/40's vintage. was talking to an appliance guy recently and he said new lasts about 10 years, is that right

Neat!  Where do you get these vintage appliances? Craigslist? 

Shiff

If you want to keep it organized you probably want to get an upright freezer not a chest one.  We used to have a large chest freezer but it was always difficult trying to find something that you knew was in there somewhere. When it died, we replaced it with an upright.

fishlessman

oldgeezeystax said:

fishlessman said:

i have three fridges, the newest is maybe 35 years old. do todays fridges last that long. my old one is maybe 30's/40's vintage. was talking to an appliance guy recently and he said new lasts about 10 years, is that right

Neat!  Where do you get these vintage appliances? Craigslist? 

ive never bought a fridge new or used, they have always come to me free. theres always someone that thinks they need to upgrade or its the wrong color    this ones in the boiler room lounge at work, if i ever get a game room it will be painted up new like. only thing thats been replaced is the door gasket. this one came from the town postoffice when they knocked it down

HeavyG

If you buy something used I wouldn't get anything that is too old. The energy efficiency of newer models is much better and will save you operating costs.

tikigriller

No doubt that they just don't make things like they used to, but if it is a simple model with no frills other than cold or colder, they should have a much better shelf life than all these new fridge's with computers and filters and all  the extra goodies that probably don't even really do anything.

tikigriller

In fairness..I have always been a "buy it new" kind of guy.  I fix and repair Used Cars every single day and see all the crap that goes wrong with them, and usually, when someone is done with something,  it is because they are not working the way they used to.  You can find good stuff out there, I just love the benefit of a warranty and that justifies the extra expense in my world.

fishlessman

HeavyG said:

If you buy something used I wouldn't get anything that is too old. The energy efficiency of newer models is much better and will save you operating costs.

i remember reading the really old ones like i posted were actually efficient, smaller box, no frost free feature. its the 60's thru the 90's where things went south

smokeybreeze

I've got a second hand fridge/freezer in the garage for beer, tonic, bottled water (fridge) and vodka (freezer) - been working for nearly 20 years now.
I've also got two large chest freezers in the garage because I like free-range organic grocery shopping with a gun and moose, deer, elk, geese, caribou, duck, pheasant and the like take up lots of space. I bought the freezers new from an appliance shop that sells "scratch and dent" new appliances for a good discount.

Botch

I'd be wary of buying a combo fridge-freezer for your basement; fridge items will spoil relatively soon and you want them easy to access.  
I grew up with a chest freezer in the basement, Mom & Dad bought half a cow and half a pig every fall, and Mom always bought bread at the day-old store, ten loaves at a time, and they also went into that freezer.  I was usually sent into the basement once a day to retrieve that night's meat, and a loaf of bread if needed.  You don't want to be running down there for butter, or the ketchup, or fresh veggies you bought the day before.  
(disclaimer: a garage fridge would be great for cold drinks whilst wrenching)
FWIW.  (and new Freezer-only units, both chest and upright, are relatively inexpensive).  

Jstroke

fishlessman said:

i have three fridges, the newest is maybe 35 years old. do todays fridges last that long. my old one is maybe 30's/40's vintage. was talking to an appliance guy recently and he said new lasts about 10 years, is that right

Fish

the one at the camp has been there since 75 and was used then. The one at dads still worked fine but the top rusted through and all the insides were literally breaking apart. The compressor and the motor were ok and I have the motor powering a bench grinder

Toxarch

I've got an upright and a chest freezer in the laundry room  (huge room). I don't really care for the upright. Yes it's used, but most all the meat I buy goes in the chest freezer. Bought the upright when the kitchen freezer went out and bought the chest freezer after processing a deer and not having room in the upright. Also bought a couple of freezer alarms from Thermoworks to alert me if they quit working. Cheap insurance.

Fred19Flintstone

My beer fridge is 80's vintage and still keeps beer ice cold and the freezer part is jammed with meat.  I expected the thing to fail because it's not an old battleship type appliance,  but it keeps chugging along.

odie91

What happens to a fridge in the garage when temperatures hit sub zero?  I assume the sensor just knows to turn off, but any risk of damage to the mechanicals ?

Fred19Flintstone

I don't unplug mine.  I do keep a mason jar of water in the freezer with a couple of pennies on top.  When I retrieve something from the freezer, I check the to make sure the pennies are still on top.  If the pennies have sunk, then there's been a problem and the food is deemed unsafe.

fishlessman

Fred19Flintstone said:

I don't unplug mine.  I do keep a mason jar of water in the freezer with a couple of pennies on top.  When I retrieve something from the freezer, I check the to make sure the pennies are still on top.  If the pennies have sunk, then there's been a problem and the food is deemed unsafe.

you probably want to keep that older fridge, the newer ones dont work that well if its cold or hot out

Botch

odie91 said:

What happens to a fridge in the garage when temperatures hit sub zero?  I assume the sensor just knows to turn off, but any risk of damage to the mechanicals ?

I've always wondered that about soda machines that sit outside in North Dakota, surely they have heaters built into them to keep the soda from freezing?  

fishlessman

Botch said:

odie91 said:

What happens to a fridge in the garage when temperatures hit sub zero?  I assume the sensor just knows to turn off, but any risk of damage to the mechanicals ?

I've always wondered that about soda machines that sit outside in North Dakota, surely they have heaters built into them to keep the soda from freezing?  

i would say that they dont have soda machines outside, they dont have them outside here, atleast i havent seen one since maybe the 70's

Angela

We have our old house fridge in the garage along with a 19 cu ft chest freezer ( Kenmore Elite). I specifically wanted that model because it has separators for organization and includes a temperature gauge and alarm. And the alarm has saved us a couple times when someone didn't close the lid tight. 

We actually need more freezer space, because 1/3 of the space is taken up with the dogs raw food. While I think I'd like an upright in addition, auto defrost contributes to freezer burn.