Upright or Chest freezer?

Sweet100s

Hey hey Eggers, 

I’m considering purchase of a garage freezer.  Trying to decide between upright vs chest. 

I’ve never had a garage freezer.  Here are my perceived Pros & Cons or what I've read from other sources.

Any other pros or cons you would add from your experience? 

=== Upright Freezer

• Costs more to buy and run ($53 / year in Wirecutter example)
  https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-freezer/

• Requires less floor space

• Easier to access everything 

• Adjustable storage shelves

=== Chest Freezer

• Costs less to buy and ~ $10-$20 less per year to run.  ($36 / year in Wirecutter example)
  https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-chest-freezers/

• Requires more floor space

• Harder to access stuff; easier to lose things.

--- Egghead forum related threads: 

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1988033#Comment_1988033

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1182296/ot-freezer-is-dead-or-dying/p1

SGH

Depending on how you will use the freezer will determine what you will be happier with. If you are going to be storing smaller items and going in the freezer often you will probably prefer an upright. 

However if you are using it for long term storage and are storing large items I much prefer a chest freezer for this. 

Rather this is significant to you or not, size being equal you can store more in a chest because items will not fall out when opening the door. 

Both certainly have their strong points. But the way I use a freezer a chest serves my needs better. 

With that said, I have been considering adding a small upright in the kitchen for small items and daily use. 

pgprescott

No decision. Upright. 

HeavyG

I've had both and don't really have a strong preference either way.

The one knock I always hear about chest freezers tho is that it is harder to get to stuff. If you are just tossing loose items into the freezer that may be true. However, the magic word is "baskets". Stacking baskets make it pretty easy to segregate items and easy to move a basket of stuff to get to a basket below.

It's certainly no more of a hassle than trying to get to that one specific pack of sausages in the very back of an upright shelf behind a bunch of stuff.

Perhaps the magic word for uprights is also "baskets".

YukonRon

Just buy the biggest.

I bought upright, after looking at different sizes, I chose the smaller one. After a month of that stupid decision, I went and bought the medium size. That move was as stupid as the first decision. So 6 months after that I went and got the largest model.

Having had both, the upright is my choice for convenience and not having to do deep freeze dives and find things you had forgotten....

Just trying to save you time and money.

shtgunal3

Upright

SmokeyPitt

I used to have a chest freezer and it was a bit of a pain to sort items. I like the idea of using baskets.  I gave it away when we got a new fridge and moved the kitchen fridge to the basement. 

I guess that is one other suggestion I will throw out there...are you sure you wouldn’t want a fridge and freezer?  It is nice to have the extra fridge space for throwing big cuts or brining...and of course to store extra beer. 

Of course, you will have a lot less space compared to a dedicated freezer. 

milesvdustin

I bought a huge upright. I think its 18 cubic ft, cant remember. Way better than the chest freezer 

alaskanassasin

Another vote for upright. I put around 100lbs of burger in the door when we butcher a cow, its right where i need it and out of the way.

JustBuggin

I've had both but still have the upright. Too easy to lose stuff in the bottom of the chest and I got tired of digging through the pile to get what I want.

Gravytrain84

Upright all day every day. I’ve wasted so much food because of a chest freezer. 

ColtsFan

I love my chest freezer. More efficient, less freezer burn and it will stay colder longer during a power loss

jtcBoynton

When it comes to cost to run, make sure you are making a fair comparison.  If you are opening up the freezer a lot, you will lose more cold air from an upright - driving up the operating cost.  But if you are opening up the freezer a lot, the easy access to the food of an upright is probably worth the extra cost.  Frost free units drive up operating costs. Consider not getting a frost free. I need to manually defrost once a year. Its a bit of a pain, but does force me to take stock of what is in the freezer.

Shiff

We used to have a very large chest freezer and we organized it with numerous baskets. These baskets helped for a while but we still lost things in the freezer and had to search for many an item.  When it finally died, we replaced it with 2 large upright freezers ("His" and "Hers) and that has been the best decision we have ever made.  These are located in our basement and in our garage we have a medium sized refrig/freezer which is very handy as extra space.

Matt86m

Upright all day. I have a 20 cu' in the garage. Its great for hunting and fishing and general use. I didn't want to deal with the frost so I went frost free. I try to keep it organized as much as possible to keep the open door time down.

Small stuff goes on the door. 1-2 shelves for game meat 1 for big stuff - briskets & butts. etc. Spot for poultry, beef & pork. etc.

Go bigger than you think you need/want as long as you have the floor space.

I don't think $17 a year is a factor. The cost of the unit may be.

Now I have to figure out a way to get a small fridge in the garage too so I can start dry aging meat!

WeberWho

My chest freezer have a love/hate relationship. It can become a black hole if you let it. Anything that gets buried tends to get forgot about. $100+ worth of meat hit the garbage a few days ago when my wife and I went through the freezer. It sucked. 

I think an upright freezer would help me be a little more organized or at least see what I have going on in the freezer. Plus save on floor space. 

I was gifted the chest freezer from my aunt and uncle. It sees Minnesota summer and winters in the garage and it still keeps on kicking. I shouldn't complain any.

RRP

I'm a fan of uprights. We've had just 3 of them over the last 50 years. Our latest one had to be a bit smaller in order to fit an opening in our garage. Since we store a lot in it the foods were constantly falling out when trying to find something. My solution was two dowels with eye screws to secure motorcycle netting. Works like a charm!

nolan8v

@RRP,

That is a full freezer.

Sweet100s

WOW!   @RRP, what a clever solution!   I wanna quarantine with RRP!

btw, which vacuum sealer do you use?  Clearly it gets a lot of use! 

Related question to everyone with a lot of meat / $ in their freezer: 
Do you have a backup generator for it? 
Or a whole house generator for everything? 

Shiff

By the way, if you have a freezer and wish to keep things longer without them getting freezer burned, you should also consider some kind of vacuum sealer. This is especially true if you're getting a chest freezer since they will keep a lot longer if vacuum sealed and meat tends to hide for long periods of time in a chest unit.

lousubcap

@RRP - great to see you posting.  You need to cycle around more frequently especially during these times.  
When you didn't comment on a recent rutland gasket post I was concerned.  

RRP

nolan8v said:

@RRP,

That is a full freezer.

LOL - actually the picture washed out so you couldn't see that uppermost shelf...that one is actually jammed packed!...er...I guess they all are and so is the door.

RRP

Sweet100s said:

WOW!   @RRP, what a clever solution!   I wanna quarantine with RRP!

btw, which vacuum sealer do you use?  Clearly it gets a lot of use! 

Related question to everyone with a lot of meat / $ in their freezer: 
Do you have a backup generator for it? 
Or a whole house generator for everything? 

Thanks! - I use a couple FS - but my oldest most used one is a simple model 1050.

Carolina Q

@RRP Ron, have you considered actually eating some of that food - before you buy more? You have enough to last the two of you at least a year!

RRP

Carolina Q said:

@RRP Ron, have you considered actually eating some of that food - before you buy more? You have enough to last the two of you at least a year!

Actually, Michael that freezer food turns over faster than you seem to think. We buy a lot in bulk and on sale. Seldom does a day go by that we haven't had one meat that had previously been frozen in there.

Boileregger

@Sweet100s I spent a lot of my youth doing a handstand into a chest freezer on request of my father.  Do yourself a favor and go upright.

Carolina Q

RRP said:

Carolina Q said:

@RRP Ron, have you considered actually eating some of that food - before you buy more? You have enough to last the two of you at least a year!

Actually, Michael that freezer food turns over faster than you seem to think. We buy a lot in bulk and on sale. Seldom does a day go by that we haven't had one meat that had previously been frozen in there.

@RRP Just busting' your pork chops, bud.

Matt86m

Sweet100s said:

WOW!   @RRP, what a clever solution!   I wanna quarantine with RRP!

btw, which vacuum sealer do you use?  Clearly it gets a lot of use! 

Related question to everyone with a lot of meat / $ in their freezer: 
Do you have a backup generator for it? 
Or a whole house generator for everything? 

I do have a generator, first 2 things that get plugged in are the fridge and the freezer.

Sea2Ski

Another vote for a n uptight/frost free/vacuum sealer combo.  (And I have had both) 

caliking

Re: freezer organization, whenever anything goes in, a label (sharpie, painter's tape) goes on the side/door of the freezer, indicating what shelf said item is on. When the item is removed, the label gets pulled off. This system works pretty well. 

caliqueen claims that I pull things out of the freezer,  but forget to remove the label. I have no idea what she's talking about. 

dmourati

Just bought a beast of an upright commercial freezer. Thanks egghead forum. I can always count on you to lighten my wallet. Now I just have to see if this Amazon restaurant seller can arrange a lift gate or if I have to manhandle this 300 pounder off the back of a truck myself.