[Dorymae]

I just got back from shopping and had to empty my freezer to rearrange things to fit more in. It is now so choker-block there isn't room for anything more, (and there is a danger of avalanche when opening the door!).

So guys anyone seen any good deals on a chest freezer, I'm thinking more than 8 cu ft. Willing to go up to 14 or 16 cu ft if its a good deal!

Where should I start and what features should I look for?

Thank you!

[birdlady6262]

IMO, chest freezers are difficult to use. I dislike having to do the "freezer dive" and empty it to get to something on the bottom. When I first started couponing, we bought the smallest chest freezer that was out. I never thought I would even fill it.

Recently we purchased an upright freezer from Lowes. They were running a promo for 10% off and free delivery. It was the best deal we could find. No more "freezer dives." Yeah!

You can go online and look up freezers and save yourself a lot of time running around. You might also check your area for any scratch and dent freezers. Some stores even have a section where scratch and dent are located. When we were at Lowe's, I saw a small chest freezer for $99. The front bottom right side was dented with a sign that said it worked.

In the meantime, if you take the food out of any boxes they come in, it will generally give you more space because the packaging is larger than the product. I did this for a while and saved one of the cartons of each product. I would cut out the panel of the box with cooking instructions and nutritional info., 3-hole punch it, and put it in alpha order in a binder that I kept in the kitchen. When I went to cook something I had taken out of the pk., I looked up the instructions in this binder. It does aid in being able to store more in your freezer.

I hope you find a good deal.

[mom2bbkkm&m]

We have a chest freezer (not sure of size, we've had it for so many years but it's not the small one) and I have been begging dh for a standup freezer. I hate digging to the bottom and ours is not frost free. When the ice builds up inside it takes up alot of room. He wants a smaller chest freezer!

[siriradha]

Can you stand one more person saying to get an upright, not a chest freezer? I understand that sometimes an upright won't fit in the available space, but they are just a lot easier to deal with. Things tend to get lost in the bottom of a chest freezer IMHO.
YMMV

[blondegreekgirl]

but most chest freezers don't manually defrost when you lose power! I never lost anything with the Hurricane here or Blizzards I had to transfer everything from the uprights, though!

[gdaniel5]

I've had both and my money is on the upright frost free models...so much nicer and convenient..look for one with an alarm in case you lose power too.

[deneisetorres]

LOL, another vote for an upright! It is much easier to rotate the stuff to keep your FIFO in order.

Another place to look for a good deal is at Rent-to-Own stores. NOT TO RENT ONE but to buy a good 2nd hand one. First go online & get prices for the size & type of freezer that you are interested in & then go in and tell them that you are looking to buy outright a good used freezer (or any appliance). They may have one that they have taken back from someone as a repo or trade up to a newer bigger one. You might be surprised by the selection & the price, especially if you don't mind a few scratches or cosmetic dents.

I did this a few years ago when my dryer died on me. I was able to get a very nice dryer for $100 delivered.

[mom2bbkkm&m]

I didn't even know they had them with alarms. Will definately have to look into that when we get a new one! That made me remember.....about 8 years ago one of our girls unplugged our freezer (we used to have to keep it in one of their rooms before we bought our house) and we had no idea. Then one day we started smelling the worst stank! OMG, it was nasty!!! We couldn't figure out where it was coming from and then thought to check the freezer. We lost everything. We were going to throw the freezer away too because we could not get the smell out, but my dad was visiting from FL and he helped us get it outside and scrub the inside out. Brought it back in, plugged it up and put baking soda in and good as new! So yeah, I would definately suggest an alarm if possible.

[mom2bbkkm&m]

Originally Posted by blondegreekgirl

but most chest freezers don't manually defrost when you lose power! I never lost anything with the Hurricane here or Blizzards I had to transfer everything from the uprights, though!

Forgot about that. If the power is going to be out for too long we usually remove everything from the freezer(side-by-side fridge) and put it in the deep freezer. The frost build up does have its advantages I guess.

[kimmyann123]

i have a chest freezer...wish i had a upright.....

[Dorymae]

Well the problem I have with an upright is it doesn't lock! Chest freezers usually have a nice lock on them.

How could I stock up on ice cream with 2 teens without a lock??

[Dorymae]

Originally Posted by gdaniel5

I've had both and my money is on the upright frost free models...so much nicer and convenient..look for one with an alarm in case you lose power too.

What will an alarm do? I mean I will know I have no power, will it prevent anything, like the manual defrost?

[deneisetorres]

Originally Posted by Dorymae

What will an alarm do? I mean I will know I have no power, will it prevent anything, like the manual defrost?

No, an alarm doesn't prevent anything. It simply lets you know that there is no power going to the freezer so that you are not surprised. This comes in handy in case it ever gets accidentally unplugged or a circuit breaker gets tripped.

[susi2011]

i got one in december with locks and alarm for 569.00 its now taller then my fridge

[StLouisClipper]

We have a small upright with a lock (it's probably 20 years old). I don't keep it locked to keep kiddos out of it, I require that be kept locked so that someone doesn't accidentally leave the door open. Twice several years back someone got something out and just gave the door a push (like you would the fridge) but it didn't close completely. Lots of lost food. Now it's just habit to push it shut and lock it. The key hangs on the wall on a little retractable thing so it won't get lost or misplaced....lock the door and let the key go!

[Wizard2010]

I have to ditto the upright. I love mine. They do make them now with a lock on them. I helped an elderly lady shop for one about 6 months ago. Wasn't that terrible expensive.

[littleprincess]

I have had both, currently a chest freezer. For me the chest freezer works better because of location. It's in our basement. It was much easier to get there instead of a upright. I use mine for storing meats & veggies usually in foodsaver bags (not always easy to stack in an upright). I keep it pretty well organized so I don't have the freezer dive problem.

I would suggest keeping an eye on Lowe's appliance clearance section. We gotten our Fridge, 2 microwaves, an air container and our chest freezer there at decent prices.

[KaillasB]

Upright freezer. I had been wanting a freezer for a while, and I just searched the want-ads in our paper for a few months. One popped up for $50. They had it in the garage, and it was missing the bottom kick plate. So, they got a new one. It works perfect. Been so happy with it. Easy to see what is in there and TONS of space.

[kpender]

Try looking on Freecycle!

[Dorymae]

My freezer will be going on my porch, outdoors but covered. I'm not sure if it makes a difference for an upright. Starting to consider an upright but I've always thought chest freezers have more room. Yes you have to keep them organized and know approx where things are but you can use ALL the room.

I guess its time to go to lowes and homedepot and scope out the types and prices.

[birdlady6262]

Lowes has an upright frigedaire that has a key to lock it.

We were also told if you put a freezer in a garage to try to put it on an inside wall and be sure to place it on a platform or something so it does not contact the cement floor by the Lowes' associate. I don't know whether you have to do that with chest freezers.

Also, there is a difference between defrostable and those that are not. I am not 100% sure but I think the ones you have to defrost can handle the changes in temp. better. Does anyone know?

[Dorymae]

I was at shaws the other week and I saw they had a freezer. It was a small one about 5.5 cubic ft. (39"w X 25"d) My first thought was its small enough to fit in my kitchen but not very many cubic feet. It was normal price 249.99 on sale for 159.99. I didn't think much more about it until I went back a few days ago. Then I noticed the sign for a coupon book wyb the freezer. I checked it out and decided I'd buy the freezer and perhaps get another one for the basement. Here is a list of the coupons I got with the freezer. (over $160 value)Max value is in ()'s.

1 Free equal sweetners (230ct classic,100ct sucrolose or 9.2oz granulated) ($7.49)
1 Free Digiorno Pizza (up to 7.99)
1 Free Sylvania soft white double life light bulbs 4 ct (2.49)
1 Free Eggo Walffles 6ct (2.99)
1 Free Jamba Smoothie 8oz (3.99)
1 Free YoSicle Novelties 12ct (3.99)
1 Free Francesco rinaldi pasta sauce 24oz (2.19)
1 Free Kraft Grated Parmesan cheese 8oz (3.99)
1 Free Lance cracker pks 6-14oz (2.99)
1 Free On cor family size entree 28-32oz (3.99)
1 Free Santa Fe Salsa or con queso 16oz (2.39)
1 Free MiO liquid water enhancer (3.89)
1 Free Better Oats Oatmeal 5ct (1.79)
1 Free Mom's Best Naturals Cereal 11.5-16.5oz (3.49)
1 Free Langers Juice 64oz (4.39)
1 Free Flavorice pops 16ct (1.49)
1 Free Sparkling Ice 17oz (1.29)
1 Free Ciao Bella Adonia Frozen greek yogurt 14oz (5.29)
1 Free Betty Crocker Parlor Perfect 7.2-9oz (4.69)
1 Free Hunt's diced tomatoes 14.5oz (1.99)
1 Free Ocean Spray cranberry sauce 8oz-14oz (2.15)
1 Free Ziploc Perfect portion bags 75ct (3.29)
1 Free 12pk super chill soda (3.33)
1 Free Shaw's spring water 24pk (3.79)
1 Free Essential everyday or shaws drink mix sticks 10ct (2.49)
1 Free 12pk Maruchan ramen noodles (3.89)
1 Free Flavorite candy 8-16oz (1.69)
1 Free Louis Kemp crab delight or lobster delight 7-8oz pk (3.59)
1 Free Mentos Up2U gum 14ct (1.50)
1 Free Wolfgang Puck Italian sauce 16oz (3.29)
1 Free M&M candy 8oz stand up pouch (3.49)
1/1 Sunkist soda 2 ltr bottle (2 of these coupons)
1/2 Minute maid pure squeeze juice 59oz
1/1 L'Oreal Paris cosmetics
5/1 Finish quantum 45ct or tab or powerball 60ct
5/1 Woolite 100oz
2/1 Energizer max
5/1 Moneygram transaction
2/1 A-1 Steak Sauce 10oz
2/1 Green mountain K-cups 12ct
2/1 Kauai coffee 10oz
1/1 Palmolive dish liquid 25oz
5/1 Hormel party tray 1.75lb
$5 on any $100 gift card mall purchase
3/1 Loreal age perfect or Revitalift product
2/1 American greetings card
1/1 Barber stuffed chicken breasts 8-10oz
1/1 La Tortilla Factory tortillas or wraps 11.5-17.5oz
1.50/1 Dannon Activia multipack 4 or 12 ct pk
2/1 Snapple tea or juice 64oz
Save $5 oyno of $50 at shaws (2 of these coupons)

All in all it will really off set the price of the freezer! And you know I'm on the lookout for B1G1F sales! () So far I'm happy with the freezer - I have bought some $1 baskets at the dollar store that stack and fit in the freezer perfectly so I won't have to freezer dive, just lift out the baskets. I will most likely go get another one in a few more weeks for the basement because the size is smaller than what I wanted.

[deneisetorres]

Very Nice!

[Wizard2010]

You did great.

[birdlady6262]

WTG! Great find and I'm sure you will use the qs.