Frost Free Chest Freezers

[laundromat]

I have seen two different lines of frost-free chest freezers. They are under the FRIGIDAIRE and Sears Kenmore lines.They are feature packed and me,being a freezer lover am tempted to buy one.Hey,guys,stop calling me "Blanch"!LOL I am sure their energy efficiency is much better than an upright of the same size but what about dependability? Are they problematic? Why did they stop making them years ago when they were first introduced? I had an upright FRIGIDAIRE 20 cu. ft.frost free model in Florida that a dealer had dropped off their delivery truck but it ran great the 9 years I had it!It was a "freebe"!

 

[perc-o-prince]

Hi Chuck,

I love having a freezer too, but our current one isn't frost free (and big-- somewhere around 18-19cf I'd say). I've been looking into FF replacements, but haven't seen FF chest models here. Of the FF uprights I saw, for about $350-$400 you can get a 12.1cf FF upright that uses an estimated $62 a year in electricity. And that's not an Energy Star rated model! I think I'd prefer an upright for the not-having-to-excavate-to-get-to-something-on-the-bottom convenience. What are the ratings on the FF chest models you've come across?

(a different) Chuck

 

[brisnat81]

I would assume that its harder to get a Frost Free chest freezer to cool evenly. A standard one works because it cools on all four sides and uses convection. A FF Chest Freezer would need ducting all through the sides which would take up more space than modern coils and reduce the capacity for the given external dimesnions.

Mine is usually packed full with very little air space, so I'm not quite sure how air would manage to circulate and cool.

I also dont see a need for it really, (That could be the other reason you dont see many.) I open mine 2-3 times per day and only defrost it every 2-3 years. If it's full and you dont leave it open all the time, mine doesnt ice up. Its a 250L Fisher and Paykel that is now about 5 years old. With the modern lid seals and insulation, it is be best freezer I've ever used.

Growing up we had a 500L Ignis (Philips) chest freezer, paired with a 500L seperate fridge. That freezer would be opened 5-10 times per day and still was only ever defrosted every 6 months or so. The trick seems to be to keep them full.

 

[sudsmaster]

Flash Forward

Try looking for a Kenmore brand chest freezer that has a "Flash Defrost" feature. This reverses the coolant flow so that heated coolant enters the coils and rapidly releases the ice sheets from the interior of the chest. It makes defrosting go very fast with minimal cleanup (the ice comes off in blocks that are easily removed - not a lot of water to drain out).

I have a 15 cu ft model with the Flash Defrost feature. It works very well. Seems like it takes all of 1/2 hour or less to defrost the freezer.

 

[toggleswitch2]

May I request a link to frost-free chest freezers. Not aware of such a thing.

I had no problem with a regular upright that was not frost-free. Apparently frost-free models tend to have a greater propensity for freezer-burn.

 

[laundromat]

www.frigidaireappliances.com then freezers then chest type

or

www.kenmore.com then go to freezers/chest

 

[paulg]

Recent discussion on July 4th.

On July 4th we had company - and what topic popped up? Freezers!
One owner of a frost-free model said she would never do it again as the food develops ice-crystals.
All the literature I've ever read said the better freezers go down to zero or below and don't defrost themselves cyclically. To each his own though I suppose.

 

[countryguy]

I was looking to purchase an upright freezer a couple of years ago and had my mind set on a frost free even though it was more expensive because I hated defrosting the chest freezer that I had. The sales clerk at Sears convinced me not to buy the frost free as she said food would not keep as long in a frost free as it would in a manual defrost. The reason she gave is that the system the frost free uses to keep the freezer frost free is to continually cycle between the cold and a warmer temperature and thus the food is always partially defrosting.

Gary

 

[toggleswitch2]

And you believed that B.S.?
(Blatant Salemanship?)

ALL FREEZERS cycle between on and off to maintain the selected temperature. The DIFFERENCE Between the temperature highs and lows is what counts. This typically does not get any better as the freezer ages.

Any defrost cycle should be heating the coils ONLY and not the air or surroundings. Although she may be TECHNICALLY correct, I'm sure that the measurable effects of such a defrost system are, overall, NEGLIGIBLE.

Anyway the fan in a frost-free model that moves the air over the coil tend to have a drying effect on the food stored, hence freezer-burn. I'd say this is the major culprit in performance.

When I sold major appliances for Sears I had an irate customer come to see me. "This new frdge that was sold to me (points) is a P.O.S.!" Oh really? why? "Well, when I shut the refrigerator door the freezer door opens, then closes. It didn't used to on my old one." Well acutally they are so well sealed now that as you are closing the ref., door you are pumping air into it. The air has nowhere to go so it vents itself via the freezer. What you are seeing is energy efficiency, and a parital vacuum-seal afterwards. "OH" [Get the F out of my face moron]. NEXT!

 

[danemodsandy]

Regular Chest Freezers

Are very cheap to run, and in my experience, don't have to be defrosted very often. Once a year, maybe.

Chest freezers are better about keeping cold air inside. When you open an upright's door, a lot of cold air "falls out". You can feel the blast of cold whenever you open an upright. With a chest, the cold air stays inside.

The trade-off is that chest freezers can be hard on your back; everything you need seems to have worked its way underneath other things.

 

[thor]

Power Outage

You'll be much better off if power fails for a prolonged period (which will surely happen ONLY if your freezer is filled to the rim!) with a chest freezer than with an upright freezer. A chest freezer will hold food frozen for up to three or four days, if not longer. Beat that with an upright!

Emilio

 

[sudsmaster]

Freezer burn happens in manual defrost freezers as well. It's just physics: when water condenses on a cold surface, and freezes, its remove humidity from the air inside the freezer. If foods are not tightly wrapped (as in very air-tight), the cold dry air sucks moisture from the food. Basically it's a slow way to freeze dry something. However it looks bad and can make foods unpalatable if not inedible.

A fan equipped auto defrost freezer encourages moisture in the cabinet to condense on the coils and dehydrate the interior air. It is probably more efficient at that than a manual defrost unit, so freezer burn may happen quicker or more extensively in an auto defrost freezer.

Now that our heat wave is over, it might be time to unload the Kenmore, pull the little black button, and flash defrost the thing. I always find that to be oodles of fun, especially when I can pull big slabs of frosty ice from the interior. It just melts off "like pounds of ugly fat", lol.