Chest Freezers

[Industrial Toys]

I have an IR thermometer but I would not trust it for that purpose. Maybe a FLIR camera, which I don't have.

 

[Jstpssng]

As somebody else just suggested all that you need is a probe wire to run between the door gasket and freezer. I've been using a simple indoor/outdoor thermometer with wire connected probe for decades, even before electronic thermometers became common.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[Diggin It]

I wouldn't drill the case at all. I might notch the plastic liner countersink area if necessary, then reseal it with foil tape.


On another note .... I've already kept some volume of water in a jug at the bottom of this unit. Concept is to help it stay colder longer if power goes out before I'm aware of it. Not sure if reality would work that way. Food mass would do it too, but mine isn't always full to the brim.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That would deprive me the use of my back up for my back up for my back up for my back generator! And I might have another coming.

There was a day, when I could call down to the factory that made ones freezer and ask to speak to the shop foreman, and ask him where the coils are. It's one of the things that bothers me the most nowadays. There is information out there that one needs and absolutely no way to get it, despite the information age we live in.

 

[TnAndy]

Yeah, I think Danby freezers now come from China, despite being a Canadian company. 3 or 4 of ours are Danby, they have a very good power consumption rating if you get the Energy Star models.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm just itchin to drill a hole! But I gotta go out in the minus 35c wind chill and get wood. I'd rather drill the hole.

 

[kenmac]

Yeah, I think Danby freezers now come from China, despite being a Canadian company. 3 or 4 of ours are Danby, they have a very good power consumption rating if you get the Energy Star models.

Yes, they do come from china. I had a relay go bad on mine. Called and they said it's not a replaceable item. I had to source it off net.

Buy Drinking Fountains & Water Cooler Parts - Free Shipping over $5 | Zoro.com

The next yr the thermostat went bad

 

[MossRoad]

We were always told to keep the freezer as full as possible for both efficiency, less frost, and more frozen mass for power outages. So, yes, you can keep some milk jugs or 2 liter bottles of water with a few drops of bleach in them in the freezer to take up space. Can also be used for drinking water in emergencies.

 

[goeduck]

Wireless transmitter is a solution to not penetrating the shell of the freezer. There are probably better ones than this, but you get the idea. An ideal one would have multiple transmitters for each fridge/freezer you have and send a text on high temp or low battery.

https://www.amazon.com/Refrigerator...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584276297964976&psc=1

 

[rangerfredbob]

you want to drill a hole, why not a hole in the door seal? would be easy to silicone the hole shut if needed, and shouldn't hurt a dang thing... would be better sealed than putting the wire at the door seal trying to seal around it...

 

[goeduck]

An advantage to uprights is that they take up less floor space and you can still stack stuff on top of them. So that in my opinion offsets the decrease in storage capacity. You cannot stack on top of a chest freezer unless you like to move things constantly. Just my $0.02.
:shocked:

 

[Diggin It]

An advantage to uprights is that they take up less floor space and you can still stack stuff on top of them. So that in my opinion offsets the decrease in storage capacity. You cannot stack on top of a chest freezer unless you like to move things constantly.

I made a small shelf with handles. Used wire closet type shelving. Set it on a couple of 1x2s for risers for airflow due to condensation. Stack stuff on it, lift it all easily.

 

[check]

I'm just itchin to drill a hole! But I gotta go out in the minus 35c wind chill and get wood. I'd rather drill the hole.

C’mon, you wimp! What kind of Canadian are you, eh?

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I'm just itchin to drill a hole! But I gotta go out in the minus 35c wind chill and get wood. I'd rather drill the hole.

Reminds me of a friend of a friend...bought a brand new (expensive) Stainless Steel Thermos bottle to take duck hunting. He had difficulty negotiating it in the blind with gloves, so he decided to make and attach a larger handle. He drilled his first hole...and came this quick and loud "Whooshing " sound...

 

[MossRoad]

An advantage to uprights is that they take up less floor space and you can still stack stuff on top of them. So that in my opinion offsets the decrease in storage capacity. You cannot stack on top of a chest freezer unless you like to move things constantly. Just my $0.02.
:shocked:

I put several sets of wire shelves on the wall above my chest freezer and some grow lights. I keep plants over-winter there, and have room for 5 seed starter trays in spring.

 

[CMV]

Ours is a standup - looks like a refrigerator with a plain door pretty much. So much easier than the chest type. You can see what's in it & you're not bending over it to reach down to get whatever is at bottom. Footprint is a lot smaller since it's going up instead of taking up floor space. Door is like a refrigerator door with small shelves & cubbies so high use stuff is convenient. It isn't frost free though so every 6 months or so we empty it & leave it off with door open for a few hrs & old towels in bottom. I've sped that up with an oscillating space heater, but usually just let it melt away on its own. Frost free would be an improvement for sure.

Mom's is chest type. Hers has a drain plug at bottom with a small hose attachment. She empties & then it melts and discharges in floor drain. I think the cu ft sizes of ours are similar but hers will hold a lot more - the chest types definitely pack more densely. That would be bad thing for us - stuff on bottom would be long forgotten.

We keep it just like the freezer side of fridge - 0*F / -18*C

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Thanks. I'm curious if some are frost free. Can't see many people be willing to do that.

The advantage of a chest freezer is that it maintains an even temp without the continual coil defrosting, so food stores longer. Plus, you can open the top without warming the interior much. A modern chest freezer will ride though a 2 day power outage with no problem, even in hot weather. Uprights suck by comparison.

The disadvantage is stuff in the bottom gets lost. I have a couple large cardboard boxes in mine, and rotate contents from one box to another so the old stuff ends up on top every once in a while. I buy big cheap cuts of meat, whole sirloins, boneless ribeyes, 10 lbs of burger at a pop, cut them up, use a vacuum sealer and write the date and contents on the package with a magic marker. I have never had a piece of meat get freezer burned in a chest freezer, even if it's well over a year old. We're having lamb chops tonight that have been in the freezer since last August.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The thermos story reminds me of a guy that couldn't leave his new scope alone. He screwed off the eyepiece and then noticed what he thought were cob webs in there, and stuck his finger in to clean them out. You have never seen a sadder sight than that mangled recticle (sp?). Almost cartoonish!

 

[Lnk]

We actually never have something go bad in our chest freezer. We keep pretty good track of inventory and plan to use the stuff that we have. Now that we have 2 chest freezers we should be even better able to handle inventory. Where before we had to run the thing all the way down before making a "cow purchase", we can now run one dry and order the replenishment while we still have inventory. We wont go into the new inventory until we use up all the old.

While the uprights do indeed have a smaller footprint, you need a much larger one to hold the same amount of "stuff", thereby negating the smaller footprint. With our nest becoming empty-er , we can and did put the new freezer in a bedroom (we have 3 spares), and the room is still usable as a guest room.