energy efficient freezer for farm and garden produce

15 years ago

Our secondary freezer(upright, self defrosting) just died, and we're looking for a new freezer that will be energy efficient. Many of the articles abut freezers seem to assume that you're buying food in bulk, freezing it in large batches and and rarely opening the freezer. But we end up opening ours quite often while freezing enough peas, pesto etc. to last through the winter. I know that manual defrost freezers are usually cheaper and more energy efficient than self defrosting, but I've also heard that significant frost buildup reduces efficiency; since we open the freezer frequently, are we apt to have frost build up rapidly? Do any gardeners have recommendations (or warnings) about specific models or general freezer types?

Also, can it be a problem to keep a freezer outside year round? The place we have in mind stays cool in summer but would get quite cold (well below freezing) in winter.

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Comments (5)

melva02
15 years ago
Joanna, have you considered a chest freezer? They are more efficient, especially for frequent opening, because cold air sinks, so most of it will stay in the freezer when you open the top of it. In an upright freezer a lot of cold air falls out when you open the door.

Personally I would go for manual defrosting, because of the loss in food quality if the self-defrost cycle is too frequent.

As for keeping a freezer outside, it would help a freezer if the air around it isn't too hot, but I'm not sure what would happen if the outside is colder than what it's trying to do inside. I guess the inside would stay at least as cool as the thermostat told it to, so the condenser wouldn't feel it needed to move the fluid. But you could potentially freeze up the fluid, which would make the freezer inoperable for a time. When I drove a bus, the AC would freeze up and not work until it melted. I'm not sure whether it was freezing water on the outside of the tubes, or freezing of the refrigerant itself. Freezers have a different refrigerant than vehicles (R-22 in freezers, R134a in modern cars/buses, R-12 in old ones), so the freezing up might not be a problem.

I'm sure others will chime in about specific models.

Melissa
zabby17
15 years ago
Joanna,

If you open your freezer often, I assume it's because you are getting stuff out of it for meals regularly, in which case I really recommend sticking with the upright. Yes, it isn't as efficient as a chest freezer, but it makes a HUGE difference in the ability to get at and use the food. For freezing large batches to take out and cook all at once occasinally for a canning spree, I would go for a chest freezer. But we take stuff out of ours daily, and if we had a chest freezer instead of an upright, it would take us so much longer to find what we wanted we might balance out any engery efficiency by leaving the lid open---AND we would "lose" stuff at the bottom for years; it's sad but true. (I have friends with chest freezers who have exactly these problems.) So I'm glad we went with an upright.

Ours is a Woods brand; Woods has a very good reputation for energy efficiency and reliability, though you'd want to look up any new model in Consumer Reports, I would think. (Ours was second hand.)

It is a manual-defrost, and while the frost does build up over time, it isn't out of control despite our frequent openings. Once a year we defrost, usually around April when it's at its least full. Doesn't take too more than an hour or so including a wipe-down (especially since DH enjoys helping it along with a hairdryer), we keep what's still in it stashed with freezer packs in a cooler and a spare bar fridge during that time, and it gives me a chance to reorganize and discover the last package of zucchini bread hiding behind the frozen pizzas, etc. ;-)

As to the outside issue, as a fellow resident of zone 5 (just across the lake from NY state), I haven't tried it but would recommend against it! I would worry about the wiring getting frequently wet, the exterior rubber seal around the door subjected to frequent freezing and thawing (which could make it brittle). It would presumably void your warrantee.

A garage that was protected from the elements and attached to the house so it didn't get quite so cold would be fine, I'd think. (We have ours in a semi-insulated mudroom that occasionally hits the feezing point overnight in deep winter and that has been no problem.)

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

Zabby
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robinkateb
15 years ago
I don't have any specific recommendations. However manual defrost are not as energy efficient as frostfrees turn of to remove the frost (or at least down). However manual defrost models keep food better (I believe it is 1 year instead of 3 months).

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ksrogers
15 years ago
My law, every new freezer must have an energy consumpton rating as a big yellow and black sticker on the front. The first thing is to look at this info. Chest freezers tend to be a bit more energy efficient than an upright. Most of todays freezers are all self defrosting, to some degree. They do remove excess moisture and frost build up, but also have the tendency to pull moisture out of plastic bagged goods. To overcome some of that moisture loss, you can use either foil or freezer wrap, or even the heavier thickness Food Saver bags. One of my dads older freezers was originally self defrosting and once the electric timer stopped working it would not do the defrost cycle anymore. Because of this, the frost would build up very fast inside and push the shelves out the front and cased some severe damages to the anchor points inside. It needed a total defrosting every six months and was a real pain to deal with. Luckily, my dad had a newer frost free next to the old one, where some items could be moved to temporarily, but we had to sometimes use a blow tourch in there to quickly melt some of the very thick ice formations.
trsinc
15 years ago
I'm sure many can help you here. I can't help with a freezer, but I just bought a dishwasher and found the appliance forum to be extremely helpful. Thought I would tell you about it (if you didn't already know) so you would have another source of info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Appliance Forum on gardenweb

energy efficient freezer for farm and garden produce

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melva02

zabby17

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