Chest Freezer - manual or auto defrost?

15 years ago

I had read a few people said the manual defrost will keep your food fresher longer - is that definitely true? My husband is concerned about the ice buildup on a manual, but I don't see the point in getting a supplemental freezer and having freezer burn occur quickly - have enough of that in the regular house fridge/freezer unit.

We are just looking for small model (5.0 cu ft), so seems like either GE at Sam's Club, Frigidaire at Best Buy or Kenmore at Sears maybe.

Thanks!

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Comments (12)

ya_think
15 years ago
I have never seen that called a wives tale. I would go for manual.
User
15 years ago
Frost free creates freezer burn more rapidly due to the fluctuating temperatures during the defrost cycle. Also, I have never seen a chest freezer that was any thing other than manual defrost. Uprights, yes, you usually have a choice. In a chest, I've only ever seen manual. Or, at least, that's all I've ever sold. And I've sold a LOT of freezers.
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Sorry to hear about the the fridge and wish you luck with the replacement. Does North Carolina have a lemon law for appliances? If not, then, hopefully, the E-Lux warranty will get you replacement. In case you go back to considering an upright freezer, I can give you my experience on electrical cost increase from going from a s small chest freezer to a larger self-defrosting upright. I replaced a 5 cu. ft. Whirlpool manual-defrost chest freezer with a 14 cu. ft. Frigidaire FFU14 upright (very similar to the Lowe's version you are considering). With a Kill-a-Watt meter, I figured out that my old chest freezer used around 270 kWh per year while the new upright has been using about 440 kWh. I figure the net extra cost per year for me has run a little under $20 per year. So, not much extra utility cost. Of course, power consumption is partly a function of how full the freezer is and where you keep it. Mine is in the basement which holds a pretty steady at around 60F over the year. Placed the freezer in a garage that is hot for five or six months of the year, and keep it only half full, your cost could be a few dollars higher. One thing about my FFU14 is that it's compressor and fans run frequently and make a fair amount of fan and motor noise. THe Energy Star implementation is abasically to use smaller fans and motors which use less power even though they run more frequently. Trouble is, those smaller components can be annoyingly noisy, at least on the Frigidaire version that I have. This probably will not be a problem with the freezer out in the garage in your case, but it is a problem for me with the freezer in my basement. Chest freezers are a good deal quieter,
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Reduce what causes it in the first place. 1. Frost is quickly produced when the door is open and warm moist air rushes in. Where is the freezer located - in a damp basement, humid garage, next to the room humidifier you use in the winter, in a laundry room where the air gets moist from doing laundry or wet laundry hanging on drying racks??? 2. Frost is also produced by poorly-packaged foods. Tossing in a box of frozen food will result in any moisture locked between the box and the packaged food inside to transfer to the freezer. If the boxed food has also absorbed moisture from thawing and refreezing while it was in your grocery cart and the trip home, it will also be warm when the contents are placed in the freezer and the moisture will transfer to the freezer. I remove food from the grocery store packaging, vacuum seal it with a FoodSaver, and then place it in the freezer. Boxes are a waste of space. Moisture in food migrates from the food to the air. Air-tight storage, such as vacuum sealing, will help cut down on moisture migration from foods. Putting hot/warm foods in the freezer will also be a source for frost. That plastic container of hot/warm soup will quickly have moisture transfering from it to the freezer. 3. Is your freezer at 0°F or colder? 4. As others mentioned, check the gasket, wash it or replace it if necessary. -Grainlady
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cynic, Again, I don't have a freezer, therefore my statements are just based on my understanding of how things generally work. Also, I am not saying that a manual freezer is a lousy freezer. I can understand a self-defrost may not be as efficient because it uses a heating system inside to defrost regularly and there is a fan to circulate cold air. Also, I think a manual defrost most likely will need thicker insulation because it can't even out inside temperature as well, while a self-defrost will uses thinner insulation to give you more storage, which is a good selling point. However, some of this lack of efficiency is balanced out when you manually defrost a freezer, because you need a lot of energy to melt the ice and re-cool the entire freezer again and all the food that's been out for an hour or so. thinner insulation can give you around two cubic feet more of storage. "----dcarch, I assume you're saying keep a freezer in a cold garage.------" Actually I am talking about a split system. The condensing coil is installed outside of the house. This system gives you bonus cooling in the winter and will not heat up your house in the summer. The basic mechanics of a refrigeration cycle, just like an air conditioner, it is most efficient when you don't really need it. "----I don't see freezer burn as ever being a good thing!-----" Of course not. What I was trying to say was that a self-defrost freezer uses forced cold air and that can mean faster freezer burn if you don't package your food well; however, it is a good thing because the food get frozen much quicker. The quicker the food gets frozen, the smaller the ice crystals will form inside your food (less cell membrane damage), which may mean better quality food (similar to flash freezing). One of the main advantages of a frost free unit, besides convenience is its ability to keep recommended temperature quickly and evenly throughout the inside. The thermostat typically used in a freezer is of the capillary type. This kind of thermostat will take anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees F from the set temperature to turn the compressor on and off. This deviation from 0 degree F in an unevenly cooled freezer can mean a less than ideal storage environment for food. This condition gets worst when ice is formed on the freezer walls because ice is a relatively good insulator. dcarch
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I've had chest freezers for most of my life and never had any issues with finding food (nor do I hate a chest freezer). I use boxes to organize my frozen veggies (one box per type). I have sections for meat and other frozen stuff. I use baskets for butter and stock. Anything else is labeled with a marker. I rotate the contents with each shopping trip (quarterly or so) or when I make stock/soup/chili etc. I've never lost anything nor have I had mystery product. I also put bottled water in there for storage and to fill up space. I defrost once a year, usually in the fall or early winter. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion and should use what works best. If you are planning on long term storage, a manual defrost is the best option. The frost free (or self defrosting) units cycle heat to keep frost from building up inside. That seriously diminishes the life of any product you store in the freezer. In terms of size, go with larger. In terms of brands, well, that's personal opinion. You can buy the same products pretty much any where. That's personal preference too. The freezer we had when I was a kid conked out at 40 years old. In the past 22 years, I've had two. The current one is about 10 years old and has spent it's life mostly in an unheated garage (in TN). Having said that, note that manufacturing of appliances has gone the way of everything lately; seems like they are disposable and it's cheaper to replace than fix. Stick with a brand name you're comfortable with and purchase from a store you feel good about. Just keep dead bodies out of there.
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jln5
Original Author
15 years ago
My husband thought he saw an auto defrost, but he must have been mistaken. Thanks.
ken06
15 years ago
Hi,
Just purchased the 5 cu ft. GE from Sams Club a 2 months ago. I prefer the manual defrost for 2 reasons...1 freezer burn is minimized and 2nd lower operating cost. I also keep the freezer in the basement (as opposed to a hot garage) and have a dehumidifier in the basement so ice buildup has been minimal. Good Luck

ken06
paddy_99
15 years ago
The manual will have lower operating costs as long as you keep it defrosted. If you allow ice to build up it will be just the opposite. I have had both and the freezer burn in the auto is minimal,actually I never noticed any difference but I do not leave food in it for months on end. Considering the size of unit you are buying the energy use difference would be insignificant. If you enjoy dragging all the food out of it two or three times a year go for the manual, if you have better things to do with your time get the auto.
Just out of curiosity I wonder how many of the people who recommend the manual are the people who actually have to defrost them?
User
15 years ago
I personally have a 20 cubic foot upright that is manual defrost. I use it every single week. It gets defrosted maybe once a year and that is more than sufficient. If you minimize the number of times you open the door by having your food well organized and labeled, then defrosting won't need to be that frequent. It takes very little time to do. Put down a couple of towels and use a hair dryer or heat gun and you'll be done in no time. It takes longer to shift everthing to the coolers than it does to get rid of the frost.

So, yes, I practice what I preach.
chefkev
15 years ago
I prefer manual defrost. If you are keeping food for longer than 2-3 months, the quality will be better - and you don't have to have freezer burn to have a loss in quality (particularly with dessert and dairy items). Besides lower energy costs as others have pointed out, manuals are usually quieter - although this may not matter depending where you put it. I've seen larger frost free chest freezers, but I don't think I've seen any in the size you are looking for. My old Sears manual defrost chest freezer had a flash defrost feature which was nice because it speeded up the process considerably.

Are you sure 5 Cu ft is enough? It probably wouldn't cost much more to go up to 7 or 8. My guess is once you start using it, you'll want the extra space. Best wishes.
livingthedream
15 years ago
It's a good idea to check what's in the freezer every so often. It's not much harder to defrost it at the same time.
ccoombs1
15 years ago
I have a large chest freezer that is manual defrost. Right now, we are living in a single wide trailer while we finish building the new house. The freezer is on the porch. Even during the summer when it's over 100Â° outside, that freezer only needs defrost once every 18 months or so. Food stays very fresh too with no freezer burn.
jakkom
15 years ago
Had a manual chest freezer and was happy to be rid of it after a few years. Defrosting is a pain; I don't enjoy it or want to bother.

Have had an upright frostfree for 20 years. Love it! As long as you rotate your food regularly, no problem with freezer burn. Some items never get freezer burn at all anyway - homemade pesto, lemon juice, nuts.
cooksnsews
15 years ago
I have had my chest freezer for over 26 yrs and I rarely defrost it. In fact I can only remember defrosting it on those occasions when it has been unplugged, like when we've moved house, or the furnace installer accidentally turned it off....

Anyway, chest freezers don't frost up much at all if you keep them quite full. For efficiency's sake, you should pick a size that most closely fits your needs - a partly/mostly empty one is expensive to operate, and frosts up quickly. Planning is important so you can rotate the contents and minimize waste. I suppose living in a dry climate helps also.
John Smith
7 years ago
But where would you buy a auto de.frost chest freezer?

Chest Freezer - manual or auto defrost?

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Chest Freezer - manual or auto defrost?

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