My wife and I are thinking about a freezer; it's just the two of us, and it would live in our garage. We've been hearing about a possible trucker's strike later this month. Our diet relies heavily on fresh foods, so a break in the supply chain would be a real problem. My initial thought is a chest freezer, about 5 to 10 cu ft if such a thing is available, self-defrosting. Any suggestions?

Good luck. Last I heard, from a friend in the business , lead time for new orders is May/June 2021.

Best bet is probably a used one, if you can find it.

Don’t buy a chest freezer.
Buy an upright.
Chest is a pain and hard to organize stuff gets lost at the bottom

I like a chest freezer myself. I do not think finding one should be a big issue. Just go get one. Sooner the better it sounds like. So move a long.

Things can get lost in the bottom of a chest freezer. I find the shelving on an upright better .

Another vote on the upright, you can’t find stuff or get to it at the bottom of a chest freezer.

Look locally for a used upright. Maybe on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. About three weeks ago, I found an old unit from the 70s that is still in good shape. Cost us $100 cash, and I had to move it.

It's a beast. Heavy as a tank. Same size as a full size fridge.

I spent $25 or so on a wireless temp gauge. The freezer is in the basement and the display - with an alarm - is in our kitchen. It's been holding steady at or below zero for the last couple of weeks.

We bought this Insignia upright Convertible Freezer/Refrigerator and we love it. Best Buy even delivered it for free!!! Currently using it as a freezer for the exact reasons you mention. We liked the option of using it as a fridge if our needs changed. Small enough my wife and I moved it downstairs without too much difficulty.

There will never be a truckers strike. Won’t happen. Certainly not on a National scale. Perhaps, maybe, a regional chain with union drivers might strike. Nothing widespread.

Having said that, go buy a freezer and stock up. That is a good idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Good luck. Last I heard, from a friend in the business , lead time for new orders is May/June 2021.

Best bet is probably a used one, if you can find it.

I've been looking for one since April. Chest freezers in the OP's 5-10 ft3 range have been generally available - at least around here - as long as you're willing to go with an off brand.

I've been waiting for a particular 16 ft3 GE model. Looking like I'll be able to get it before Christmas at this point.

It's the components/materials supply chain that has been the biggest problem, as I understand it.

-Rob

We decided to replace our 1985 manufactured upright White-Westinghouse. Never had a service call on it, but has been buzzing off and on for years. Got our money's worth there, as we paid less than $400 for it back then.

Looking for Whirlpool upright, 20 cu ft., Home Depot, no stock and can't even order from them since there are none in the warehouse.

Found just what we wanted at Lowe's and surprising even to them, had one in stock. Delivering today. If we would have had to order, deliver stated as Feb 2021.

UPDATE!!!: Bragged on Lowe's too soon. They call up the afternoon of the delivery. "We don't have one of those." Well, you damn sure had one when I was there and paid for now didn't you? Or else you wouldn't have set up the delivery.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BigWhup,

I always thought a chest freezer was the way to go. So years ago I bought a small one since it is just me and my wife and two dogs.... worked fine for a number of years if you put aside having to move and take out stuff to get to what you wanted... then a friend asked us to go with her to Costco and I thought I was supposed to join... which I did... once we belonged to Costco... I had to go out and buy an upright freezer... no way in the world to deal with digging through to find what you wanted. We buy their big bags of frozen veggies and stuff during the off season.
Go with an upright, you won't regret it.

You might want to consider having a back up generator of one sort or another in case the power goes out for any length of time.
There’s nothing much worse (OK there are but...) than a freezer full of thawed nasty food.

Thanks for good advice! I found a 5.8 cubic foot upright (a Frigidaire) at Home Depot and ordered it. They say earliest delivery is Nov 20. It's manual defrost and I'd prefer frost free, but that's something we can live with.

We've got a whole house backup generator installed, so we're good unless there are extended and simultaneous electrical and natural gas outages. Living in the Puget Sound area that's a possibility, I suppose, but the risk seems fairly remote.

quote:

Our diet relies heavily on fresh foods, so a break in the supply chain would be a real problem.

Since you are going to freeze stuff, meat, fish, veggies, prepared foods, look into getting a good vacuum sealer, there is a thread on them, depending on the volume spending a bit more is good if you do a lot.

Link to the Thread

Costco has a good deal on a home based kitchen sealer with bags, good for moderate use, if you are out killing yaks and moose and clearing your garden daily, you'd want something more robust.

Vac sealing reduces or eliminates freezer burn and allows you to season, seal and then sous vide cook items...

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Don’t buy a chest freezer.
Buy an upright.
Chest is a pain and hard to organize stuff gets lost at the bottom

I’m the exact opposite. I remember my parents replacing three uprights when I was a kid, but mom is still using the same chest type today. That same chest type was there before the first upright, and kept humming along right beside all three of the uprights.
I have a 21 year old chest type, myself.
I think the uprights have to work too hard to cool back off when the door is opened and all the “cold” falls out.
With a few sliding baskets, my chest type is pretty easy to organize.

Bought one a few weeks ago, a 15cuft Frigidaire. Looking on-line all I could find were small 5-7cuft units. Drove around town and actually went into the stores and asked. Got very lucky at Home Depot. They had a sign up that said out of stock, intermittently available, ask sales staff for availability.

Well I asked. The older gentlemen in the sales staff said he just finished walking through the stockroom and found a few that had tags on them awaiting delivery. He checked the records and found that the orders had already been filled with previously in stock items so they were available.

So yes it pays to physically be in the store and ask, on-line inventory isn't always accurate.

I ordered a upright freezer in April from Home Depot. Delivery date was a about two weeks out. It never did show up.

After months of looking at Home Depot, Lowes and Best Buy for one, I finally scored an upright from Best Buy a couple weeks ago.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Don’t buy a chest freezer.
Buy an upright.
Chest is a pain and hard to organize stuff gets lost at the bottom

This!

I had a chest freezer, just upgraded to an upright as organization was a nightmare in the chest model.

The upright made it so much easier, we "shop" from it for the weeks meals, and refill as needed.

Freezers are like gun safes. Always buy bigger than you "think" you Need!!!! Because it will still get full.