Would a bigger freezer save me money?

Pollycat

One thing to consider if you are going to get rid of your smaller freezer and replace it with a larger one:
although the newer appliance may be bigger it may not necessarily give you more storage space.

I've had an upright freezer for 20 years (135cm high) and when my old fridge packed up in the summer, I got a bit panicky about losing all the meat and home-made meals that I usually have in my freezer, so we decided to replace the freezer before it 'died' on us.
I looked at a Bosch one that was 155cm high (A+ rated), but the capacity wasn't as much as my old one.
I eventually bought a 170cm high one (over a foot taller), but even that has slightly less capacity.
The reason is the side walls of the new freezer are much thicker (I guess that's how they make them more energy-efficient).

Regards
Polly

ChasingButterflies

Hi there,

I was in the same situation as you - I only had a small freezer and was wasting so much (at least it felt like it!) So when I was looking earlier this year for a freezer to put in the garage I was really unsure of what size to go for... family of 5 too so I figured for extra bulky things i.e. bread on specail I should just get the biggest I could...

In the end I plumped for this http://www.rtd.uk.com/product.asp?supplier=Bosch&productid=GTA37902 and when I was looking the price vaired by just over £100 from different companies!

An interesting thing to note is that if you look at the item description it gives average annual running costs so even if you were buying second hand as long as it was a newish model you would be able to get an idea of what it costs to run.

I would definatly agree with Pollycat the thickness of the insulation makes it more energy efficient although obiously capacity suffers due to this.

I did have to buy extra baskets for this direct from the manufacturer however I would say that it has probably paid for itself already - and that is no joke. i.e. run out of bread so I need to do another "shop" when all I really need is a loaf of bread - never mind the time and money saved batch cooking!

However my lock and lock fetish has got a lot worse since I got the freezer :rotfl:

LashyLashla

kunekune wrote: »

. If only you could freeze bananas ...

If you want the bananas for baking then they can be frozen (in their skins) However, no solution if you want the bananas for fresh!

HairyHandofDartmoor

Pollycat and chasingbutterflies that is an interesting point! I assumed that larger on the outside would mean larger on the inside, so I will definitely check the capacity.

As I am planning on one that is twice as tall, I would hope that it would give me more space, but maybe I won't get as much as I thought! I think the tallest one I can find would be best. Space saving but with lots of capacity.

I must check the local paper, but am hideously busy at the moment.

Pollycat

HHOD
My old freezer was so old, I couldn't find the information leaflet so I didn't know what the capacity was.

I was just about to hit the 'order' button on the website for the 155cm one and at the last minute, I thought 'I'll just pop into the shops and have another look'.

Glad I did, I came home and hubby measured the old one and calculated the capacity and I would have lost 1 cubic foot capacity - which is a fair bit of space.

If you're going for the tallest upright freezer you can get, do consider that it may be awkward to get at the higher shelves - I need a step stool to see what's on the top shelf.

Regards
Polly

krishna

Just a few points:

1. Chest freezers are more energy efficient than uprights.
2. A freezer is more efficient when run close to full.
3. It's also more efficient if you keep it in a cool place.
4. If buying an old freezer (or if you want to improve the efficiency of your existing old one) you can increase the amount of insulation to make it more energy efficient . See this
5. Two freezers will be less energy efficient than one large one.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Thanks Krishna.
I don't have room for a chest freezer sadly.
It will definitely be full once I can stock up on bargains!
Our utility room is freezing as it has lots of draughts and no heating in there! I will only have one big freezer as I will sell the old one because I only have room for the one.

Pollycat

HHOD
As I said earlier, I've just bought a new upright freezer and I really wanted a frost-free one (I HATE defrosting freezers).

But after looking into it, I decided that it wasn't the best choice for us because ours is in the garage too.
I was told by a sales assistant in the Co-op that a frost-free model wouldn't work effectively in a garage.

I also read somewhere (& I can't find it again) that foods with a high fat content, such as ice-cream and some meat, may deteriorate during long-term storage because of the repeated thawing and freezing that happens during the defrost cycle.

I think frost-free models are also more expensive to run too.

Regards
Polly