Freezer for my garage


 
LMichaels said:
My issue with chest style is to get something on the bottom you have to take everything out and put it back
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Very true. I keep everything grouped in plastic shopping bags and in moving things around I have inadvertently left some items out of the freezer :mad:...BUT...it does serve an useful purpose in that it reminds you of what you have in inventory. The chest freezers are also handy for a makeshift workbench or a place to do some spray painting.

It goes without saying that everything in the freezer is vacuum sealed and permanently labeled as to content and storage date. Maybe I'm goofy but I think maybe some things improve from being kept sealed in the freezer (but don't tell my wife! She loves to buy things for the freezer and then never use them.)
 
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The key with the manual defrost is moving lots of room temperature air through the freezer. The large amount of moving air is much, much faster than spot heat. I've done it with the hair dryer and a simple heat source. The floor fan is five to ten times faster. I was truly shocked the first time I used the fan. Defrosting the freezer used to be a three to four hour ordeal. With the fan I can do it in 90 minutes or less, including the time to unload and reload the freezer. I do have an upright freezer so it's fairly easy to rig the fan to blow air through the freezer effectively. It might be more difficult with a chest freezer, though you could probably just set the fan in the freezer blowing air out.
 
My suspicion was the evaporator iced over and the defrost couldn't thaw it. I looked on the build diagram to see where the evaporator was located and warmed with the hair dryer for over an hour.

So far freezer temp is holding at - 1 per the LCD display.

Refrigerator is 32 on the LCD, and my temp gun agrees when measuring the wall where the fridge sensor is mounted.

Top shelf measures 34. Bottom drawer 32.

No frosty mist in the freezer.

Another thought is I cooled some stock a couple weeks ago. That may have put excess moisture in.

I'll not do that again for a while.
 
We inherited a small Hotpoint chest freezer and I thought we had no use for it, but I must admit it's really come in handy. We've had it for one year and we've never had to defrost it. It develops a frosty patch on the wall near the top where the basket is located, but it seems to go away when I move the basket position.

Garage low is 55*F, high around 85*F. Seems to hold 0*F plus/minus 1-2*F pretty well.
 
Been repairing fridge and freezers for over 20 years every day of the week, not seen what makes a freezer garage ready, advertising must work lol a garage ready fridge is different ,not sure who has picked up where whirlpool left off with the Gladiator.
 
Also food will last longer in a chest, raise the lid the cold air stays in, uprite open the door and the cold air is gone and you start over cooling hot air/freezer burn happens more quickly /milk crates make chest units easier to manage imo.
 
Our 1st chest freezer was a 6.cu ft Kenmore. That worked fine for a while. But when the kids got older, we were constantly filling it up, so about 4 yrs ago, we upgraded to a 11.8 cu ft Kenmore. I think the closest we've come to filling it up has been to about 80% capacity. And we currently have 4 whole turkeys in it.

We haven't had any issues with it. The one thing that can be a hassle is that you'll have to re-organize everything every 2-3 months. Take everything out with the exception of the whole turkeys, and place the newest stuff on the bottom, and older stuff on top.

Yes. Everything is vacuum-sealed and dated. It doesn't take that long to do the re-organizing, though. Usually under 45 minutes.
 
One thing I've read, from Consumer Reports back in the day, I think, was that you should try to maintain a certain percentage of fill, and to make it up with ice or ice packs, in case of a power failure. The ice or ice packs come in handy for impromptu picnics or day trips. Don't open the freezer needlessly during a power failure, of course.
 
Update on my side my side, it is behaving.

I'll likely trade it among family for a smaller freezer on top refrigerator, and get a chest for deep freezing meats and stuff.
 
DanHoo said:
Starting to research a new freezer for the garage and looking for opinions.

Chest or Upright? Frost Free or one that needs a defrost?

The garage gets hot in summer, and is in the 50s maybe 40s in winter.

I don't need a huge freezer, yet I'd like to stock up when the price is right.
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An upright freezer will be a better choice in your case. First of all, it draws a lesser amount of power which is a good thing if you are looking to save on the electricity bill. Secondly, it will give you more room to keep all your frozen foods. You should look for upright freezers that come with clear glass side panels like commercial freezer. This way, you will be able to see what you have inside the freezer and you will also be able to safely carry out items without opening the door. Frost-free freezer means that you won’t have to defrost your freezer which is especially useful if the garage is going to get really warm in summer.
 
Dale Goslin said:
An upright freezer will be a better choice in your case. First of all, it draws a lesser amount of power which is a good thing if you are looking to save on the electricity bill. Secondly, it will give you more room to keep all your frozen foods. You should look for upright freezers that come with clear glass side panels like commercial freezer. This way, you will be able to see what you have inside the freezer and you will also be able to safely carry out items without opening the door. Frost-free freezer means that you won’t have to defrost your freezer which is especially useful if the garage is going to get really warm in summer.
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Actually, a manual defrost chest freezer is more efficient than a frost free upright.
 
Yes it is. We chose an upright manual defrost though because I just could not deal with needing to pull out baskets or items to get something lower down. Also wife is short and doesn't like bending over stuff. Efficiency aside we're pleased with the choice
 
I've had all three. A chest, manual defrost upright and a frost free upright.
Being it's in a garage how energy efficient do you want it? or does it need to be?
As long as it keeps stuff frozen, I'm good..
 
We had a 1970's vintage upright freezer that ran very happily in an unheated garage for the last 25 +/- years of its life, but they don't make 'em like they used to. It was manual defrost, a yearly ritual that involved a hair dryer, a small space heater, and every cooler we could get our hands on. If I had room I'd buy another upright (not as big, the old one was 19 cubic feet) because of the convenience - easier to see what's in there, and easier to get to it.
 
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FYI.

You don’t need to worry about the garage ready thing for old inefficient units. Like the ones your folks had in the garage.

But with modern energy efficient units, the garage ready is needed in most climates to work right. Especially multi zone fridge freezer combos.
 
Happy with my upright in my garage.
Have never heard of "garage ready".
Have never been the least bit concerned about energy consumption.
It's really really cold.
It's relatively easy to get to stuff
It's frost free.

Everything in it is really really frozen
It will last days with the power out.
Have never had any concerns about things going bad. I throw out anything periodically over about one year old anyway.
Meat gets vacuum sealed.
 
Garage ready is referring mostly to self defrost fridge/freezers. They have heating coils built in or added in to maintain a certain temp inside the workings (mechanicals) of the unit. Some companies offer a kit you can add to make them that way some come that way. Without that the self defrost feature does not work correctly, and or the refrigerant/oil mix can freeze and lock up the compressor at low temps.
 
Martin.

You don’t need to worry about garage ready in LA. Regular units work from about 50F thru 90F. In LA, you could leave the unit outside and it would be fine. GR is mostly about operating in very low temps.

If you live in a cold place, you absolutely need that. GR works down to 0F. In some places, even GR doesn’t provide enough protection against the extreme cold. In those places, folks have to build insulated freezer closets in the garage to get them to work.
 
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15 cu ft whirlpool arrived today. model number WZC3115DW manual defrost chest.

On sale at Costco. $321 with tax and delivery.

not very exciting pics, but here it is.

20220223_083807.jpg20220223_083854.jpg

and, as far as the "garage ready" the operating temps are in the installation sheet.

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