Buyer’s Guide: Chest Freezers

Whether you have a large family to feed, do a lot of hunting or fishing, or simply tend to grocery-shop in bulk, a chest freezer—which offers additional cold storage to the freezer in youroverstuffed kitchen fridge可以是一个明智的在hase. While you can spend as much as $1,000 on an upright version slightly smaller than a fridge, most consumers opt for a horizontal model with a hinged door on top (like a treasure chest), which will cost less than $600 and be more energy-efficient to boot.

Considering that theUnited States Department of Agriculture estimatesAmericans waste $161 billion in food each year, why not find out if a chest freezer is the secret to saving more money on your monthly groceries? Read on for an overview of points to consider, and once you have your priorities you can check out our top three picks for the best chest freezer.

了解储蓄
如前所述，胸部冰箱往往是更节能比他们的直立对手有两个原因。对于初学者来说，重力有助于保持水平门密封更紧密，留下更少的空气泄漏空间，并确保更高的效率。但主要是你拯救，因为胸部冰柜通常没有自动除霜。这函数周期性地关闭设备并熔化任何累计霜冻，每次运行循环时都会使用额外的电力。胸部冰箱需要手动除霜- 偶尔你偶尔会把你的关掉，让门打开，让温暖的空气通过它的内部循环一两个小时，然后擦拭任何熔化的霜并回到商业。

When shopping, be sure to check each model’s energy rating. Adjusting for differences in capacity, the one that costs the least to run per year is the best buy.

Consider Capacity
The capacity of most chest freezers ranges between 5 and 20 cubic feet. One cubic foot can hold about 35 pounds of cut and wrapped meat; bone-in takes up more space because of its irregular shape. It’s not worth running a freezer that won’t hold everything you need, and you don’t want to waste space with something too big, either. So figure out how much you’ll keep in your freezer. Don’t forget to factor in times of the year when you tend to最多的食物—around the holidays or after hunting season, perhaps. Take inventory of what you’ll be storing and then do the math to determine what capacity suits best.

尺寸
Most chest freezers run between 2 and 4 feet wide, and between 3 and 6 feet long. Since you clearly can’t wedge a 5-foot-by-3-foot appliance into a 4-foot-by-3-foot clearing in your basement, you’ll need to measure your available space and make sure your chest of choice will fit. Measure the space where you intend to put the appliance, as well as such spaces as doorway width to ensure you can get the freezer into the spot.

Feature Focus
Chest freezers tend to be no-frills appliances, but some models offer worthwhile features. Storage bins, for instance, allow you to sort items while an interior light helps you see what you’ve got in there. And a lock will keep nosy parkers out of your frozen fodder. These extras are generally worth a slightly higher price if you’ll be accessing the chest on a regular basis, it’s kept in a dark area, and/ortheft is a concern.

FAN FAVORITES: 3 Picks for the Best Chest Freezer

Hoping to stock and store asurplus of groceries所以你的食物少浪费？根据消费者评论，专家意见和上面概述的购物标准，开始搜索最佳胸部冰柜。

Whirlpool WZC3122DW胸部冰柜（599美元）
The expert reviewers atThe Spruce选择这个漩涡模型as the best overall chest freezer of 2017 for capacity, energy efficiency, and extra features. Offering 21.7 cubic feet of space, this chest has beastly measurements spanning more than 5 feet in length and almost 3 feet in width. Bells and whistles include a trio of storage bins, an interior light, and an exterior lock and temperature control knob. This extra large capacity, manual defrost freezer costs around $42 to run a year.Available atHome Depot.

GE 10.6 CU-FT胸部冰柜（359美元）
This midsizedchest freezer from GE是一个与Lowe的购物者打击，大约500人，其中500个凉爽的5颗星。10.6立方英尺手动除霜模型是能源之星认证其现象低年度成本运行：平均$ 29。有三个滑动储存篮，可调温度控制，内部灯，外部电源灯和外部锁，它得到了所有的额外额，它距离超过4英尺2英尺。Available atLowe.

Midea WHS-129C1 3.5 cu-ft Chest Freezer（359美元）
在规模较小的末端，亚马逊购物者喜欢这个Midea 3.5立方英尺胸部冷冻柜for its tiny footprint and its reliability. Clocking in at just under 2-foot-by-3-foot, this diminutive model gets high marks from short-statured owners who appreciate the easy reach to the bottom. The manual defrost freezer comes with a hanging wire basket and adjustable thermostat, and costs $32 per year to run.可用Amazon.