Work out what a chest freezer will save before you buy one
A chest freezer pays only if you stock food you already eat, bought on sale, and can find it again. Check this before you buy one.
From shared experience online: people who bought a chest freezer to cut grocery costs and what they learned about using it. The power-cut, storage and electrical lines are checked against US and UK government guidance.
A chest freezer costs money before it saves any, and it runs every hour of every day after that. Whether it comes out ahead depends on three things the freezer does not do for you: what you put in it, what you paid for that food, and whether you can find it again before it spoils.
A chest freezer saves money only if you fill it with food you already eat, bought on sale, and can find it again, so decide what goes in and how you will track it before you buy.
If you live alone on a small grocery bill, have no floor space for it, cannot easily lift things out of a deep box, or lose power for days at a time, read “Who this is not for” near the end before you spend anything. The notes above cover power cuts and plugging it in.
Where the saving comes from
Many people who own one say the saving comes from buying meat and other staples in large amounts, when they are on sale or from a local source, instead of at the regular price. One person is blunt about the order of things: the freezer itself only adds a running cost and a risk, and the money is made in what you buy and when. One person buys half a cow a year from a local butcher and says it saves hundreds of dollars; another splits a quarter cow with friends to keep the cost per pound low. Some people stock whole turkeys and hams when the price drops. One person warns that animals sold at auctions at fairs go for well above market price, because people bid with feeling, so those are not a cheap way to buy meat. Some people warn that processing a whole cow or pig is a lot of work.
Many people also say it holds more than meat, such as bread, vegetables, soups and sauces, and cooked meals. One person uses it to keep local fruit and vegetables from their seasonal peak. One person cooks in bulk and freezes breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and says it saves money and time and cuts down on food ordered on impulse.
Cautions travel with those stories. One person says not to fill it straight away: wait for each item to go on sale. And some people say a warehouse club is not always cheaper, especially for meat, so compare the price per unit with the stores you already use. Some people add that bulk only saves money on food you already use at that rate; a cheap pack you do not finish is a loss.
What you pay for the freezer matters too. One person says not to put it on revolving credit, because the interest can cancel the saving.
What it costs to run
Some people who own one say the electricity costs little next to the food it saves. Their yearly figures differ, and one person points out that in a high-cost area you will pay more than the figure they quoted. One person adds that a freezer gives off heat into the room, which counts if you run air conditioning.
So do your own sum. A freezer’s energy label shows its estimated yearly use in kilowatt-hours (in the US, the yellow EnergyGuide label). Multiply that by what your electricity supplier charges per kilowatt-hour.
On chest versus upright, some people pointed out that a chest freezer does use less electricity, but the yearly gap is small, and the door seal is a major factor too. Another pointed out that the gap between an efficient and an inefficient model can be bigger than people assume. The practical point is to read the label on the exact unit you are looking at, rather than going by its shape.
Chest or upright
People split on this, and what decides it is you: how tall you are, how your back is, how tidy you will be, and how reliable your power is. This page does not rule on it; the two sides are set out in the box that goes with this page.
If digging to the bottom would put you off using it, one person’s point is worth weighing: food lost at the bottom can cost more than the extra electricity an upright uses. Some people say gloves help if you have arthritis or sensitive hands.
Finding the food again
Some people say this is where a chest freezer loses money: food gets buried, forgotten and thrown out. One person switched to an upright to stop it. Some people who kept the chest say that organising it fixes the problem.
- Sort it by type. Some people use crates, boxes or reusable bags, one for each kind of food, so you lift out a layer rather than dig. One person colour-codes the bags: one colour each for vegetables, meat, meals and treats.
- Keep a list where you can see it. Some people write on a whiteboard or clipboard, or in dry-erase marker on the lid or the door; some use an app. One person uses a magnetic whiteboard on the outside, which they say helps avoid buying duplicates.
- Date everything and use the oldest first. Some people say labelling and eating in the order you froze is what stops waste, and some say anything unlabelled ends up thrown away.
- Freeze flat where you can. Some people say flat packs stack in layers that are easy to pull out, and one person says soup frozen flat in a bag saves space.
- If the whiteboard does not stick, simplify. Some people say whiteboards get bought and never used, and others suggest writing directly on the unit instead. One person warns not to buy a chest freezer at all if you cannot commit to labelling and rotating what is in it.
Some people say air is what causes freezer burn, so people put effort into pushing it out of the packaging. Many people say a vacuum sealer works well, and some people lower a bag into water so the water pushes the air out. One person says vacuum sealing is pointless and that butcher paper wrapped in plastic does the job. One person says cheap sealers cannot handle liquid, so freeze wet food or raw meat on a tray first and then seal it, with parchment or wax paper between slices. One person says to cut meal-sized portions before you freeze.
When the power goes
A freezer is one place that holds all your food. One person says a single failure can mean losing all of it, and that cleaning up after a freezer dies is as unpleasant as it sounds. The safety notes above say how long food keeps and what can be refrozen. What people do beforehand:
- Keep it full. Many people say a full freezer holds its temperature better, which matches the government figures above, and some people fill the gaps with jugs of water so the water adds cold mass for a power cut. One person pointed out that for everyday efficiency, empty jugs fill the space just as well without the energy cost of freezing the water, and that the lid design of a chest freezer makes jugs likely unnecessary for that purpose.
- Watch the temperature. Many people say an alarm or a generator is worth having. One person says the alarm built into a freezer is not enough: a separate monitor, with a probe or a Wi-Fi alert, on a different outlet is what warns you. Some people say a backup monitor on a different circuit is worth having.
- Do not unplug it to free a socket. One person warns that it gets forgotten and the food spoils.
- Keep the lid shut. One person warns that a door left open can ruin the contents within a day.
One person warns that rolling blackouts, big storms and slow repair crews make a chest freezer a bad fit unless you have backup power, and another says rural areas can have longer cuts.
Who this is not for
This is probably the wrong tool if you live alone and buy little: one person says it is harder to justify, though another finds value in bulk buying and meal prep at any household size. It is probably wrong if you have no floor space; one person points out that small ones can fit in a dining room corner or a utility room, but they still need the space. It may be wrong if lifting or reaching into a deep box is hard for you, because one person says physical difficulty is a significant barrier for older users. And it is likely to fail if you will not keep a list. This page cannot tell you whether it pays for a renter who may move.
Some people say a full freezer was a safety net in hard times, and that when they wanted to avoid the shops in early 2020 it cut the number of trips. One person says buying groceries once a month and keeping the surplus in the freezer is a routine earlier generations used.
The community disagrees on this one
Whether a chest freezer or an upright is the better buy is something people split on, and no one answer fits every kitchen.
A chest freezer
People on this side say it holds cold better, including when the lid is open, uses less electricity, and lets you arrange things in different ways. One adds that if the lid is left slightly open, a chest loses less cold than an upright whose door is not shut properly.
An upright freezer
People on this side say it is easier on the back and easier to see into, and that it makes it simpler to use the oldest food first.
What decides it, by people’s own account: your height and back, whether you will really keep a list, how often your power fails, and how much floor space you have.
Common questions
How long can food stay in the freezer?
For safety, the US Department of Agriculture says food kept frozen at 0°F (-18°C) without a break is safe to eat indefinitely, and that the recommended storage times are about quality: texture and flavour fade, but the food does not become unsafe by itself. Food Standards Scotland says a freezer should be around -18°C. One person says some families have kept meat for up to three years. Another warns that food does not last forever, and that if nobody tracks it, it can turn inedible after several years. Those fit together: freezing keeps bacteria from growing while the food stays frozen, but it does not kill them, and quality still slips, so a date on every package tells you what to eat first. How to thaw safely is not covered here; there is a page called Flatten the meat before you freeze it that covers thawing meat.
What freezes well, and what does not?
Many people say a freezer holds more than meat: bread, vegetables, soups and sauces, and cooked meals, with butter, hard cheese and dough also named by individual people. One person freezes bread loaves and puts slices straight from frozen into a toaster or oven. Soup, one person says, freezes flat in a zip bag, which saves space; another says to freeze liquid dishes upright in their container before sealing so they do not leak. Some people say sliced cheese and lunch meat come out crumbly, and that frozen cheese is better melted or shredded than put in a sandwich; thin slices stick together, so one person says to use thicker slices. One person says milk can turn gritty after thawing. Tomatoes go mushy, one person says, which is fine in a stew and no good raw. Cooked pasta and cooked zucchini are each named as poor freezers. One person says spinach and kale freeze well, and that frozen kale crumbles straight into a warm dish.
What should I check about the freezer itself?
One person finds working freezers free or very cheap on second-hand marketplaces. Another argues that a new, inexpensive one is worth it for the warranty and the reliability. One person warns that cheap freezers fail more often and need regular checking, which matters when a failure means a whole freezer of food. Put it somewhere with air around it: one person says it needs about an inch of space on every side for the motor to breathe, and Electrical Safety First’s advice is to leave enough room behind for air to move, so check the manual for the figure for your model. One person says a freezer in a garage can have thermostat trouble or partly defrost on very cold days; Electrical Safety First says not to use one outside or where the weather can reach it, so check that your model is allowed to stand in a garage. One person warns that puncturing the inner metal wall lets vapour into the insulation, which damages it over repeated thaw and freeze cycles. And one person says not to stack heavy things on top of the lid, because that can warp it and leave the seal leaking cold air.
Is a warehouse club the cheapest place to fill it?
Not always, and some people say so plainly. Some people say bread and frozen vegetables are cheaper there, and others that sales at ordinary supermarkets beat it, especially on meat. Where people disagree, what decides it is where you live and which items you buy, so compare the price per unit at the stores you already use before you stock up. Some people add that bulk only saves money on food you already use at that rate. There is a page called Make the warehouse club prove itself that works through the membership sum.
Questions this step helps with
What people worked out
Shorter, plainer notes on the same ground — each with the number of people behind it.
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