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COPYRIGHT 2002 Consumers Union of the United States, Inc.
If you buy boxloads of burgers at a warehouse club or like to keep a few weeks' worth of dinner fixings on hand, the 4- to 6-cubic-foot freezer compartments in most refrigerators may seem positively lilliputian.
A separate freezer can give you more cold-storage space. Those now on the market have 4 to 25 cubic feet of space and cost from $140 for one of the smallest units to $750 or so for a spacious model with adjustable shelves, bins, and lighting. Three sizes--5, 15, and 20 cubic feet--account for half of all purchases. Operating a new 15-cubic-foot freezer costs about $30 to $55 a year (at average electric rates), depending on the type. That's in the same ballpark as a new refrigerator's annual energy cost.
WHAT'S OUT THERE
There are two types of freezers: chests, which are essentially horizontal boxes with a door that opens upward; and uprights, which resemble a single-door refrigerator.
All chests are manual-defrost units, meaning you have to unload the food, store it in another spot at 0[degrees] F so it won't thaw out, and wait until the ice encrusting the walls has melted before loading up the freezer again. With some uprights, you have to go through the same defrosting routine. Other uprights are self-defrost models that periodically turn on heaters to remove excess ice buildup.
We tested all three types: four chests, six self-defrost uprights, and two manual-defrost uprights. Their prices ranged from $350 to $750. Most models within each type performed similarly and had similar features. That's not surprising, considering that two companies make most freezers sold in the U.S.: Frigidaire, which makes models sold under the Frigidaire, GE, and Kenmore labels; and W.C. Wood, which makes units sold under its own name as well as Amana, Danby, Magic Chef, Maytag, and Whirlpool.
All the models we tested comply with new federal energy-conservation standards, effective July 2001, that require new freezers to use up to 30 percent less energy than older models.
CHESTS
Chest freezers vary most in capacity--ranging from 4 to 25 cubic feet--and cost $140 to $400. Aside from a hanging basket or two, chests are wide open for piling in even large, bulky items, so almost all of the claimed space is usable.
But a chest's open design makes it hard to organize the contents. Finding something can require bending and moving around piles of frozen goods. If you're short, it can be...
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