Hello...we nedd to replace a 40 year old Sears freezer ASAP. (Got our tax check last week.) Does anyone have preferences, recommendations for a stand-up freezer? We are a family of five, three growing children. It will be in the cellar. Thanks for any help you can give. Cheri in New York

-- Cheri Asprion (t.asprion@worldnet.att.net), September 28, 2001

Answers

Get a chest style freezer. More room and in my opinion last a lot longer. We have a sears kenmore and have had no problems for the 21 years we now have it. As your other lasted so long, I would go with the same brand. Sears has closed their catalogue sales but is still making and selling appliances.I have mine in the cellar as well. We did put it up on treated posts which was a good idea as the floor does get damp there and once we had a flood with several inches of water and it was just fine, high and dry.

-- Kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), September 28, 2001.

Sears does not make their own appliances, they are all subbed out to the likes of Whirpool, Frigidare, etc. . . . . . But Sears usually has some good deals nonetheless and parts and service are easy to come by if needed. So I wouldn't hesitate to buy a freezer from them. A couple of things to consider:

Upright vs chest. I prefer chest. My wife, being short, prefers an upright. She can't reach all the way to the bottom of a chest and likes the accesibility of an upright. Personal call their.

The second thing, is do you have to have a frost free freezer? If you don't mind defrosting, a manual defrost freezer can be much cheaper and has less electronis circuits to go bad. (No defrost cycle) Another advantage is that food stores better (and longer) in a manual defrost freezer. A frost free goes through a defrosting cycle every so often that introduces warm air across the coils to defrost them. This can somtimes accelerate freezer burn.

Just some things to consider. I've never had a problem with any Sears appliance really, so I like the Kenmore brand. But if you buy a Kenmore, you should know that it's made by someone else anyway, so if you find what you like for less $$ elsewhere . . . . .

-- chris (frontiercc@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.

Cheri, Chest types will keep cold in better. If you open an upright freezer a lot of the cold will roll out. In a chest type, it stays in. Sears one sold quality items. Now they go for low end name brand products and constantly chrun new cheaper models through the store.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), September 28, 2001.

Used to be it was safe sticking with any big name brand appliance, now most all are made in Mexico, check to see where it was actually made, and decide from there.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), September 28, 2001.

An upright takes less floor space (a smaller footprint)leaving more for other things. With a chest type it's too easy for a lot of people to set something on top of it "for just a minute" and it's there weeks later. A chest freezer tends to have a smaller opening for the same cuft. of storage than an upright. Make sure you check the EER (energy efficiency rating) on whatever you consider. I hope this helps.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

I have a Whirlpool that I've had for years...at least 10, but I'm not exactly sure. It's not a very large one which was fine when it was just my husband and me and 2 little girls. But now that the little girls are bigger girls and I shop and cook in mass quanitites, I could use a LARGE one. Mine is a chest style freezer, and I have to admit that it's a pain to dig out the stuff on the top to get at the stuff on the bottom. I think an upright might be handier in that aspect.

-- Nancy in Maine (paintme61@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.

I prefer the upright because it is easier to keep it organized and I tend to use those things that I see more readily. In a chest freezer, things get put on top of other things and you forget they are there or when you remember them, you have to spend all of the time with the door open digging through it and even pulling things out so you can get to the items on the bottom. Any efficiency you may have achieved, goes out the window while you are digging around, to say nothing of the pain in the back it is. I like to open the door and be able to see what is there. I tend to put meats on the same shelves and veggies on the same shelves, etc. so when I am looking for something I can start with the right shelf and it saves time finding it. I am also more inclined to throw things out when I should if I keep opening the door and seeing that item and not using it then I decide that I should get rid of it so it is not taking up valuable space that I could use for something else. On a ches freezer, those things would slowly sink to the bottom and I probably wouldn't throw them out for years.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), September 28, 2001.

We have had both and I like up right better because you can get to the food eaiser and it takes less space. I use to drive a semi and we loaded out of whirlpool. Amlost every brand is made there

-- Grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.

We buy Roper and Holiday off name brands. They are actually production overruns of two of the high quality name brands. You can check them out at Lowes. The prices are quite reasonable as they don't carry the well known name brands they actually are.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.

I used to sell to Whirlpool in Evansville, Ind in the 70's. At that time, Sears owned Whirlpool. 60 % of the production went to Kenmore, 40 % to Whirlpool brands. Either one is a high quality, dependable source.

-- Rickstir (rpowell@email.ccis.edu), September 28, 2001.

We have a 21yr (plus) old chest Amana. Very nice (STILL) and have had no problems.

-- DW (djwallace@ctos.com), September 28, 2001.

I prefer the chest type, but our last one was an upright (3rd one) because it is an "overflow" for when the chickens and turkeys are ready, and people need a day or 2 to pick them up. It was only 3 yrs old, 16 cu ft and we bought it for $75. Freezers are good until they go bad, and can last for years. Check out the used market! GLK!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), October 01, 2001.