On March 11, 2020 a customer of mine ordered a small GE chest freezer. We did not have the unit in stock, so I ordered the freezer from GE directly. I told the customer it would take 5-7 days, and he was satisfied with that.
The arrival of the freezer did not exactly go according to plan. On March 13, 2020, as you might remember (or maybe you're trying hard NOT to remember!) the country effectively shut down. My customer received his freezer on November 29. He was one of the lucky ones. This wasn't atypical at the time; it took literally a couple of years for the industry's freezer inventory to catch up.
No, I don't miss those two years between 2020 and 2022 at all!
I had several consecutive inquiries about purchasing freezers this weekend, which is what prompted me to remember the above story. As I don't believe I've ever blogged about freezers, I decided it was time.
Freezers normally come in two styles, upright and chest. As a general rule, chest freezers are better for long-term storage, while uprights are more convenient for day-to-day use.
Let's start with chest freezers: They come in a large variety of sizes, anywhere from 3.5 cubic feet in volume (roughly the size of a large dorm refrigerator) to 22 cubic feet (slightly over six feet wide), with lots of choices in between.
Chest freezers are almost always manual defrost. Manual defrosting is actually better for the long-term shelf life of your food than automatic defrosting, as that slight defrosting of a freezer three times a day can cut into the extreme shelf life (say, over 9-12 months) of your food. Of course, this does mean that with a manual defrost freezer you'll have deal with the inconvenience to emptying its contents occasionally and thawing the unit out, usually once every 12-18 months. On the other hand, chest freezers tend to be less expensive than the more popular uprights.
Upright freezers outsell chest freezers approximately four to one nowadays. Our customers seem to prefer the convenience of both easier access to their food and the automatic defrost feature. Sizes range from 4.3 cubic feet (about the size of a dishwasher) up to 22 cubic feet (about six feet tall, two feet nine inches wide). Smaller uprights will still be manual defrosting like chest freezers, but beginning with the 13 cubic foot size and up auto-defrost becomes the norm.
Size and style are by far the most important considerations when it comes to purchasing a freezer. I find most people prefer the auto-defrost models if available. One other noteworthy feature to be consider would be whether you need a "garage ready" unit.
What is "garage ready", you ask?
Units with this feature can still maintain the zero degree temperature necesary to properly freeze food even when the outside temperature drops as low as zero (as opposed to traditional compressors, that have a hard time controlling temperature when the ambient temperature drops below 50 degrees.) They also have sturdier compressors that are built to not burn out from overuse in hotter garages, and will operate properly in more extreme temps, say 110-115 degrees. If you plan on placing the freezer in an unattached garage, you might want to consider this option.
Finally, we've recently seen the introduction of "convertible" uprights, meaning that you have the option of using the appliance as either a freezer or a stand-alone refrigerator. As "refrigerator only" models have always been scarce in the appliance industry, having an option to acquire more fridge storage has an appeal to some of our customers.
"Should I wait for a sale?" I've found that freezers generally don't fluctuate much in price from month to month. Even during the "louder" promotional periods (Black Friday or July 4 for example), freezer prices tend to stay the same. In other words, there really isn't any reason to delay a freezer purchase in order to wait for a discount - buy the freezer when the time is right for you!
On an entirely unrelated subject, I've also been getting a lot of questions about heat pump, or ventless dryers. Traditionally ductless dryers were common only in certain applications (8th floor of a Boston high rise, for example) where carving a four inch diameter hole in a wall simply isn't feasible. With concerns about energy usage more and more in the public's consciousness, we've been receiving an uptick in questions about ductless, heat pump operated, dryers.
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| GE's all-in-one laundry unit |
"Just how does a heat pump dryer operate?" I refer you to this informative link on LG's website.
All sounds great, right? Well... there a few drawbacks you should be aware of when making your purchase decision:
- drying times will take significantly (45-60 minutes) longer. (see exception below.)
- you will pay a few hundred dollars more for these dryers
- because of the newness and sophistication of the technology, repairs tend to be more expensive.
In the past few years GE and LG have introduced a newer style, full size front-loading "all in one" unit. These units have addressed the drying time issue for the most part, and also have the advantage of being able to operate on a standard household plug (as opposed to a dedicated 40 amp oversized outlet.), These units do cost more (in the $2000 range) as opposed to more traditional pairs ($1200-$1500 for a typical top-loading set, $1500-$1800 for a front-loading washer pair.)
While ventless dryer sales are still a small percentage of the laundry market, the industry does expect this segment of the market to grow. More and more consumers are paying attention to energy output and sustainability. In addtion, many utility companies are offering rebates on heat pump dryers, which should help to address the difference in price.
As always, feel free to reach out to any of the sales professionals if you have any questions on the above. Addresses and phone numbers for all thirteen Manny's showrooms can be found on the front page of our website
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