Which is More Energy Efficient? Chest or Upright Freezers?

Because of the built-in sidewall insulation, chest freezers hold their cold temperatures very well and therefore use the least amount of energy to run. In fact, during a power outage or a household move to another locale, as long as the freezer lid is not open, an unplugged chest freezer can keep the contents frozen for two or even three days, depending on the frozen food quantity.

Freezer Energy Saving Tips:

• Freezers and refrigerators operate most efficiently when filled to the capacity recommended by the manufacturers.
• Never forget that only one-tenth of a freezer’s capacity should be used for freezing of fresh food at any one time. The freezer must work harder to remove heat, and uses more power. Example, 28 litres (one cubic foot) will store 12,5 to 15 kg (25-30 lbs.) of frozen food and will freeze about 1,5 kg (3 lbs.) of fresh food at a time.
• Food to be frozen should be placed in contact with those parts of the freezer that contain the refrigerant tubes, usually the sides of chest models.
• Defrosting of chest type freezers should be done once or twice a year. For upright models, defrosting should be done two or three times a year. NEVER allow frost build up to exceed 0,6 to 1,3 cm.
• By keeping a list of the location of foods in the freezers, the freezer can be kept open for a minimum of time, preventing the loss of cold air.
• The freezer should be kept as full as possible to prevent heavy icing.
• On all models keep condenser panels at the rear of the freezer clean and dust free for maximum efficiency and conservation of energy.
• A second freezer should only be operated when necessary.
• In a single door unit, it is essential that the separate freezer compartment has its own door intact. Otherwise the unit will tend to operate the whole of the refrigerator as a freezer – this can be expensive.

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Fridges and freezers account for the largest single energy consumption for domestic appliances. Reducing the amount of energy that these units consume rests on two actions:

1. Improving the thermodynamic (“cooling”) efficiency of the refrigeration cycle
2. Reducing the amount of heat gain (“heating”) from the environment

Commercial refrigeration has been around since John Gorrie invented the freezer in 1842. In the following 170 years, the evolution of technology and refrigeration has vastly improved and continues to do so.

Apart from improvements in the mechanical equipment, two major aspects where we can still improve on are increasing the “cooling” effect while reducing unwanted “heating”.

The R600 refrigerant, more commonly known as Butane, is the most commonly used in all domestic refrigeration products. R600 is a readily available naturally occurring hydrocarbon that has less of an environmental impact compared with its synthetic equivalent, R134 (Tetrafluoroethene).

Keeping the inside of fridges cool is also no easy task. The ideal insulation would consist of a hyper-reflective surface held at a vacuum to eliminate radiation and the transfer of heat. Unfortunately, current technology combined with product durability and manufacturing costs limits the extent to which this approach can be pursued. The next best thing we can do is decrease heat conduction by improving insulation materials.

Key Feature differences between Chest and Upright Freezers:

Chest Freezers usually come with at least one wire basket to help you organize the contents. You can segregate types of foods using cardboard boxes to better organize freezer contents. However, chest freezers require a lot of bending, reaching, and moving frozen foods to find what you’re looking for.

That being said, they do accommodate odd-shaped, long, or large items that may be difficult to place in an upright freezer. There are some models on the market that have a bottom drawer accessible from the outside of the chest freezer, but while this can add convenience to a chest model, it will also reduce capacity slightly.
Upright Freezer

Probably the best convenience feature of an upright freezer is the ability to better organize the frozen foods, making it easier to monitor and rotate contents to keep frozen foods current. Some upright models have versatile storage systems with adjustable and removable door storage bins, sliding, adjustable shelving, and pull-out baskets or bins.

All these features add to the ease of sorting and storing contents. Although you can better organize an upright, there are constraints. Items such as large turkeys or long, frozen items may not fit without removing a shelf to accommodate the size.

Our Choice:

The Defy Solar Hybrid Chest Freezer – DMF475S + SOL006 which uses Solar Energy and the Electrical grid to run the same unit. This 254 liter solution will simply use as much solar energy that is available and use the electrical grid when there is no solar energy. In doing this it can use a combination of solar and electrical grid at the same time, ensuring you get the most out of the solar system provided.