I’ve been thinking about buying a freezer for many years. Often with a big purchase I contemplate for a really long time, so that when I buy it I’m sure.
About a year and a half ago, I finally committed to the purchase. After three farcical attempts to buy it at Costco (I’d call, they’d have one, I’d drive there, it was sold five minutes ago, etc.) I gave up. The message seemed to be "it is not the right time."
Now I’m having pangs again. Costco has a 7 cubic foot, dishwasher size, for $199.99. I don’t know what the energy usage is. Sears has a 5 cubic foot for $169.99. The energy usage, on a scale of 166 to 245, is 242, which is disheartening.
We have really old wiring in the house; some might be original-we see the actual cloth wires on the outside of the wall. We haven’t had big problems, but we have had minor problems, and My Guy has a valid concern that a freezer could strain the wiring.
I periodically see chest freezers for free on Freecycle, but they are older. I know that Amy Dacyczyn isn’t the final word on everything, but freezers were one of the few new purchases she recommended, due to the significant increases in energy efficiency in newer models. I know I want a smaller one, so many of the free ones might be too big.
We aren’t big meat eaters, so we wouldn’t use a freezer for that much. I would use it for plums from our tree, because they all get ripe at once and I can’t process that many for canning all at once. I’d use it for thrift store bread. I want to make two serving dinners in big batches-lasagna, chili, stew, casseroles. I’d use it for blackberries. (Lay on cookie sheet, freeze, then put in bags, to avoid clumps. That way you can have a handful at a time.)
I’d put in par-baked pizza dough-I’m intimidated by baking, and if I could make 4 or 5 pizza bases at one time I’d be more inclined to learn. I’d freeze large batches of grains, like oatmeal and flour, for 24 hours to prevent bugginess.
I think that five cubit feet would be fine for me. I would be using my Minimum Wage Savings to buy this, so it would come out of my $39 a month, for $156 so far, and the rest I’d have to just take out of other categories-I just can’t see cheating on The Challenge.
My Guy suggests waiting until later in the summer, when I actually have fruit to put in it. He’s not really for the idea; he thinks it would take up too much space and strain the wiring, though he’s not anywhere close to invoking a veto.
(We use the “veto” to judge how strongly someone thinks about something. “Do you want to go on a grocery run?” “Not really” means you could be talked into it. “Veto” means end of discussion. We try not to overuse it; it’s a really nice way of conveying firmness in the refusal without being argumentative.)
I’m thinking of watching Freecycle for a couple months, then taking a chance with a Sears or Costco freezer at the end of the summer. I am concerned about getting an old one, but maybe Amy D’s advice is outdated-a 1992 freezer may have been light years better for electric usage than a 1986, but a 2002 freezer might be as good as a 2006 freezer. I’m gonna call some local places to see if they have used, refurbished freezers. I looked at Target’s site, and the options were more expensive than Costco and Sears. I don’t have a Home Depot or other building store, or any other department stores that I think would have freezers.
I welcome any opinions, from the grocery aspect to the electric usage to the old wiring to the cubic feet part. Also any other uses that freezers have that I didn’t mention, and any other plusses or minuses on brands, etc.
Freezer: Yea or Nay?
June 18th, 2006 at 07:55 pm
June 18th, 2006 at 08:23 pm 1150662196
The new one from Sears is the only one not running at this point, I had to recycle it when we moved last year. Left the garage sale one (running still) for the new tenants at the rental and I've got the refurbished one.
I haven't been able to tell a difference on power bills over the years with the different freezers. The savings WITH one far outweigh any possible expenses IMO.
Cooking in batches and freezing most of the product is where I save time and money..........as well as my sanity. Huge kettles of applesauce this fall........Tomatoes tossed into zip locks & put away for homemade sauce..........cookie dough already mixed up & ready for drop in company......all sorts of uses.
June 18th, 2006 at 08:30 pm 1150662652
June 19th, 2006 at 12:13 pm 1150719224
As far as whether to get one at all--maybe try one from Freecycle and see how it works out? We are a household of two. What happened was, I'd stock up on things like ice cream that was on sale, since I had the space. We ended up spending way too much on such goodies, and eating too much of them, also! If you found yourself falling into that trap, or just not getting enough use out of it, at least you wouldn't have spent the money on the freezer. (We lived in an all-electric apartment at the time, and I don't remember the freezer having much effect on our usage.)
June 19th, 2006 at 12:54 pm 1150721669
I love it. It allows me to stock up on sales, do some advance cooking! Stuff like that. I am now thinking of upgrading to an upright one. I think mine is close to the end of its life span!
August 30th, 2007 at 01:20 am 1188436849
August 31st, 2008 at 11:18 pm 1220224710
What I'm planning to do is to replace the freezer thermostat with a digital Love thermostat, then I'll be able to control the temperature and set a minimum time between cycles.