Appliance Upgrade Research: Chest Freezers

The 4.1 cubic feet offered by the ‘fridge just doesn’t cut it anymore (thanks Costco, family gatherings, holiday dinners and ice cream cakes), so I’ve started doing some research on chest freezers and discovered a suprising lack of centralized information/reviews.

The rough aproximation of additional space required is about 2x to 3x the current freezer capacity of 4.1 cu/ft.

Stop #1: EnergyStar.org

According to EnergyStar.gov’s Refrigerators & Freezers page, EnergyStar qualified freezer models use 20% less energy than required by current federal standards. After downloading and sorting the Product List excel sheet only a few chest freezer units in the 10-12.9 cu/ft made the cut and not all of them had a recent “Active Date”.

Brand	Model	Volume in Cu/ft	kWh/year	Federal Standard (kWh/year)	Percent Better	Active Date
Danby	DCF10**WE	10	282	315	10%	8/24/2004
Danby	DCF1014WE	10	282	315	10%	8/12/2005
Danby	DCF1024WE	10	282	315	10%	8/12/2005
Maytag	MFC10***EW	10	282	315	10%	8/17/2005
Whirlpool	EH101*	10	282	315	10%	7/9/2003
Woods	C10**E	10	282	315	10%	1/2/2003
Woods	C101***	10	282	315	10%	12/22/2005
Woods	C101**E	10	282	315	10%	8/17/2005
Crosley	WCC12/E	12.2	298	352	15%	1/2/2003
Woods	C12**E	12.2	298	352	15%	8/24/2004
Frigidaire	GLFN1326GW*	12.9	326	364	10%	9/21/2007
Frigidaire	LFFC1367FW*	12.9	326	364	10%	4/2/2007
Kenmore	14372	12.9	326	364	10%	1/24/2008
Kenmore	15302	12.9	326	364	10%	4/2/2007
Kenmore	16342	12.9	326	364	10%	8/17/2006
Kenmore	16352	12.9	326	364	10%	8/17/2006

Step #2: Brand Website (to see if they still support the listed unit)

So far, I’ve only been able to find the following models available and current:

Whilpool/W.C. Wood EH101*
http://www.wcwood.com/cgi-bin/displayproduct.pl?option=feature&model=EH101FXR

W.C. Wood (Woods) C1011*
http://www.wcwood.com/cgi-bin/ListModel.pl?loc=usa&prod=chest&model=C1011W3

Frigidaire GLFC1326F
http://www.frigidaire.com/products/freezers/chest_freezers/large/prod_GLFC1326F.asp

Kenmore 16342 and 16352 (both appear to be the same unit)
http://www.kenmore.com/shc/s/p_10154_12604_04616342000P?keyword=16342
http://www.kenmore.com/shc/s/p_10154_12604_04616352000P?keyword=16352

While the EnergyStar list is a good starting place, for some reason not all appliance manufacturers are listed.

Haier, for example has a 10.6 Cu/Ft unit that supposedly uses only 212 Kilwatt hours per year (less than every single one in the above table).

Haier HMCM106EA
http://www.haieramerica.com/en/product/HMCM106EA/specs

Step #3: Locate Retailers

I’m guessing that due to the weight and nature online (e-)retailers are reluctant to carry such a large item. I’ve started checking local stores.

Step #4: Enjoy the Additional Storage

I’ll update this post when I get here =)