Key specs – Dimensions: 85 x 54.5 x 49.5cm (HWD); Capacity: 99 litres; Fast freeze: No; Energy rating: F; Freezer star rating: 4; Temperature warning: No; Open door warning: No; Suitable for outbuildings: No As chest freezers are usually used as a secondary freezer, many people utilise space in their garage, shed or other outbuildings for this additional food storage. These outbuildings are often not insulated, and the internal temperature can plummet as the weather gets cold. Not all freezers will work in very low temperatures, look out for the optimum ambient or room temperature in the freezer specifications. Most chest freezers work effectively between 10 and 43°C, but if you want to keep it outside your house, you will need one that can work in lower temperatures.

Some chest freezers have a fast-freeze function, which gives an extra burst of cooling power. This can come in handy if any pre-frozen food you've bought from the supermarket has warmed up on the drive home. High temperature warning It’s not a budget-busting price, but nevertheless it comes with most of the features you will need. The Frost Away feature reduces ice formation, so it won’t need defrosting as regularly as some others. The counterbalanced lid and LED internal light combine to make life easy when you’re searching for that missing tub of ice cream, or you can utilise the basket to store smaller items and keep them within easy reach. Key specs – Dimensions: 84.5 x 165 x 74.5cm (HWD); Capacity: 519 litres; Fast freeze: Yes; Energy rating: F; Freezer star rating: 4; Temperature warning: Light; Open door warning: No; Suitable for outbuildings: NoChest freezers do not come with a fan. This restricts the air circulation, which causes its temperature to be inconsistent. Nevertheless, as long as your chest freezer can keep a below-freezing temperature, it will not harm your foods. What do you want to freeze? Chest freezers are a great choice if you need to freeze bulky items like large joints of meat, or you tend to buy in bulk. Smaller items tend to get lost in cavernous chest freezers, so they're better stored in an upright or fridge freezer. A counterbalanced lid will stay fixed in an open position once you’ve lifted it, leaving you with both hands free to add food or rummage around to find the item you’re looking for. Without this, you’ll have to prop the lid up with one hand while you reach inside with the other. Fast-freeze No two kitchens are alike, and each one requires different appliances to work for the cooks in the house. Which is why we strive to make our freezer range as diverse as possible. Towering at the top of our collection are our prized freestanding freezers, which have six drawers available to separate your frozen goods.

At this price, you don’t get all the bells and whistles such as a digital temperature display or temperature warnings if you’ve left the door open. However, if you get a power cut it will keep food cold for up to 17 hours. It comes with one storage basket that slides from left to right so you can easily access the food below. Chest freezers don’t have many features to deliberate over. The biggest difference between them and other freezer types is that most need to be defrosted manually, as frost-free models are few and far between. If you decide not to keep it in the house, the Winter Guard technology means it will work in temperatures as low as -15°C so it’s ideal for a garage or shed too. If you’re looking to maximise your frozen food storage and don’t mind paying a premium, the huge Haier HCE519F is the chest freezer to buy. Despite the generous 519-litre capacity, there’s only one basket supplied, so you will need to develop a method of organising your food or you will never find what you’re looking for. You will also need to make sure you’ve got somewhere to put it because it’s large and can’t go in an outbuilding.While this low-cost chest freezer will work for many households, it certainly isn’t perfect. The L95CFW23 is not recommended for use in outbuildings that are vulnerable to very low temperatures, and there’s no auto-defrost, so you’ll have some scraping to do every now and then. V12 Finance and AppToPay is a trading name of Secure Trust Bank PLC, Yorke House, Arleston Way, Solihull, B90 4LH. If you have sufficient storage space, buying a medium-sized chest freezer will make a lot of sense. You’re taking pressure off your main fridge freezer, while increasing your overall capacity to store frozen foods. Product Protection policies are provided by Domestic & General Insurance PLC. Registered Office: Swan Court, 11 Worple Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 4JS, United Kingdom. Registered in England and Wales, Company No. 485850. Domestic & General Insurance PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. It can keep your foods cold for as long as three days when there are power outages, or you're moving to another home, as long as its lid is not open.