If your refrigerator doesn't provide you with enough freezer space, it could be time to buy a standalone freezer. Two popular freezer styles include chest and stand-up. Here's why you might prefer buying a stand-up freezer, and some things to consider when choosing your new appliance.

Why A Stand-Up Freezer Is A Good Choice

You might prefer a stand-up freezer because it takes up less floor space. A chest freezer is horizontal and has a door on the top that lifts up. A stand-up freezer is more like a refrigerator, so it can be positioned in more places without taking up too much room.

A stand-up freezer is also easier to organize since it has drawers, baskets, and side storage just like a refrigerator. A chest freezer might have some baskets, but you usually have to pile food on top of each other, and that means you might have to dig around to find what you need. Even worse, buried food might be forgotten and go bad before you eat it.

What To Consider When Shopping For A Freezer

Stand-up freezers come with different storage capacities, so you can buy a small, medium, or large freezer to meet your needs. Buying the right size ensures you don't spend more money than you need to, but that you'll have plenty of room when you stock up on sales or buy a side of beef.

You should also check the optimal operating temperature range on the freezer so you can select the right place to install it. You may need to put your freezer in the garage, basement, or kitchen and you want to make sure the space doesn't get too hot or too cold for the freezer to operate efficiently.

Another thing you may want to know is how the freezer defrosts. New freezers tend to have an automatic defrost cycle so you don't have to worry about manually defrosting the appliance. The temperature in the freezer fluctuates when you're defrosting it, but the fluctuation time is shorter during an automatic cycle than it is if you defrost the freezer manually and need to empty out all of the food.

Be sure to compare features among different brands of stand-up freezers. Some have locking doors to keep kids from getting in the freezer. Others have temperature monitoring and alarms that let you know if the temperature is too high inside. This is helpful to know if there is a prolonged power outage when you're not home. Otherwise, the food may freeze again when the power comes on and you wouldn't know the food might be bad until you go to cook it.