Your guide to buying a standalone freezer – if you can find one

At the end of March, President Donald Trump announced the extension of social distancing guidelines for another month – and set off a national scramble for standalone freezers.

The next morning, retailers arrived to an unexpected surge of orders. “There was an immediate reaction,” says Ryan Turner, director of merchandising and contract sales at Bray & Scarff Appliance & Kitchen Specialists (brayandscarff.com). “We had already seen a little bit of an uptick in freezer sales, but that opened the floodgates.”

Within a few days, the lowly freezer, an appliance often relegated to the basement, was as difficult to get a hold of as hand sanitizer. Now, waiting lists for freezers are growing as consumers seek the comfort of knowing they’ll have plenty of food at home throughout a shutdown of unknown length.

Jim Estill, chief executive of Danby (danby.com), which makes 20 types of freezers, thinks the pandemic will permanently change this market. “Now people who are single want freezers, and people in apartments think they need a freezer,” Estill says. “Households who already have two refrigerators with freezers also want a separate freezer.”

Freezer shipments for March were up 45% over the same period in 2019, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (aham.org). Frozen food sales skyrocketed, too: American Frozen Food Institute (affi.org) figures show a sales increase of 94% in March compared with a year ago.

“At first, COVID-19 caused a bit of panic-buying and turning to freezing for a longer shelf life,” says Adrienne Seiling, vice president of strategic communications at the American Frozen Food Institute. Now, she says, it’s all about the “level of satisfaction and comfort” of having a full freezer.

A stocked pantry is a big concern when there is no way to know what a trip to the grocery store will yield, says Michael Ruhlman, food journalist and author of “Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America.” Some shoppers are checking out the variety of goods in the freezer cases for the first time. “As this period unfolds, we will become better and better freezers and more organized freezers,” Ruhlman says.

Jessica Petrino, editorial director at AJ Madison (ajmadison.com), a national appliance dealer, says the industry did not foresee the ferocity of the pandemic and was not prepared for the spike in demand. “These were not hot-ticket items,” Petrino says. Because many freezer parts are sourced in China, some manufacturers are having difficulty getting more freezers into stores. Hundreds of thousands of freezers are on back order, she says.

“Everyone is rethinking how they purchase food. In parts of the country, going to the grocery store is a scary event,” Petrino says.

Standalone freezers might not be as buzzy as the latest smart fridges, but there are new features to be aware of, including LED lighting, door alarms to let you know when the temperature is not being maintained, reversible doors, security locks and better organizational compartments. Some uprights have built-in ice makers.

The majority of freezers are white, but you can find stainless and black finishes. Make sure the one you choose is manufactured to be “garage ready” if you plan to keep it in your unheated or uncooled garage. Some models aren’t made to withstand extreme heat or cold. Also decide whether you are OK with a model that needs to be defrosted (usually once or twice a year) or if you prefer one with auto defrost.

David McCalpin, vice president of refrigeration at GE Appliances, says to consider the space you have available and how much money you want to invest. Most freezers cost between $300 and $1,500. Most standalone freezers range in size from about 3 cubic feet to about 22 cubic feet. Upright freezers generally will have a smaller footprint than chest models. Manufacturers make freezers that work for smaller households and apartments, such as Danby’s Diplomat, a compact chest freezer available in four sizes, from 3 1/2 to 9 cubic feet. The 7-cubic-foot model, at 33 inches high and 35 inches wide, is similar to the size of a dishwasher.

Chest freezers tend to be less expensive than uprights, and they could be more difficult to organize; look for models with storage baskets. Think about whether you will just use it for storing bagels and lasagnas for the long term or want your kids to be able to easily grab Popsicles on a daily basis. Features to look for in uprights include glass shelves and transparent door bins, McCalpin says. These allow you to keep an eye on your inventory. “Uprights give you better storage and visibility than a chest style,” McCalpin says.

Freezers used to be known as energy hogs, but no more. According to the Energy Star website (energystar.gov), freezers manufactured today use a lot less energy because of improvements in insulation and compressor design. Models with the Energy Star designation save the most in energy use and costs. About 38 million separate freezers are in use in the U.S., according to the website. More than 17 million of those freezers are more than 10 years old, costing consumers $1.3 billion per year on their energy bills. Replacing your old freezer with an Energy Star model could save you $195 over the next five years.

There is an art to loading your freezer properly and keeping your food from developing the dreaded ice crystals or freezer burn. Consult your freezer’s manual for specific information.

Electrolux, which has been making home freezers since 1929, has a number of best practices for freezing, says Eloise Hale, a spokeswoman for the company.

Let hot foods cool. Wait until hot foods get to room temperature before placing them in your freezer. Overloading the appliance with hot food forces the compressor to run longer. Foods that freeze too slowly might lose quality or spoil.

Freeze items flat. Putting items in freezer bags and placing them flat in the freezer allows you to stack them in bins once completely frozen.

Rethink packaging. Boxes are bulky. If possible, remove items from packaging before storing, and recycle the packaging.

Ensure cold air is circulating. Shelves and baskets should not be lined with aluminum foil, wax paper or paper towels. Liners interfere with cold air circulation, making the freezer less efficient.

For information on recommended length of freezing times, go to foodsafety.gov. Ruhlman says it’s important to know what you have and to label it with the date so you don’t waste food. His household keeps a roll of blue painter’s tape and a marker at the ready. Keep a master list of your freezer contents to help in meal planning and shopping.

“We keep a list of foodstuffs taped to our freezer,” he says. “We cross off what we take out.” Among the things in there now: four jars of Mom’s tomato sauce, chicken stock, lentil soup, meatballs, a bag of artichoke hearts, peas and six Klondike bars.

Thinking your household could use a freezer? McCalpin says GE is trying its best to keep up with demand. “We have the factories running flat out. Typically, we have excess capacity, but not to meet this kind of a surge,” he says. “Be a little patient right now. There are a lot of them on their way, and I expect supplies will improve over the next few months.”