Freezers... There are two equally important questions to ask yourself before you search for an actual best buy freezer at the bottom of this page. Briefly... where will it be sited? What will it contain? To take each point separately... WHERE will it be sited... The amount of space you have at your disposal in your home [if you are contemplating a move in the near future, this needs to be thought of too] and also the temperature in the particular space where the appliance will be sited. Some people have their appliances in a garage or outhouse/shed/summerhouse type building... and this has worked for them. But does this mean that it costs more to run, goes to that great white goods graveyard that much sooner, or has this building some form of heating, or have they just been lucky? Each appliance has its own preset optimum temperature levels, between which numbers/levels the appliance will work most efficiently. Do please remember... if your appliance is sited in a building which gets too cold during the winter months, not only will it not be good for it... but you could probably be invalidating your guarantees and/or your freezer contents insurance policy. Once you have analysed your answers to these points, work out the amount of available space... then buy whichever appliances fit into it... bearing in mind that, if you are a keen user, then you will never have enough room... so go for as large an appliance as you can. WHAT will it contain... What your appliance will contain will also affect the amount of space you will require inside it... whether you cook to fill it, buy ready made items, buy large amounts of meat to freeze, or fill it with bread, milk and other day to day supplies, freeze pick-your-own fruit, or if you have your own fruit trees and cook up the spare produce to freeze...whatever... you will know how much space you need. The only problem being, have you enough space to house the size of freezer you would dearly love to have? Of course, where you live will affect your shopping and food storage habits... also whether you have room to grow any produce or not could alter your needs. If shopping is an irregular chore, and you live in a remote area where you could get cut off in winter... then you will need more freezing space than someone with a corner shop at the bottom of their street. Buy the best freezer for your needs, and buy quality, convenience, and reliability... then you should have an appliance which will serve you well for many, many years. My favourite brand for reliability for many appliances [both large and small] is Bosch... they come out as one of the best in so many different tests, for reliability, innovation and design. They have an extensive range of high quality freezers for you to choose from... I have picked six in total. They represent tall, under counter, and chest type freezers... so there is plenty to choose from, and all are best UK electrical appliance best buys. Frost Free Appliances Some of the appliances chosen are frost free, some are not... but first, just a mention of the drawbacks to this system. You have to balance the convenience of frost free against a few considerations... namely, they may cost just a tad more to run, food may deteriorate a little more quickly, so you need to wrap it that bit more carefully, and you have to leave space for air to circulate around your frozen goods... thereby decreasing the actual amount of space available. Lastly, food with a high fat content will not keep as long... think some meats, and ice creams [as opposed to sorbet]. Power Cuts A quick word on power cuts may be helpful. The most important tip is to keep the freezer firmly closed during any power cuts. All modern freezers should be perfectly OK for at least 9 hours... some will be fine for more than 30 hours. That said, the idea of power cuts during storms or winter conditions lasting for more than 30 hours makes an extremely good case for the purchase of a good fridge thermometer even more valid... why not visit our cookware page... you will find a live link at the bottom of this page. Next we will look at the actual best buy freezers... first the chest freezers, of which there are three. They are all of similar specification, with a safe storage period claimed of over 40 hours for each [in the event of a power cut]... the larger the freezer, the more time it will stay safe. The smallest has a lockable lid. They are all rated a brilliant A+ for energy efficiency. Obviously, the larger the appliance, the more will be its annual running costs... with a very reasonable £24.50 for the largest. All have economy/holiday settings, counterbalanced load bearing lids, and interior lights. Dimensions, in all cases are H 86 and D 70 cm, with the length being the only difference. For the small Bosch GTA 20901 it is 93 cm, and a net capacity of 6.7 cu.ft. For the medium sized Bosch GTA 26901 it is 113 cm, and a net capacity of 8.7 cu.ft. For the largest model Bosch GTA 37901 it is 157 cm, and the net capacity is 13.0 cu.ft. Something new... the worlds first frost free chest freezer has made its appearance in the form of the Electrolux 3070. The other three models are of the upright type, two are tall freezers, the other an under counter model with a unique easy access drawer system. The two tallest are frost free models, B rated, with transparent compartments having drawer stops to prevent accidental tipping of contents, all round removable magnetic door seal for easy cleaning and replacement, interior light, and reversible door hinging. Model GSU 34423 is 195 cm tall, and is 66 cm wide, with a depth of 66 cm. It holds a net capacity of 8.7 cu.ft. in 7 transparent freezer compartments. Model GSU 29424 is 175 cm tall, is narrower by 6 cm at 60 cm wide, with a depth of 65 cm. It holds a net capacity of 7.3 cu.ft. in 6 transparent freezer compartments. Model GSL 14425 is the under the counter/worktop Bosch freezer which has an energy efficiency class of A. It holds a net capacity of 3.5 cu.ft., is 60 cm wide by 61 cm deep, has 3 deep transparent freezer drawers, and a shallow top drawer for freezer packs, ice cubes, etcetera. It has a defrost water outlet for easy defrosting, and the brilliant removable magnetic door seal for easy cleaning and replacement... add to this reversible door hinging, external LED temperature display, temperature gauge in door, optical and acoustic warning system and you have a first class package.
And lastly, [before disposal of old appliances] best suppliers are covered... at Be-direct The Co-op Electrical Shop stock the Bosch GSL 14425 and the GSU 34423 models... but not the chest freezers. A recommended alternative tall freezer is available too... the Whirlpool 3680, frost free. Tesco stock the Bosch GSL 14425, GSL 14465 silver, GTA 26901 and GTA 37901 at present... though their stock does change very rapidly. Then, there is Littlewoods Home Shopping where you will be able to access a Bosch GSL 14424, plus the new frost free chest freezer by Electrolux, the ECS 3070 [300 litre]; also available is a ECS 2070, a 200 litre model.
With regard to prices, there should be quite a significant saving by buying on the internet... but please note some of the above mentioned stores have frequent promotions and special offers where significant savings, on the already discounted prices, are offered. Also some offer all inclusive prices, whilst others charge for carriage. So I'm afraid it is a case of checking out all the above suppliers of whichever model you have decided upon when you are ready to buy.
Disposal of old Appliances Check with your local council to ascertain what their current collection policy is, it seems that just about every council has a different policy... some still do free collection, some collect a certain number of items for a set fee, fees need checking too! If your council does not have a collection strategy they may have a disposal one... where you take the unwanted appliance to a special tip where they are recycled in some way.
If none of the above strategies apply to your circumstances, and your old appliance is not collected when you have a new one delivered... or if you want to do something positive with your old machine, I have some useful details. So, for details of how to dispose of old 'White Goods' responsibly Click Here. Addresses for a number of organizations which collect, refurbish, and sell such items are on this page at Envocare, together with details concerning old phones. On the whole an extremely useful and informative website. Links to useful pages within this website are included below...
Isn't this an offer that's too good to miss?
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