Best (and most efficient) Chest Freezer

 

I've been looking for a new chest freezer and low and behold I can't seem to
find any information on Google.  It got wierd on me too.  I has some links
saved but they seem to have vaporized into cyperspace.

So far I've been looking at GE based upon the fact that my 12 year old 24
cu/ft side-by-side still works fine even thought it's been outside for 5
years.  It had a very good energy rating for it's time and the quality seems
to be there.  So, my questions are:

Which is the most dependable brand?

Which is the most energy efficient?

I noticed some have aluminum tubs and others have epoxy-coated steel.  Which
is better?

I've already settle on a chest-type manual defrost as being the most energy
efficient.

Do freezers generally hate MSW inverters?  I was thinking of eventually
running it from solar panels so I'd always have a way to keep food frozen
and could always make ice for refrigeration.

Thanks.

 


Google for energy efficiency ratings gives:

http://www.aceee.org/consumerguide/freezers.pdf

A bit more poking around points at:
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/prod_lists/commer_refrig_prod_list.pdf

One interesting thing I noticed was that "Energy Star" and "Meets
Federal Energy Requirements" don't nessesarily mean "goodness".  For
instance, one Energy Star freezer uses more energy than a mere
"meets..." (mostly because one was frost-free and one was manual
defrost).

BTW:  IMHO you shouldn't pick frost-free or manual-defrost based on
cost or energy usage, but on appliance application.  IMHO,
manual-defrost is for long-term, infrequently opened storage and
frost-free is for frequently-opened short-term storage. Get both!  8*)

 



http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/prod_lists/commer_refrig_prod_list.pdf

Thanks for the links!  Google kept coming back to me with stuff that didn't
even have anything to do with freezers or energy efficiency.  I tried many
search terms.  Maybe my computer was speaking to it in a different language
or something.