Freezer

[wfwhitaker]

Looks like I'm going to have to invest in a freezer to store a growing investment in film and paper. (See? There is large format content!) Chest freezers seem to be a little less expensive than upright, but at the expense of having to dig around to find what you want (turkey, vodka, Tri-X...). Upright freezers cost more (at Lowe's, anyway), but having shelves looks like it would be major benefit.

What has been your experience? What are your recommendations? Brushed stainless finish is NOT a requirement!

[Ben Hopson]

The shelves in an upright freezer are a huge benefit for film and paper storage. I have both a chest and an upright freezer. I recently found a box full of film from the late 70's buried in the bottom of the chest. Guess which freezer I get to use for film storage.

Go for an upright if you can....

Ben

[Aahx]

I much prefer the compact upgright models to the chest variety. Much easyer to keep orginized. Esspecialy if you are taking account of your inventory for a buisness. In a chest you may have to "dig" under other boxes or items for your film. With uprights you can have different types and ages of film (so you can rotate stock) on different shelves and lable them.

[wfwhitaker]

Sounds like a foregone conclusion, then. Thanks!

[Aahx]

oh.. found this one at Home Depot.. its a good size for a film only unit (unless you are shooting 11x14 or larger).

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...3+90401+503559

[Mark Sawyer]

Bear in mind that with uprights, when you open the door all the cold air "falls out" (Cold air sinks, hot air rises) So the chest freezers are a little more energy efficient. I prefer the chest for long term storage, and keep a box or two in the kitchen upright freeezer, with my "current" box in the fridge. Organization in a chest freezer isn't too bad if you store the boxes on-edge, and write the film type on the upper edge.

Try to get a freezer that is not frost-free, to avoid the periodic defrost cycles.

[Steve Goldstein]

I have an upright, non-frost-free. I find I have to defrost it every two years because of the high humidity here in the summers. You may have to do this annually in NC.

The upright has inadvertently improved domestic harmony. The top shelf is mine. The middle two are inbound food. The bottom shelf is garbage awaiting the weekly pickup. This means we don't have trash sitting in the barrel all week in summer, giving rise to alien life forms and strange odors. My wife appreciates that! And there's no film in the kitchen freezer, that's just food.

[Drew Wiley]

I got a chest type freezer because the main section is big enough to stock color print paper boxes on the diagonal up to 20X24 (and my 20x24 sheets of DT film), as well
as rolls of even bigger paper if needed. There is plenty of room on the side trays above
the pump compartment for sheet and roll film. The top of the freezer also acts as a
temporary work surface. But from time to time my wife sneaks a frozen turkey into
this! (Plenty of room for both). A vertical freezer with this capacity would cost far more.

[wfwhitaker]

Bear in mind that with uprights, when you open the door all the cold air "falls out" (Cold air sinks, hot air rises) So the chest freezers are a little more energy efficient. ...

That's what I had thought about when I first started thinking about freezers. But when I saw the uprights in the store, they looked so much more convenient. I won't be opening it that much. But it looks like I have some shopping to do. Cost means something, but so does the "footprint" since I don't have a lot of room. Thanks for everybody's input.

[Steve Hamley]

Will,

If you find two I'll take the other.

Cheers,

Steve