MaryL wrote:
I just bought a Kenmore upright self-defrosting freezer. This is a
replacement for an Amana manual defrosting chest freezer that I had
for more than 20 years. I realize that an upright (and
self-defrosting) freezer may not be as practical as a chest freezer,
but I live in East Texas and have now had to throw away the contents
of my refrigerator and freezer for the second time in 2 years
(Hurricane Rita). The upright will not eliminate that problem, but
it was very difficult for me to clean the chest freezer. This one
should be easier for me to locate items and to clean.
I have noticed that the outside of this freezer gets *very* hot. The
instruction manual says that it is normal for it to be as much as 30
degrees hotter than room temperature. Neither the older chest
freezer nor my current Maytag refrigerator/freezer (bottom freezer
drawer) are anything like this. The chest freezer would have slight
warmth, and the Maytage does not show any heat at all.

I am concerned that this amount of heat may mean that I will end up
paying more in air condition bills, in addition to the normal "energy
use" of the freezer itself? Is this a legitimate concern? Does
anyone know if there are better-insulated freezers, and should I
consider returning this one?
Secondly, I could move the freezer out of the house and into the
attached garage. However, it gets *very* hot here in the summers
(East Texas), so I wonder if that would simply make my situation
worse.
I would appreciate any comments and advice any of you have. (I
posted this same message to one other newsgroup. I hope it is
acceptable to post in this way rather than cross-posting.)

Thanks, MaryL

I don't know why is it that hot, but I can tell you that your should
expect that all else being equal an upright will cost you more in direct and
indirect operating cost than a chest type.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit