There are two types of freezers available on the market, these are upright freezers and chest freezers. You will need to have an idea of how much frozen food you will be storing before making your decision on which freezer to purchase. Generally a standard freezer of either type will hold 35 pounds of frozen food per cubic foot of useable space. Most freezers come between 5.5 cubic feet up to 25 cubic feet. You won't want to buy a freezer that is going to be too large to fill. This will be a waste of space, and of your money. Your freezer will run more efficiently the fuller it is.

The next consideration will be the floor space you have in your home for the freezer itself. Chest freezers require more floor room than do upright freezers. Chest freezers are generally more energy efficient than upright freezers. Chest freezers tend to be better insulated than upright freezers and loose less cold air when opened. A chest freezer will be better for freezing larger or bulky items. Chest freezers do not have shelves, they have bins for easy storage of frozen items. Chest freezer generally don't come in colors other than white for the simple fact they generally are kept in basements or garages. Chest freezers are a wetter environment than upright freezers which does help prevent freezer burn on foods. Chest freezers must be manually defrosted. Another important feature will be a child safety lock, especially with a chest freezer.

Upright freezers are like a refrigerator/freezer. They will have one or two doors that open from the front and from three to seven shelves for storage. An upright freezer will require much less floor space than a chest freezer. The shelves will make an upright freezer easier to organize than a chest freezer. You will want to decide if you want a manual defrost or self defrost freezer. Manual defrost upright freezers are cheaper to buy than self defrosting freezers, but who really wants to have to defrost their freezer?

You may want to consider purchase of a freezer alarm. This can be a very good investment, especially if you have an older freezer as it will warn you with an alarm if the temperature in your freezer drops which can give you time to save your food.