Key specs – Dimensions: 91.6 x 101 x 69.8cm (HWD); Capacity: 255 litres; Fast freeze: Yes; Energy rating: F; Freezer star rating: 4; Temperature warning: Light; Open door warning: No; Suitable for outbuildings: Yes Head to our guide to the best freezers and chest freezers for garages for more advice on freezer climate class. What size chest freezer should I buy? There’s a fast freeze function as well as a warning light to let you know when the temperature is too high. And should you experience a power cut, your food will stay frozen for up to 40 hours. Given that chest freezers are quite large, you may be looking to keep it in your garage. Most freezers aren’t designed to work in rooms that get colder than 10°C, though, so there's a risk that your freezer might not work properly there, and it could invalidate the warranty.

If you decide not to keep it in the house, the Winter Guard technology means it will work in temperatures as low as -15°C so it’s ideal for a garage or shed too. Chest freezers come in all sorts of sizes, from small, square, 55 x 62cm deep models to large, deep chests that are more than 110cm wide. Chest freezers do not come with a fan. This restricts the air circulation, which causes its temperature to be inconsistent. Nevertheless, as long as your chest freezer can keep a below-freezing temperature, it will not harm your foods. The internal light helps you sift through your supplies and the counterbalanced lid won’t hit you on the head when you’re delving to the bottom to retrieve a stray pizza. There’s also a handy LED display, with temperature controls and a fast freeze button.

What stands out

If you’re looking to maximise your frozen food storage and don’t mind paying a premium, the huge Haier HCE519F is the chest freezer to buy.

At this price, you don’t get all the bells and whistles such as a digital temperature display or temperature warnings if you’ve left the door open. However, if you get a power cut it will keep food cold for up to 17 hours. It comes with one storage basket that slides from left to right so you can easily access the food below.As chest freezers are usually used as a secondary freezer, many people utilise space in their garage, shed or other outbuildings for this additional food storage. These outbuildings are often not insulated, and the internal temperature can plummet as the weather gets cold. Not all freezers will work in very low temperatures, look out for the optimum ambient or room temperature in the freezer specifications. Most chest freezers work effectively between 10 and 43°C, but if you want to keep it outside your house, you will need one that can work in lower temperatures. Despite the generous 519-litre capacity, there’s only one basket supplied, so you will need to develop a method of organising your food or you will never find what you’re looking for. You will also need to make sure you’ve got somewhere to put it because it’s large and can’t go in an outbuilding. A counterbalanced lid will stay fixed in an open position once you’ve lifted it, leaving you with both hands free to add food or rummage around to find the item you’re looking for. Without this, you’ll have to prop the lid up with one hand while you reach inside with the other. Fast-freeze Do you have the patience to defrost it regularly? Chest freezers don't tend to be frost-free, so you'll need to go through the arduous task of defrosting it manually when ice starts to build up. Head to our guide on how to defrost your freezer for our tips.

It’s not a budget-busting price, but nevertheless it comes with most of the features you will need. The Frost Away feature reduces ice formation, so it won’t need defrosting as regularly as some others. The counterbalanced lid and LED internal light combine to make life easy when you’re searching for that missing tub of ice cream, or you can utilise the basket to store smaller items and keep them within easy reach. Key specs – Dimensions: 84.5 x 165 x 74.5cm (HWD); Capacity: 519 litres; Fast freeze: Yes; Energy rating: F; Freezer star rating: 4; Temperature warning: Light; Open door warning: No; Suitable for outbuildings: No Key specs – Dimensions: 85 x 54.5 x 49.5cm (HWD); Capacity: 99 litres; Fast freeze: No; Energy rating: F; Freezer star rating: 4; Temperature warning: No; Open door warning: No; Suitable for outbuildings: No Some chest freezers have a fast-freeze function, which gives an extra burst of cooling power. This can come in handy if any pre-frozen food you've bought from the supermarket has warmed up on the drive home. High temperature warning The Russell Hobbs RH99CF1001 is a freezer designed with functionality in mind. With an A+/F energy rating, you can trust it to keep costs and your carbon footprint to a minimum. Your freezer is on 24/7, which is why it's so important to invest in one that's environmentally friendly.

Explore Comet and discover a constellation of products from washing machines and fridge freezers to air fryers, 4K TVs, laptops, consoles and more - it’s easy to find everything you need for your home in the Comet universe. If price is your main priority, this simple freezer will do the job and give you extra space for summer ice creams or batch-cooked winter stews. Chest freezers don’t have many features to deliberate over. The biggest difference between them and other freezer types is that most need to be defrosted manually, as frost-free models are few and far between.