Best Small Chest Freezers 2022 – For Garage Or Extra Storage

It can be hard to choose the right home appliance for your needs. There are so many brands and features to sort through that it can be very tempting to pick the first appliance you see that fits your budget.

However, if you are in need (or simply want) a small chest freezer to supplement your in-kitchen refrigerator and freezer, you have to pay extra special attention to the specs and features. That’s why we dedicated today’s list to helping you find the best small chest freezer for your needs.

What Are the Benefits of Small Chest Freezers?

  • Good for Emergencies – Even small chest freezers can keep foods frozen after 2-3 days with no power.
  • Easy to Organize – Small chest freezers have large, wide-open interior spaces which makes it easy to arrange and find your frozen foods.
  • Compact Design – If you have limited space in your garage or basement, a small chest freezer may still fit comfortably in a confined space.

What to Look for in A Quality Small Chest Freezer?

In general, you are going to want to opt for a freezer that has at least 3.5 cubic feet of internal storage space. This will at the very least, give you enough room to supplement your kitchen freezer.

You may also want to look for features like adjustable temperature control and integrated wire baskets. This will allow you better control over deep freezes and make it easier to organize and store your food items.

THE TOP 3

Koolatron Compact Chest Freezer

Best Choice

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Nostalgia Classic Retro 3.5 Cu.Ft. Chest Freezer and Refrigerator

Best Premium

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WANAI 3.5 Cubic Chest Freezer

Best Value

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#1 – Koolatron Compact Chest Freezer – Best Choice

Quick Facts:

  • Stays between 11.2 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Includes wire basket
  • Manual defrost

The cool thing about this small chest freezer is that the lid holds itself up at either a 45 or 90 degree angle. It’s a minor quality of life feature but a quality of life feature nonetheless.

The Koolatron Compact Chest Freezer also has an easy dial mounted near the bottom of the freezer that allows you to dial in the temperature.

You can choose the max setting (11.2 degrees Fahrenheit) or the minimum setting (32 degrees Fahrenheit) or anywhere in between.

It also includes a convenient wire basket that is suspended on the rim of the freezer so it’s right up top when you open it up. Of course, you can remove the basket if you don’t want it.

This is a manual defrost freezer which means that in order to defrost the interior, you have to take out all the food, turn it off and leave the door open. There is a drainage plug on the bottom so that the water flows out as the freezer defrosts.

Overall this is a handy little freezer at just 60 pounds. It has dimensions of 32.9 inches tall, 24 inches from front to back and 22 inches wide.

Pros:

  • Lightweight design
  • 110 volts
  • Compressor stays cool

Cons:

  • Ice builds up on the rim

Overall Score: 96/100

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#2 – Nostalgia Classic Retro 3.5 Cu.Ft. Chest Freezer and Refrigerator – Best Premium

Quick Facts:

  • Analogue temperature gauge
  • Castor wheels
  • Operates as a freezer and a fridge

By far, the coolest thing about this freezer is the vintage design. It has a retro aesthetic from the lettering of the logo to the baby blue finish. Plus, you can use it as a fridge or a freezer!

You can control the temperature between 20 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit so it’s suitable to keep drinks, snacks and other food items cold; but not frozen. It even has castor wheels so moving it around is easy.

It has 3.5 cubic feet of internal storage space so it’s still a good supplement for your fridge/freezer without taking up too much space. It’s 33.4 inches tall, 21.4 inches deep and 23.2 inches wide.

We also really liked that this freezer has a long, 7 foot cord which may seem like a small thing; but when you are trying to arrange it in a tightly packed garage, den or basement, it can make a big difference.

Pros:

  • Vintage appointments
  • Includes ice scraper
  • Includes bottle opener attachment

Cons:

  • A bit loud

Overall Score: 96/100

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#3 – WANAI 3.5 Cubic Chest Freezer – Best Budget

Quick Facts:

  • 7 temperature settings
  • Refrigeration mode
  • Adjustable legs

We were very surprised that a model that was this affordable doubled up as a refrigerator. There are 7 different temperature control settings so you have a lot of options for chilling, refrigerating and freezing.

The door can hold itself up which is convenient when you have to dig inside the freezer to find what you want. There is also an included wire basket that hangs off the inner rim of the freezer.

We also liked that the gasket was nice and thick. At the very least, it seems like a heavy-duty gasket that will last for a very long time. You can also adjust the height of the legs by about 1.5 inches.

Pros:

  • Great for dorms
  • Aluminum interior
  • Drain plug

Cons:

  • A bit heavy

Overall Score: 94/100

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#4 – Hotpoint Chest Freezer

Quick Facts:

  • Adjustable thermostat
  • Manual defrost freezer
  • Power indicator light

This is a no-nonsense freezer that would be great if you need a budget-friendly freezer to keep in the garage or the basement. The Hotpoint Chest Freezer features a manual drain plug for when you need to defrost the appliance.

There is also a green indicator light that lets you know that the appliance is on and working. You can choose from 7 different temperature settings.

All you have to do to adjust the temperature is turn the knob located on the bottom-left of the freezer.

You can also turn the freezer off with this same knob. Perhaps the best thing about this freezer is the fact that it comes from Hotpoint which is a very reputable manufacturer.

Our first impression of this freezer was that it was simple and easy to use and that remained true after repeated use.

Keep in mind that the Hotpoint Chest Freezer provides you with just a bit of extra storage space at 3.6 cubic feet of internal space.

But it doesn’t take very much extra room at 33.25 inches tall, 22.5 inches wide and 21 inches from front to back.

Pros:

  • A bit of extra storage space
  • Wire storage basket included
  • Includes ice scraper

Cons:

  • No adjustable legs

Overall Score: 93/100

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#5 – Midea MRC04M3AWW Mini Freezer

Quick Facts:

  • 5 cubic feet of internal storage
  • Lid stays open on its own
  • Adjustable thermostat

The Midea MRC04M3AWW Mini Freezer has adjustable temperature that lets you control the temperature between 12 and 28 degrees. So while it doesn’t get warm enough to use as a fridge, it’s still an excellent small chest freezer.

At first, we really liked the fact that the lid can stay open at three different angles: 45 degrees, 60 degrees and 75 degrees. However, it would have been nice if it could hold itself up at a 90 degree angle as well.

In the end though, that was our biggest gripe with this freezer. It has a sturdy, stainless steel design and an adjustable thermostat with easy “min” and “max” settings.

It also includes a wire storage basket to give you quick access to your most-used food items.

The Midea MRC04M3AWW Mini Freezer is 33.5” tall, 21.5” wide and 19.5 inches from front to back. You also get a 2-year warranty on the compressor.

Pros:

  • 1-year warranty on non-compressor parts
  • Acute temperature control
  • Freezes quickly

Cons:

  • A bit expensive

Overall Score: 92/100

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#6 – New Air Chest Freezer – Best 7 Cubic Foot Freezer

Quick Facts:

  • Large-capacity (7 cubic feet)
  • Digital lid-mounted controls
  • Includes wire storage basket

So this is a bit of a deviation from small chest freezers but we had to include it because it’s practically priced like a small chest freezer.

The New Air Chest Freezer has7 cubic feet of internal storage space and you can control the temperature between 50 degrees and -14.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

This makes it an excellent choice for chilling wine and other food/beverage items and for deep freezing and storing meats.

Our first impression was that the lid-mounted digital controls gave this freezer a cool, modern look.

We  also liked that there is a little shelf or step underneath where the freezer basket goes for convenient storage. Again, a small feature but one that can make a big difference for the right consumers.

The New Air Chest Freezer also features a door alarm that sounds if the lid has been left open for too long.

This is an excellent freezer if you like to buy meat and other food items in bulk or if you simply need more space to supplement your kitchen freezer.

Pros:

  • It has a fast freeze mode
  • Operates at 42 decibels
  • Plenty of storage space

Cons:

  • The black color option is more expensive

Overall Score: 94/100

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#7 – TECCPO 3.5 Cu. Ft Chest Freezer

Quick Facts:

  • Free-standing lid
  • Aluminum liner
  • Side-mounted vent

The TECCPO 3.5 Cu. Ft Chest Freezer has a free-standing lid that can hold itself open at 45 or 90 degrees which is a nice convenience feature.

Just be aware that this freezer vents on the side, not from the bottom so you might have to be careful what you store it next to and how close.

As the name suggests, this is a 3.5 cubic foot freezer and there are 5 different temperature settings. You can use the highest settings to temporarily store refrigerator items and the lowest setting for deep freezes.

Pros:

  • Affordable
  • 2 rear wheels
  • Lightweight

Cons:

  • Dents easily

Overall Score: 93/100

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#8 – Igloo ICFMD35WH6A Chest Freezer

Quick Facts:

  • 5 cubic feet of storage
  • Manual defrost
  • D-type refrigeration tube

The Igloo ICFMD35WH6A Chest Freezer is an affordable small chest freezer that would be a solid choice for RV’s, the home bar, your den or your mancave.

It has manual temperature control – just be aware that the temperature can only go up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit and down to -10 degrees Fahrenheit.

So it can only be used as a freezer. Still, this freezer operates very quietly and the D-type tube allows for faster, more efficient freezing.

Pros:

  • Affordable
  • Freezes food items quickly
  • The gasket creates a strong seal

Cons:

  • Only gets as warm as 10 degrees F

Overall Score: 94/100

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#9 – Arctic King 5cf Chest Freezer Deep

Quick Facts:

  • 5 cubic feet of storage space
  • Manual defrost
  • Includes wire storage basket

There are two things that really impressed us about this freezer at first. One: it has a cool black finish. Two: even though you get 5 cubic feet of internal storage space, it doesn’t take up much more space than the smaller freezers we checked out for this list.

The Arctic King 5cf Chest Freezer Deep is 24.9” wide, 33.5” tall and just 21.7 inches front to back. It can fit a ton of food inside which makes it a great choice for anyone who likes to stock up and store food items.

We will say that the steel it is made of seems a bit thinner than other models; but it works well and is also surprisingly energy efficient.

Pros:

  • Black finish
  • Temperature control dial
  • Includes scraper

Cons:

  • Poor customer service

Overall Score: 95/100

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#10 – SMETA Chest Freezer

Quick Facts:

  • 5 cubic feet of storage
  • R600a compressor
  • Adjustable feet

We end our list with another mid-size freezer that checks in at 5.5 cubic feet of internal storage. At first, we really liked that the height could be adjusted via the feet.

Then, we were taken with the aluminum liner that was durable and easy to clean and even scrape.

There are 3 temperature settings which are good for refrigerating and freezing. This is a manual defrost freezer so you will have to empty it and release the drain plug if you ever want to defrost it completely.

Pros:

  • 1-year warranty
  • Recessed lid handle
  • Effective compressor

Cons:

  • A bit loud

Overall Score: 94/100

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