When we moved to our present house the kitchen was of a galley style, but one of the features which had made us decide to buy this house was the fact that it had an extension. We felt that this extension, with adjustments, had the potential to be turned into a decent sized kitchen. The house did need quite a lot of work done to it generally and, as soon as we were in a position to have the necessary adjustments done, we began to plan our new kitchen.

Finally the kitchen was planned and installed, but after a while we decided that our family of six really needed an additional freezer, as well as our existing fridge/freezer. But where could this go? We realised, if not doing anything too drastic, then there was just one suitable space for a fridge/freezer, although to access the freezer, for example, if it needs maintenance, (and I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying this) and it has to come out from its home, then the washing machine first has to be removed.

We looked at several chest freezers before deciding on the Whirlpool WCN 11 3, but I'm not sure if we ended up purchasing this from Curry's or Comet, ( I tend to think it was Copmet) as we often buy goods from both of these stores.

This freezer is free standing.

It is NOT frost free, although it doesn't seem to need de frosting often. Just as well, as this is a task I loathe.

I have had this chest freezer for quite a few years; I think around nine or ten, and now can honestly say that it is a good buy, from my point of view.

As to storage capacity it definitely holds lot of food. If I make a stew, casserole, bolognese or curry, I nearly always make enough to freeze so I need a large space in which I can easily place large containers (usually microwaveable type) as well as other items such as loaves of bread.

Although there aren't as many of us now living at home, I still seem to fill both freezers up very easily. Bad planning perhaps, but I do find as my youngest daughter and myself don't eat meat, I tend to buy a wide variety of foods, needing to buy Quorn and meat free products, as well as meat, fish, poultry and vegetables. I now try to use the shelves of the fridge/freezer for the smaller foods such as packets of Quorn foods and small packs of things such as beef burgers, sausages etc. I choose to store larger items, when possible, in the chest freezer, as they are much easier to fit into this. But in all honesty it doesn't always work out. Then I find myself removing many items to reach something elusive.

~~ FEATURES~~

DOOR

The top opening door lifts easily and remains open in any position. This is of utmost importance for where it is placed as I have cupboards over it and need it to stay in an open position while putting food into it or removing items.

REMOVABLE BASKETS

When I bought the freezer it had three removable basket/shelves. These are handy, I suppose, as items can be stored in these, making small items easier to find but the trouble is, we found that the freezer didn't hold so much when these were in place and so two of these were removed. But if you don't overfill your freezer then this is a very useful feature.

LOCK

As I don't have young children in the house I don't always use the locking action but however, it is useful if the freezer is a little too full, as if the door is pushed shut and locked, it then seals. The freezer has a lock. I find this useful when the freezer is probably too full, as if the door is pushed shut and then locked, the door will seal.

NOISE

I find this super quiet; it really isn't noticeable when in operation.

FAST FREEZE

This is very useful for home baking, and when the shopping has begun to defrost before being stored in the freezer.

TEMPERATURE WARNING SYSTEM

If internal temperature of the freezer becomes gets too high a warning light comes on.

SIZE

Approx dimensions-

Width 111.99cm
Depth 65.99 cm
Height 88.49 cm


FURTHER FEATURES (Taken from www, amazon.co.uk):

* Capacity (Litres): 301 To 400litres
* Energy Consumption per Year in kWh: 438
* Energy Efficiency: C
* Energy Label: C
* Energy consumption (kwh per annum): 438
* Energy consumption (kWh/24 hours): 1.2
* Frost Free System: no
* Gross capacity (litres): 320
* Net Capacity in Litres: 315

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I bought this several years ago and so it admittedly isn't state of the art and newer models would be more energy efficient. However, I consider it to be a reliable freezer which has been of the utmost reliability so far. It serves the purpose well; being a second place to keep frozen food.

This freezer can be bought from outlets such as Amazon and EBay.