Upright freezer or standard refrigerator for fermentation

[atomicpunk]

Looking over craigslist for something to use to control fermentation temps.

If you were to buy one today would you go with a standard refrigerator or an upright freezer?
By standard refrigerator I mean the kind with a freezer compartment on top.

I was thinking the preferred buy would be the upright freezer because it would seem like a better use of space. But they are hard to find used at reasonable prices compared to the abundance of used refrigerators one can find.

Are there pros and cons to each?
Is there a future use I should consider?

Thanks

[TheDarkSide]

I'd go with freezer in case you want to do lagers...I think it would be hard to get a std fridge down to near freezing.

I've been looking into this as well. Sear and Lowes have 7.2 cu ft chest freezers for around $200. There was also a 5 cu ft chest freezer for $168, which looks big enough hold one carboy at a time.

I figure I'm going with the 5 cu ft for $$ sake right now, but if I upgrade later, I'll use this as my lagering fridge. Looks big enough to hold 2 cornies ( or hummers as they are called now ).

[BeerPal]

Freezers are preferable to fridges and chests are preferable to uprights.

[atomicpunk]

From the posts I have read so far it seems a chest is better for dispensing and not fermentation.
It can be hazardous to both brewer and beer to get carboys in and out of a chest.

I plan on adding a chest some day for dispensing but right now I want to focus on fermentation.

Still go with chests???

[BeerPal]

From the posts I have read so far it seems a chest is better for dispensing and not fermentation.
It can be hazardous to both brewer and beer to get carboys in and out of a chest.

I plan on adding a chest some day for dispensing but right now I want to focus on fermentation.

Still go with chests???

Chests are better in virtually every respect for dispensing and fermentation and can be used for both simultaneously (as can uprights, to be honest.) And while loading a carboy in or out of a chest freezer does present its risks and difficulties, there are cheap, simple ways to mitigate those. I would never pass on a chest freezer for fear of moving carboys in or out of it. Unless you are disabled, feeble or just a pussy, it ain't too hard to do.

[atomicpunk]

[/quote]
Chests are better in virtually every respect for dispensing and fermentation and can be used for both simultaneously (as can uprights, to be honest.) And while loading a carboy in or out of a chest freezer does present its risks and difficulties, there are cheap, simple ways to mitigate those. I would never pass on a chest freezer for fear of moving carboys in or out of it. Unless you are disabled, feeble or just a pussy, it ain't too hard to do. [/quote]

What makes them better other than being able to get down to freezing temps?

How do either function simultaneously for dispensing and fermenting?????

Disabled - No
Feeble - not so much
Pussy - sometimes!

Just getting up there in age so want to watch my back.

[BeerPal]

A chest freezer does not spill cold air when it is opened the way an upright does. In addition, the use of space is much more efficient. For example, how many carboys and/or kegs can you fit in a 17 c.f. upright? I can easily fit 10 kegs or 2 carboys and 6 kegs in my 17 c.f. chest freezer.

Here is how I can ferment and dispense from a single freezer:

[Phil]

I am going with an upright (for fermentation only) for the sole reason of space. the footprint is much smaller than an equal capacity chest freezer.