# how to figure cubic feet in a freezer?



## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

Hi I'm thinking about buying an upright freezer. I'd really like a chest freezer, so not sure if I'll buy it or not. If it has a goodly amount of space, I might though.. . . . . 

it is 57 in high, 24 in deep and 27 in wide. This is probably the outer measurements, but anyway, how do I figure cubic feet for this thing?
thanks


----------



## Parttimefarmer (May 5, 2011)

sherry in Maine said:


> Hi I'm thinking about buying an upright freezer. I'd really like a chest freezer, so not sure if I'll buy it or not. If it has a goodly amount of space, I might though.. . . . .
> 
> it is 57 in high, 24 in deep and 27 in wide. This is probably the outer measurements, but anyway, how do I figure cubic feet for this thing?
> thanks


It's only 24 deep? That's counter depth. I have never seen a counter depth upright freezer. 27 seems too small as well.

I would guess it's inside measurements. So, then 57x24x27 divided by 144=cf


----------



## giraffe_baby (Oct 15, 2005)

To convert inch to cubic inch you must find three inch values. 
Three inch values:
Inches wide
Inches high
Inches long (depth)


If you multiply all of these values together (Wide X High X Long) you will receive the cubic inches. 

The reason you need all three values is because cubic inches is a measure of volume.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/To_convert_inch_to_cubic_inch#ixzz1XUzR3aOB AND to convert to feet then you divide by 144


----------



## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

obviously, I'm a complete idiot, because I multiplied and then divided by 12 . . . . . .thanks for correcting me!


----------



## DanielY (Aug 25, 2011)

Say what??? What is the need for three inch increments. The formula for volume is
LXHXW=V cubed.
L=length
H= height
W= width
V= volume
In this case it is 57 X 24 X 27 = 36,936 cubic inches.
We now need to convert to cubic feet. So how many cubic inches in a cubic foot
12 X 12 X 12 = 1728 cu, inches to the cu. foot, Not 144, common mistake (there are 144 square inches to a square foot)

Divide 36,935 by 1728 gives you the total cubic feet or 21.375.
In roudn numbers it is a 21 cubic foot freezer.


giraffe_baby said:


> To convert inch to cubic inch you must find three inch values.
> Three inch values:
> Inches wide
> Inches high
> ...


----------



## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

thanks Daniel, I'd figured it was 21 something.


----------



## lmnde (Sep 25, 2006)

So complicated ;o). It's roughly 4x4 square by roughly 5' tall = 20 cubic feet give or take a bit, depending on the actual inside measurements...


----------



## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

OK, not to hijack Sherry's thread but my question is how much meat can fit in a certain amount of cubic space when talking about a freezer? Were wanting to add a new freezer for our dog food(we feed raw to the dogs) but don't know what size to get & I must be an idiot because cubic feet doesn't tell me how many pounds of meat will fit in the freezer.


----------



## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

I know exactly what you mean backfourty . . . that's why am looking for a chest freezer. The stand up one has shelves, and if everything is flat/frozen, then not a problem. . . where I buy my 'dog' meat, it's in sort of square/rectangular lumps. I could empty one of my chest freezers and put 'human' food in the stand up, but I buy half cow/pig each year and dont know if it would freeze good or not. . . . . .

Yes, I'd like to know how many lbs that stand up would hold, too!!


----------



## lmnde (Sep 25, 2006)

If you are going for a freezer for the dogs, I strongly recommend a chest freezer - it seems to fill up better with less gaps, regardless if you buy the 40# boxes or have your own individual packed cuts and bones.

If you buy the boxes, measure them first before chosing a freezer so they can be stacked efficiently. Not all 40# box measures are the same size either - some are taller and narrower, others flatter and wider - all depending on from whom you buy I guess.

If you pack your own meat [either raise it, buy it or hunt it yourself], it still packs more efficiently due to allowance for unregular sizes and bones. A chest freezer makes it harder to find specific stuff, but also easier to get said stuff out, LOL.

While I don't have a magic formula for this question, I have rawfed in the past myself and have the freezers [2 chest, 1 upright + 2 top compartments in fridges] to proof it, LOL. My small chest freezer about 10-12 cf easily holds 2 normal size dismembered deer if not more. If I put 40# boxes in it, it can only accomodate 2 with a lot of wasted space because it is narrow, if I repack the box into smaller bags, it can probably hold well over 4 if not 5, because I can pack it tightly with no gaps in between, so my guess is about 200#.

My big chest freezer is easily twice that size [24 or 26 cf] and easily accomodates the 40# boxes in their entirety, which makes for less work for me as I used to feed one out in 2 days. It would hold 5 whole boxes if I remember correctly = again with wasted space. If I'd bother to unpack/repack them, I could have probably gotten the meat of 7 or 8 in there, possibly more [it's been a while]. So guestimating roughly 350-400#.

Also guestimating - when I was a kid we used to get half pigs [big ones though - probably 400+# life weight] and my moms chest freezer was size wise in between my two - and that half [big] pig fit in there just fine. You might want to ask this Q in the pig or cow forum where there are some folks that butcher their own, they can give you a fairer estimate for how much pig needs how big a freezer etc...


----------

