Hi LoneJack........I do have a second small freezer that is empty right now, but it sure wouldn't hold a lot of the stuff in the bigger freezer. I will use it as my tomatoes ripen. If I got a back-up bigger freezer, there wouldn't be any reasonable place for it...except right next to the present freezer....which wouldn't be a great place for it. Our house isn't that big and we don't have a garage either. :( I'm encouraged by your 38 year old freezer! I'm hoping my Wood's one will last that long (although I might not....haha I'm 75 and 1/2.) It would be nice if there were something I could put into the freezer (like a wire-type temp sensor that hung out of the freezer), that would still alert me since my low-temp alarm is kaput. I guess I should just stand outside my freezer a lot and constantly give it encouragement. :)

Like Jack, I have a really old freezer, a Frigidaire chest freezer that was my Dad's. He died in 2008 and had the freezer for at least 15 years before that, so over 30 years and it still works great, although it's going to need a new gasket/seal eventually. Even more impressive, my daughter has a Kenmore upright that I got when I got married the first time, in 1974! It still works well too, but isn't very energy efficient, LOL.

However, since I raise beef and chickens for the freezer, have a big garden AND my husband hunts we also have two other smaller chest freezers and one other upright. Three of the four are currently in use and pretty much full.

I think I'd be just looking around so IF you do need a freezer in a hurry you will know just what you want, where to get it and approximately how much it will cost.

Yes, I'm one of those people who like to always have a plan in case something happens.

Annie

I put a few beers in my upright to get them to the optimum coldness just before turning to slush almost every day so I open the door often (it also causes me to have to defrost it 4 or 5 times a year). Not much chance of it quiting without me knowing about it.

We'd been married what seemed like all of 5 minutes when my mother in law gave us half a beef. I was a city girl, used to shopping at the grocery store - and what's more she expected me to make an appointment at the butcher and wrap while he cut. I was terrified, and talked a more experienced friend into going with me, help me.

What's more on top of that, we had no freezer. We'd barely been able to buy a repossessed, reconditioned washer and dryer, TG we had basement access to our apartment.

I bought a 25 cu ft manual defrost Kelvinator upright on monthly payments. We were still using it 40 years later.

When we bought this house we had more convenient space in our mudroom where a 40 yr old freezer would have looked like a 40 yr old freezer. I left the old in the house we sold and downsized to 18 cu ft. I've been sorry every day since. It's not big enough, and I have a small refrigerator with freezer compartment in the garage, a large freezer space in the french door refrigerator in my kitchen. We don't stock up on beef or pork like we used to and its still not quite big enough,

There is not a whole lot that can go wrong with a manual defrost freezer - which I still have only now I have one I wish was a little more spacious.

You could get a remote thermometer, like this: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acurite-digital-fridge-and-freezer-thermometer-with-wireless-sensors-white/6561380.p?skuId=6561380&gQT=1