I'm about to purchase a chest freezer and wondering is it more economical to keep it indoors or outdoors? I've got limited space inside and it would fit nicely on the back terrace where it would be in the shade for most of the day. 

If the freezer is inside, then it will generate heat into the house that needs to be cancelled by running the aircon, so I'm not sure which one is a better option. On the other hand, I only run the AC for a few hours per day in the room where I'd place the freezer. 

What's the temperature difference indoors vs outdoors? could even try it for a month and see

Tricky......personally, I would plump for sticking it inside.....let's see how the vote goes. 

Outside would collect dust and insects around the compressor area, not a good idea.

We have the freezer outside exactly because of the heat issues. We already have two fridge freezers so the main storage is not in the house & it’s close to SWMBOs kitchen.

Modern freezers has so good insulation that it doesn't matter much if keeping it inside. Doesn't have the outside condenser either anymore that could collect dust. They are not using much power/generating heat if kept closed. When opening door, exchanging air inside they need to run. A chest freezer will not exchange much air with a top lid so warms room less than a normal fridge/freezer.

 

Live S of Hua Hin, so no brainer for us, since AC on 24/7, almost.  Anything better than outside in 30-40C heat.  Maybe if live in N or NE, where you actually have a cool season.

My chest freezer is outside under cover by the kitchen door. I don't want it blowing hot air into the kitchen. We run it from solar PV but it is switched off at night so it doesn't drain the batteries.

 

 

If you live in the south within 40-50km of the Andaman Sea or the Gulf of Thailand, you might want to avoid putting it outside.  The salt in the air can cause corrosion on the compressor and other hardware.

 

A good chest freezer uses very little energy once it's fully frozen and I doubt where you place it will make much of a difference.  In fact, you can keep a well insulated fully packed chest freezer frozen for a couple of days without power.  (The fuller the freezer, the longer it'll stay frozen.)

 

If you want to compare the energy consumption of indoors vs out, you can buy a cheap plug in energy meter to monitor the energy consumption for a couple of weeks each way.  If the difference is negligible, then keeping outside shouldn't be much of an issue.  You can get a second (wired in) meter to monitor the AC unit's energy consumption and factor that into your calculations too.

 

I'd suggest starting the metering after the freezer is fully frozen (in each location) to get an accurate measure of the true ongoing operating cost.