Freezer on the Bottom Refrigerators

[wjmst]

I am in the market for a new and bigger refrigerator. I am looking for at least a 20 cu footer and am considering the freezer on the bottom. It just makes sense to me. I am mostly getting stuff in and out of the refrigerator and only once a day or so in the freezer. So bending down to look in the freeze doesn't seem too bad to me.

Any thoughts or experience with the Freezer on the bottom refrigerators?

Thanks
Wes

 

[oldnslo]

We have had a bottom freezer for several years now and like not having to bend over every time you put something in the fridge. Only problem I could see is younger shorter children may have difficulty accessing stuff in the fridge.

 

[gsganzer]

I've owned 2 and I think it's the way to go. They're typically slightly more energy efficient too.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

We have a side-by-side, and we don't like it. The shelves are too narrow and too deep, and it seems to make both sides inconvenient. We have already decided that the next frige...and we're about there...will have a freezer on the bottom. We have a stand alone freezer in the garage, and it's full most of the time. It's great when fresh corn and Hatch peppers come in season, along with bargains at the meat counter. It's always nearly full.

 

[KennyG]

Yes, bottom freezers are good. Best arranged refrigerator we had was a counter depth bottom freezer with double (french) doors on refrigerator. For the capacity, it was wider and shallower than normal which makes getting items out much easier.

 

[dave1949]

We've had an Amana freezer under frig for over eight years. We like the layout. IMO it's a lot better than a side-by-side.

The freezer has two drawer racks/baskets. The lower rack slides out when the door is pulled out to open. The upper rack is on rollers. Easy to get at both upper and lower racks.

 

[TnAndy]

We bought a GE Profile several years back. Double top doors (not really necessary), and pull out lower freezer door. We like it.

One thing to watch for....some of the pull out bottom freezer drawers are not 'solid' drawers.....that is, they are a mesh type thing. If you were digging around in the drawer for something, you'd probably get ice/frost crystals drop thru the mesh on onto the floor below, causing a wet spot, or floor to wipe up every time....so you might want to avoid that type.

 

[devildog1]

To me it's a no brainier, most of the time your into the refrigerator part looking for something to eat or drink. You only usually go into the freezer one half of the time so why not have the items at eye level instead of bending down? I have a new side by side with freezer on the bottom, my last was refrigerator had freezer on bottom too, reason I bought the new one was cold water from the inside and auto ice maker which I know wouldn't do without.
DevilDog

 

[vtsnowedin]

I'm tall the wife is medium to short. She likes the freezer on the top, I like it on the bottom. Our freezer is on the top.

 

[jix]

We like the bottom freezer..mostly because it holds more than a top freezer.. and it is handier to get at.. and it is auto defrost. We also have a big upright freezer in the pantry which is not auto defrost. Auto defrost freezers cause more freezer burn of food.. and use more electricity. We like fresh frozen blue berries on our breakfast cereal and the bottom freezer is where we keep them-- and ice cubes for scotch. Its just handy.

 

[Ed of all trades]

My wife is short, I am tall, we both love our freezer on the bottom.

 

[jix]

my wife seems to like her bottom on the freezer

 

[dave1949]

I'm tall the wife is medium to short. She likes the freezer on the top, I like it on the bottom. Our freezer is on the top.

Another item for the pre-nup. :laughing:

 

[mddorange]

I've owned 2 and I think it's the way to go. They're typically slightly more energy efficient too.

Yes, they are more energy efficient because they have 2 separate controllers, one for the refrigerator and one for the freezer. Most refrigerators only have controller one and that is why it runs more to cool and to keep the frost/ice out of the freezer.

 

[mddorange]

my wife seems to like her bottom on the freezer

Sounds like a personal problem to me....:laughing:

 

[s219]

If you want an ice/water dispenser, choose carefully. That seems to be a sticking point for many of the french door fridges with freezer on bottom.

I do like that configuration, but have noticed some brands have an awful small freezer drawer relative to the size of the front panel. A little misleading.

Right now we have a side by side, which is decent, but it seems very cramped and feel like I am always rearranging stuff. My wife isn't the most rigorous about organization though, so we may be fighting for each other. There always seems to be an awful lot of small stuff stacked up in the tall shelves where we store drink bottles.

 

[Tollster]

They're typically slightly more energy efficient too.

^^^ What he said

 

[Johnny g]

my wife seems to like her bottom on the freezer

My wife likes to keep her bottom away from the freezer and closer to the wood stove.

 

[Pilot]

We have a Samsung, double doors on top and freezer on the bottom. We like the arrangement but when the icemaker fills up the tray and you pull out the drawer, ice cubes often come out and scoot across the floor.

When we shopped for ours we were told to expect about 8 years life out of the modern refers. We were replacing one that lasted about 5 years, which replaced one that lasted about 25 bought in '78. The 25 year old model had a repairable problem but consumer "experts" said energy savings in a new one would pay for the new model. They didn't say they wouldn't last.

So if you have an old model that is working, keep it!

 

[KubotainNH]

I've wondered about these for when my side by side dies. The freezer side isn't wide enough for a big pizza is my main complaint on ours, that and the plastics are breaking. We gotta have the water dispenser/ice crusher though. That made me look to see how these bottom freezers dispense ice. Do they use the fridge cooling vent to freeze the ice before chilling the fridge? This model looks pretty neat, I like the 2nd drawer.

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