Why is there a light in the refrigerator but not in the freezer?

My kitchen freezer has a light, which is a few years old.
Although I have an older one in my basement which does not have a light.

Kind of weird. I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it before.

my freezer doesnt have light either, its rather annoying having to open the fridge to get some light for the freezer.

Maybe because a freezer is usually way smaller and a light would take away much needed frozen pizza space.

Probably, the light (led or bulb) dissipates heat and hence maintaining the temperature in the freezer could be a tough task.

@xmen24 i really dont see a little tiny light bulb putting off that much heat especially when its only on when the door is open.

I think its a feature that you get a certain price point, kind of like optional accessories you get when you buy car (i.e. Cd- Changer, GPS Navigation, Leather Seats, etc). I have two refrigerators, a high-end stainless steel side by side and it has a light in the freezer. And a basic top bottom model, no light in the freezer. The less expensive model does not have as nearly as many features as the fancy refrigerator. The same theory can be applied to other appliances, like stoves, dishwashers, microwave ovens, etc.

Good Luck!
R

My freezer has a light – probably because it is a newer model. I suspect that older models didn’t have a light because most freezers were located at the top of the fridge – and therefore it was assumed that there would be enough natural light there. So manufacturers never thought there was a need to put in freezer lights – until now.

I’ve been doing some research, and there are three main reasons:

1. Because the temperature in a freezer is much lower than of a refrigerator, a much more expensive shatterproof bulb would have to be used. In fact, if you put a common household bulb in the fridge, it will be fine. But put it in the freezer, and it should crack after a few hours (or days, depending on the temperature you freezer operates at).

2. Because there is less demand for illuminated freezers and yet midnight snacking almost exclusively demands a refrigerator lamp, lamps are often only fitted on the higher end models.

3. Standing freezers often use closed-off pull out drawers. In order to effectively illuminate the entire fridge, a lamp would be required behind each shelf. Each of these would need to be shatterproof… you get the idea.

Hope this helps.

I originally posted this at: http://www.fluther.com/disc/12802

Update: To give you an idea, fitting shatterproof bulbs could potentially increase the overall price of a fridge/freezer by £30/£40 (around $70). When trying to competitively price a product, it doesn’t make sense if it’s not particularly necessary.