Do you prefer a fridge with the freezer on the bottom or top?

I have no preference. My mother feels very strongly that the fridge should be on top (Freezer on bottom). It’s the section most often accessed, so it should be at a level that doesn’t require bending and stooping to get into.

I go with the less expensive option, I don’t care which is on top.
I am about your height, so that’s coming from someone who faces similar tallness challenges. :-)

Bottom because in the lowest drawer of four is where we stock the chocolate ice cream lollies & if i’m going to have a guilty pleasure then I should work (bend) for it.

It’s been top for most of my life, but I believe I’m indifferent.

I think generally the ones I’ve seen on the bottom are larger than top ones, but I’ve always had a top freezer, so I will have to say Top.

I go into the freezer less, so I would prefer bottom.

I prefer freezer on the top. Not actually because I prefer it at the top, but because freezers on the bottom tend to be drawers. I think it’s harder to see things in a drawer because things are stacked on top of each other.

I’ve just been doing a quick survey, I think the top-freezer models tend to be less expensive for the same cubic footage.
Purely a non-scientific, half-assed survey.

I have had three major appliances go down in the las six months, I am being very price conscious these days. :-)

I wonder if one or the other is more efficient regarding electrical usage.

I’ll be looking into it. There’s no rush on the purchase.

I’ve had both. Now that I’m beyond menopause, I don’t need it at the top and prefer it at the bottom.

Freezer on bottom. You want your frequently used items on top.

You know most major retailers have scratch and dents at rock bottom prices if you ask. Some are super nice for a couple hundred bucks.

The one we have now is to the side but I like the freezer on top.

Just stayed in a hotel that had a fancy refrigerator model with two freezer drawers on the bottom and French doors for the refrigerator part, on the top. It was kind of a narrow refrigerator but 18 cubic feet. I liked it and googled it just out of curiosity. It’s about 1500.

Mine at home is a traditional freezer on top, refrigerator on the bottom. It makes sense to have the freezer on the bottom. Like some have said here, makes sense to not have to bend down to access things in the most used part, the refrigerator.

Having the refrigerator on top put everything at eye level.

Stuff in my traditional refrigerator seems to get buried in the back and the freezer can be like an avalanche of shit falling out when I’m trying to get to something.

I remember as a kid, my grandmother had no freezer in her refrigerator, but she did have a seperate freezer that was as big!!! So as long as I have a freezer I’m content.

Top freezer because heat rises and cold falls. Plus, bottom freezers are a drawer which I find impossible to organize compared to the two shelves in a top freezer.

Top. I eat a lot of frozen goods and find myself needing to shuffle around the freezer to fit in more bags of chicken strips chicken strips and texas toast texas toast.

Can’t be bothered to bend over to rearrange the goods.

@chyna, you win the thread!!! :-D

i prefer it on the bottom. We don’t go into the freezer as often and the refrigerator section so it is ok for it to be out of the way.

For any design, to reduce energy consumption, be sure to fill the empty space with something that will retain “cold.” Items like water bottles or freezer packs are excellent choices. Filling the space offers two advantages: When you open the door you will lose less cold air, and you have a bigger thermal reservoir to keep food cold when you lose power.
A flat of 24 water bottles only costs about $3.00 and will last forever in the freezer.
They can also be your source of drinking water during the next storm. Be prepared.

Top. It hurts my back to bend over.

Top freezer is significantly less expensive and I like them just fine, but in terms of home fashion, the freezer on the bottom is more on trend. Do you want water in the door? That’s harder to find in freezer on top models.

If you don’t use your freezer a lot, it’s nice to have all the fridge stuff at arm height; much less bending. Although, if all the drawers and shelves are adjustable, you can make it so your most used items are near the top in the fridge down models.

Also freezer down means the freezer is a drawer and the items sometimes wind up stacked on top of each other. The more expensive models have a drawer inside the drawer or two separate freezer drawers.

I am also a cheap bastard like luckguy and fill up spare space in my fridge with water-bottles. One thing that fishtanking has taught me is that water is a good store of heat or cool. Even though my room can have wild temperature fluctuations during the day the fishtank keeps a pretty steady temperature.

I also put waterbottles into the tank in my toilet to make it low-flow.

Someone mentioned the tumble of packaging in the freezer.
Buying frozen foods in bags is a less expensive packaging option, but does not have to be the storage option.
I have a plastic container which is just the right width for the length of fish sticks, and the length of it goes perfectly from front to back of my freezer. Not only does it prevents further breakage of the food item, it makes a good flat surface for stacking other items. Other sizes serve well for other needs.
It makes things much simpler to retrieve, for me, without all the tumbling, sliding bags.
Although I prefer freezer bottom, I rent, so I am stuck with what comes with the home.
One of my mobility limitations is that reaching up is shaky at best. Nothing kills an appetite like waiting hours to effectively reach up and grasp, and then having a package of frozen meat slide out and bounce off my head.
Think about the rest of your home, especially closet and cabinet space. Which works best and worst for you?
Is it more of a problem reaching the back of a shelf above your head, or knee high, because the front access doesn’t matter with long term storage, like a freezer, what matters is how tough will it be to reach the back when you must.

@LuckyGuy To your point, a refrigerator repairman once told me not to over fill the freezer because it cuts down on efficiency.

I find it my top of the fridge freezer gets stuffed and it is very hard to organize and find things. Was thinking a bottom might be easier.

Freezer full, refrigerator empty was how I heard it. The more you have in your freezer the easier it is to keep cold. The fewer things you have in your fridge the easier to keep them cold.

@janbb: What I liked about the refrigerator in the hotel with the two bottom drawers was that everything in the drawers was easy to see, because they came all the way out and you could see right down into each one. The traditional freezer with the door at eye level, the stuff in the back is very hard to see unless you shuffle stuff around, (and risk the avalanche). Also, with the traditional freezer, it’s like a dark cave whereas with the drawers, the light from the room illuminates what’s in them. My next refrigerator will be the two bottom freezer door model.

I prefer the freezer to be on top. I hate side by side refrigerators. I had a bottom freezer one many years ago, during the college years actually. It was huge and I hated bending down to get stuff out of it. It didn’t have shelves, just one big area. It held a lot but if it had a lot in it you couldn’t find anything. So, that’s that.