Light in the fridge, but not the freezer

[Claire]

I'm just curious: who decided that refrigerators need lights, but freezers don't? I live in a very old house, and my fridge/freezer is in a weird spot. I've had overhead lighting added to make it easier, but really wish there was a light in the freezer portion. Why are there no lights in freezers? And don't tell me it is the temperatures, for a portion of the year it is colder outside than in my freezer, and my porch and street lights (I own the street light) work quite fine.

 

[marmalady]

Is your fridge an older model?

 

[thumpershere2]

My fridge is a year old and has no light, would be nice at times.

 

[GB]

The light in out upstairs fridge has not worked in years. I have gotten so used to it. I forget that fridges have light when I go to use someone elses

My moms freezer does have a light. I agree Roy, they all should have it. Why one and not the other?

 

[AllenOK]

My fridge in the kitchen has a light in the fridge, but nothing in the freezer. It's an over-under type, with the freezer over the fridge. The fridge downstairs in the basement, a side-by-side, has lights in both doors.

I do think it's a temperature thing. Restaurants have huge walk-in freezers, the size of most people's bathrooms, if not bigger. Those always have a few light fixtures in them. They need special bulbs. If a restaurant owner tries to go cheap and buy normal household incandescent bulbs, they'll burn out in a month or less. I think it has to do with the greater range of temperatures affecting that thin filament. Bulbs made to go into a freezer can withstand the temperature variations better, so the filament doesn't break.

 

[BigDog]

My fridge in the kitchen has a light in the fridge, but nothing in the freezer. It's an over-under type, with the freezer over the fridge. The fridge downstairs in the basement, a side-by-side, has lights in both doors.

I do think it's a temperature thing. Restaurants have huge walk-in freezers, the size of most people's bathrooms, if not bigger. Those always have a few light fixtures in them. They need special bulbs. If a restaurant owner tries to go cheap and buy normal household incandescent bulbs, they'll burn out in a month or less. I think it has to do with the greater range of temperatures affecting that thin filament. Bulbs made to go into a freezer can withstand the temperature variations better, so the filament doesn't break.

Abd of course, those filaments for the bulbs likely cost more.

Try this one. At least in the standard ice box, the fridge part is far larger, and normally the controls for tepmerature "block" the bulb from possible damage. In the smaller freezer, there's nothing to protect the bulb from mistakenly being smashed while stocking the freezer. Before we bought a chest freezer, our ice box freezer got pretty dang full.

The chest freezer doesn't have a bulb either, but being top open, and having a strong florescent light above allows for easy visibility.

 

[Andy M.]

Something to put on your list of requirements for the next new fridge. They are availale on some models.

 

[Gretchen]

My freezer has a light. Have you checked to see if yours does.

 

[purrfectlydevine]

The fridge I have now is the first one I've had that has a light in the freezer. It is a bottom freezer model.

 

[BigDog]

Sorry this is off topic, but every time I read the title to this topic I laugh. Why? Because it makes me think of the Muppet Christmas Carol. Gonzo (Charles Dickens) and Rizzo the Rat provide the narritive (well, more Gonzo than Rizzo. Rizzo color commentates). At the part where the lamplighters are lighting the lamps for the evening, Gonzo is on a ladder doing the same. Rizzo's tail gets caught in the flame, and he starts screaming "Light the lamp, not the rat! Light the lamp, not the rat!"

ROTFL!

Sorry. My all time favorite Christmas movie, and this topic title quickly brings it to mind!

 

[Corey123]

Unless you decide to buy a high-end model or one slightly lower than that one in price, but still a bit pricy, it is the ONLY way that you'd get a fridge that also has a lighted freezer compartment.

A few mid-priced models may also have them, but that's it. Low-end units just don't feature it in the freezer compartment. They never did. It would be nice if they did, but they don't.

As you can see, this truly jacks up the cost of buying a fridge that has this
luxurious feature, and it is usually found only in like 17 to 23 cubic foot models and larger.

Whole freezers in both upright and chest models also have this feature, but only in the more pricy larger models as well. Again, the low-end models don't feature it.

I hope this helps.


~Corey123.

 

[Claire]

Maybe what I need is a good rat! Yes, the fridge is an over/under affair. Now that I think of it, when I had a brand new side-by-side, I think the freezer was lit. However, I now live in a 150 year old house, and the fridge has probably been there forever. It is in such an odd spot that it isn't going to be replaced until it dies -- it just fits. As I said, I did have extra lighting put in, but still find myself squinting to figure out what in the heck is in there. I'm not kidding, though, when it is colder outside than in my freezer my porch lights don't wear out any faster than they do in summer.

 

[Corey123]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that all side-by-sides DO have lighted fridge & freezer compartments.

That IS true.

 

[LaineyLoo]

I always assumed that freezers (that is the ones which have the fridge part on top and the freezer part under) didn't have lights because generally those types of freezers have drawers to pull out, so you can see whats in them easily enough, whereas the fridge section is recessed, you can't really pull the shelves out so you need the light to see whats in there.

 

[Corey123]

Nope, the "freezer-on-the-bottom" units that you're refering to, also have a light in the freezer compartment. How do I know? My sister-in-law who was married to my brother who died has one. It's an Amana unit.

Also, I'm about to buy a fridge myself. A small budget-priced apartment-size two-door 10.3 or a 12.0 cubic foot frost-free, and there's no light in the freezer compartment on either one of those models.

The one that's in the apartment now, is on its way out. The food, especially the produce, keeps on freezing up solid!. And the control is set to the warmest setting. And the tracks for the produce crisper are broken also.

But for those of you who have a unit with no light in the freezer, there IS a way to get around that. You can buy one of those battery-operated lights, you know, the one that's round in shape and you press on the white-colored lense to turn it on and off?

It sticks onto walls low ceilings or anywhere that you think you might need a light in dark places. Not sure about it sticking onto cold surfaces though.
But it should work in the freezer for you.


~Corey123.

 

[advoca]

I'm just curious: who decided that refrigerators need lights, but freezers don't?

Very good point. However, just a thought: I don't think it is because lights will not work in a freezer. I think it is because the lights create heat when they are on, and this causes problems. First it reduces the temperature of the cabinet, and second it creates condensation and frost problems. (Maybe I am wrong?)

The effect of a light inside a refridgerator (not quote so cold) is not significant, I suspect.

The makers of freezers must be aware of the need for lights, I am sure, but perhaps they have not been able to solve the problems of putting them inside a domesticfreezer yet. I would think that they need to find a source of illumination that does not generate much (preferably no) heat. However, I would have thought that they could use a fluorecent type of illumination?

Incidentally. my low-level freezer has no spare space for any form of illumination because it uses baskets, though my large upright freezer could do with a light for the open shelves.

Commercial large, walk-in, freezers have lights but the ratio of space to heat-generated light is quite different.

 

[Andy M.]

Many residential refrigerators have lights in their freezers. There is no real danger of generating too much heat or a lack of space. It was, no doubt, just a matter of cost savings. As the years passed, more extras are being offered, including freezer lights.

 

[Corey123]

I'll probably never know what it's like to have a fridge that features a light in the freezer compartment unless I'm in my own house.


~Corey123.

 

[auntdot]

We have a small GE, over and under, with the freezer being under and there is a light in the freezer compartment.

 

[Claire]

Hmmmm. I wonder if fluorescent instead of incandescent would solve the heat problem?