What is a Bottom Freezer Refrigerator?

A bottom freezer refrigerator puts the fresh food you need to access most often right where you need it -- at eye level. The less frequently accessed freezer section is moved to the bottom of the unit. The decision to purchase a bottom freezer refrigerator really depends on how important it is to you to have fresh food in a more accessible, easily viewable area.

There are three general types of bottom freezer refrigerators: the swing door, the freezer drawer and the French door model. The swing door is the original bottom freezer model. It works just like a regular refrigerator door and swings open either on the right or the left. This type of bottom freezer refrigerator is probably the most difficult to access because you have to bend over to dig through the freezer. Although this can be a hassle, drawers and wire bins available in these models make it easier to organize your frozen food.

The second type of bottom freezer refrigerator has gained in popularity due to its easier accessibility. Just when you thought you couldn't do another knee bend to get into your swing door bottom freezer, some smart designer came up with this clever idea. The entire freezer unit slides out, pulling all your frozen food into easily accessible view. The third type of bottom freezer refrigerator marries the slide out freezer drawer with a French-door refrigerator on top. You can open one or both French doors to access the top part of the refrigerator, making it one of the most easily accessible refrigerators on the market.

The obvious benefit of the bottom freezer refrigerator is the easy accessibility of fresh food, but this can also be its downfall. For some, accessing frozen food is just as important, and they'd prefer it to be on the side or on top. Bottom freezer refrigerators can be more expensive than top freezer models, and typically have less capacity than a top freezer refrigerator, but more than a side-by-side. Widths range from 30 to 36 feet (about 9-11 meters) and capacities go up to 25 cubic feet (7.6 cubic meters). Prices range from 600 to 1,200 US dollars (USD), while French door models are a little pricier at 1,500 to 2,000 USD.