Bottom Freezer Refrigerator: The Buying Guide for Israel

A bottom freezer refrigerator is a 2-door fridge with the fridge compartment on top, at eye level, and the freezer below in drawers; it suits anyone who opens the fridge much more often than the freezer, i.e. most families.

The logic: you open the fridge dozens of times a day, and the freezer a few times. In a bottom freezer, the shelves you use most are at hand and eye level, and you do not need to bend to find the milk or vegetables. You save the bending for the freezer.

What a typical bottom freezer has:

• Fridge compartment: one wide door, ⁦3–4⁩ shelves, vegetable drawers and door shelves.
• Freezer: ⁦2–3⁩ pull-out drawers, with a capacity of about ⁦110–175⁩ liters.
• No Frost: on all the models we chose, per the product pages.

Three types stores call bottom freezer:

• 2-door, ⁦60 cm⁩: the small, common one. About ⁦320–350⁩ liters.
• 2-door, ⁦70 cm⁩: about ⁦450–550⁩ liters. Enough for most families.
• 4-door, ⁦80–⁦90 cm⁩⁩: two fridge doors and two freezer drawers or doors. This is a 4-door fridge, with a separate guide.

There is also a 3-door bottom freezer, for example the Haier HTW7720DNG: one fridge door and two freezer doors at ⁦70 cm⁩ wide. We covered it in our 2-door refrigerator guide.

Who it suits less: anyone who freezes a lot and opens the freezer dozens of times a day, for example a family keeping many frozen products for daily cooking, or anyone whose niche height is limited to ⁦170 cm⁩. In these cases a top freezer or separate freezer may suit better.

And older people? With a bottom freezer you bend for the freezer, and with a top freezer for the vegetable drawers. Usually a bottom freezer is more convenient because you open the fridge more. If you have back problems, check in the store the height of the freezer's top drawer, because that is where most use happens.

At the same capacity, a top freezer is about ₪⁦1,000–2,000⁩ cheaper and lower, and a bottom freezer is more convenient in daily use; if the budget allows, most families will benefit from a bottom freezer.

Store price comparison:

• 333-liter top freezer: Haier HRF2390SS and Haier HNF395SS, about ₪⁦1,470–2,390⁩ per the model pages on Zap.
• 347-liter bottom freezer: Electra EL47GW, about ₪⁦2,290–2,890.⁩
• 438-liter top freezer: LG GR-B486IVSU, about ₪⁦2,700–3,100⁩ per our Samsung vs LG refrigerator guide.
• 451-liter bottom freezer: LG GRB479BF, from about ₪3,150.

Top freezer advantages:

• Cheaper per liter.
• Lower: the Haier HNF395SS is ⁦170 cm⁩, vs ⁦185–193.5⁩ for a bottom freezer.
• Freezer at eye level, for anyone who uses it a lot.

Bottom freezer advantages:

• The fridge, which is opened most, is at eye level.
• Pull-out freezer drawers, instead of shelves you have to dig through.
• One wide fridge door, convenient for large trays.
• On many models, Shabbat mode and inverter are more common.

When to choose a top freezer anyway: when the budget is tight, when height is limited, when it is a second fridge on the service balcony, or when you need a lot of capacity cheaply. A ⁦500–530⁩ liter top-freezer fridge costs about ₪⁦2,500–3,400⁩ per store prices, and a bottom freezer of the same capacity will cost more.

When a bottom freezer: when it is the family's main fridge, when the kitchen allows a height of ⁦185 cm⁩ or more, and when you want a certified Shabbat mode in a ⁦60–⁦70 cm⁩⁩ wide fridge.

A question of habits: before deciding, think about a regular week. If most of your shopping is fresh, vegetables, dairy and leftovers, you mainly open the fridge compartment, and a bottom freezer will save you bending. If you mainly buy frozen products, cook ahead for weeks and pull from the freezer several times a day, an eye-level top freezer will be more convenient. And if the family buys lots of both frozen and fresh, consider a wide ⁦70 cm⁩ bottom freezer, or a fridge with a separate 6-drawer freezer on the service balcony.

At ⁦60 cm⁩ wide you get about ⁦320–350⁩ liters, enough for a couple or a family of 3; at ⁦70 cm⁩ wide you get about ⁦450–550⁩ liters, enough for a family of ⁦4–5.⁩

Dimensions from product pages:

• Electra EL47GW: 60 × 193.5 × ⁦70 cm⁩, 347 liters net.
• Samsung RB35C6225: 59.5 × 185 × ⁦65.8 cm⁩, 344 liters (230 fridge / 114 freezer).
• LG GRB479BF: 70 × 185 × ⁦69 cm⁩, ⁦59 cm⁩ without doors, 451 liters net (329 / 122).
• Bosch KGN36IJEB: ⁦60 cm⁩ per one offer, 323 liters.
• Blomberg KND3954XP: 554 liters (394 / 160); dimensions do not appear on the model page.

How many liters for how many people: the common rule is about 100 liters per person plus about 100 liters base. Couple: ⁦300–350.⁩ Family of 4: ⁦450–500.⁩ Family of ⁦5–6⁩: 550 and up, and at that point it is worth considering a 4-door fridge. A family that cooks for Shabbat for several days needs more.

Depth: a ⁦60 cm⁩ bottom freezer is about ⁦65–⁦70 cm⁩⁩ deep with doors. If you want it to line up with the cabinets, look for a model with a body depth of about ⁦60 cm⁩ and flat doors; we covered this in our zero-clearance refrigerator guide.

Height: ⁦185–⁦193.5 cm⁩⁩. If there is a cabinet above the niche, measure to the bottom of the cabinet and leave clearance for ventilation. The ⁦8.5 cm⁩ difference between Samsung and Electra can decide whether the fridge fits.

Two ⁦60 cm⁩ fridges instead of one large one: Electra also sells the EL47 as part of a set of two ⁦60 cm⁩ units, i.e. ⁦120 cm⁩ wide, per a product title we saw. It is a solution for large kitchens that want a separate fridge and freezer, but it takes much more space than a ⁦90 cm⁩ 4-door fridge.

LG sells bottom freezers in Israel at 60 and ⁦70 cm⁩ through Brimag, the official importer; per store prices, the ⁦70 cm⁩ LG GRB479BF starts at about ₪3,150, and the ⁦60 cm⁩ LG R-2B394BINS with certified Shabbat mode costs about ₪⁦8,100–9,000.⁩

What we saw in LG's model list on Zap: 24 bottom-freezer models, from 344 to 872 liters, some 2-door and some 3 or 4-door. Starting prices range from about ₪3,185 for the GRB479BF and R-2B479B (462 liters) to more than ₪13,000 for the large models.

LG GRB479BF: per the model page, 451 liters net, 70 × 185 × ⁦69 cm⁩, No Frost and Smart Inverter. Some offers list Brimag as importer and a warranty of one year plus 9 years on the compressor. Shabbat mode is not mentioned. This is the model for anyone who wants an LG without paying for Shabbat or finish.

LG R-2B394BINS: ⁦60 cm⁩, 349 liters, black stainless, and a Shabbat mode certified by the Scientific-Technological Institute for Halacha, as we detailed in our Samsung vs LG refrigerator guide. It costs 2.5 times the GRB479BF and gives about a hundred liters less, but it is LG's choice for Shabbat observers with a ⁦60 cm⁩ niche.

LG 344 liters: the list also includes the GRB374BG and GR-344SD at 344 liters, from about ₪⁦5,100–⁦5,800. W⁩⁩e did not open their model pages, so we cannot say how they differ from the R-2B394BINS.

How to choose between LG and Samsung in a ⁦60 cm⁩ bottom freezer: both offer certified Shabbat mode on their top models and long compressor warranties. The main difference is finish, capacity and price on the day you buy, so compare the two specific models in the store.

A bottom freezer of ⁦110–160⁩ liters holds a family's frozen shopping for one to two weeks, and to make it work you need to organize the drawers by type, not by free space.

Capacities from product pages:

• Samsung RB35C6225: 114 liters of freezer.
• LG GRB479BF: 122 liters (133 in some offers).
• Blomberg KND3954XP: 160 liters.

What that means in practice: a ⁦60 cm⁩ wide bottom-freezer drawer holds roughly a bag of chicken, a few bags of frozen vegetables and a tray of bourekas. A ⁦110–120⁩ liter freezer in three drawers is roughly three such drawers. A family that buys meat for a month or cooks large quantities for Shabbat will need a freezer of 160 liters or more, or an extra freezer.

Organization that works:

• Top drawer: what you use every day: bread, frozen vegetables, ice.
• Middle drawer: meat and chicken, in flat bags labeled with the date.
• Bottom drawer: long-term stock, cooked food for Shabbat, desserts.

Flat freezing: food frozen in flat bags takes less space, thaws faster, and can be arranged like files in a folder. That is the big difference between drawers and shelves.

No Frost: in a bottom freezer without No Frost, ice builds up on the walls and the drawers start to stick. All the models we chose have No Frost per the product pages. The downside: drier air, so food that is not well wrapped dries out. Wrap well.

What about a flex zone? Some models have a drawer that can switch between fridge and freezer. On a 2-door bottom freezer this is less common; it is more common on 4-door fridges.

If you keep Shabbat, look on the product page for the name of the institute that certified the Shabbat mode; on the bottom-freezer models we saw, explicit certification appears mainly on Samsung and LG in the ₪⁦7,000–9,000⁩ range.

What we saw on product pages:

• Samsung RB35C6225: Shabbat mode certified by the Scientific-Technological Institute for Halacha. Activated by pressing two buttons for 6 seconds, per the page.
• LG R-2B394BINS: Shabbat mode certified by the Scientific-Technological Institute for Halacha, per what our earlier guides found.
• Electra EL47GW: the page does not mention a Shabbat mode. On other Electra models we saw a light switch certified by the Tzomet Institute, but not on this model.
• LG GRB479BF, Blomberg KND3954XP, Bosch KGN36IJEB: Shabbat mode is not described on the pages we read.

Shabbat mode vs light switch: a light switch only turns off the bulb. A full Shabbat mode also disables the display, sensors that respond to opening the door, and sometimes the fans. In a No Frost fridge with electronics, the difference is significant, so it is important to know exactly what is certified.

Shabbat and long holidays: some fridges have a Shabbat mode that returns automatically to normal operation after a number of hours, to cover a two-day holiday. Check in the manual how long the mode stays active.

What to do if the model you want is not certified: ask the importer whether there is a Shabbat kit that can be installed, and consult your rabbi. Sometimes it is simpler to choose a model with built-in certification, even if it is more expensive.

A ⁦340–450⁩ liter bottom-freezer fridge uses about ⁦250–⁦320 kWh⁩⁩ a year per the specs, and an inverter compressor and a long compressor warranty are the two things worth paying for.

Consumption: the Samsung RB35C6225 is rated at ⁦254 kWh⁩ a year, class E. On the other models we chose the annual figure does not appear on the product page. Israel moved to the European energy label on 1.9.2022, so most fridges are marked E or F even when relatively efficient; compare kWh per year, not letters.

Inverter: the Electra EL47GW, LG GRB479BF and Blomberg KND3954XP are listed with an inverter compressor per the product pages. Such a compressor runs at variable speed, and is usually quieter and holds a more stable temperature.

Warranty by brand, per what we saw:

• Electra: one year, plus 9 years on the compressor for an extra ₪99 and registration within 14 days, per the product page at Shekem Electric.
• Samsung: one year and 10 years on the compressor from Newpro.
• LG: one year and 9 years on the compressor per one offer; Brimag as importer.
• Bosch: one year from BSH per one offer.
• Blomberg: warranty details do not appear on the model page on Zap.

Delivery and installation: a ⁦185–⁦193.5 cm⁩⁩ fridge needs two movers. Make sure the fridge fits through the front door and elevator, check whether removing the doors is included, and let it stand for a few hours before plugging it in, per the manual's instruction. The first time, let it reach temperature before adding food.

What to check on arrival day:

• That the fridge arrives without dents or scratches on the doors and sides, before signing for the movers.
• That the freezer drawers pull out fully and close without sticking.
• That the fridge is level, so the upper door closes by itself from about 30 degrees.
• That the door and drawer seals are intact and seal along their full length.
• That the warranty certificate is in the official importer's name, and that you registered the product if the extension requires it, as with Electra.

After a day of operation, check with a simple thermometer that the fridge is at about 4°C and the freezer at about -18°C. If not, adjust per the manual before filling the drawers.

For a ⁦60 cm⁩ niche on a low budget, buy a local bottom freezer of about 347 liters for about ₪⁦2,300–2,900⁩; for a family of 4, a ⁦70 cm⁩ model of about 450 liters for about ₪⁦3,150–5,500⁩; and for Shabbat observers with a ⁦60 cm⁩ niche, pay for a model with institute certification.

• The lowest budget: Electra EL47GW, 347 liters, No Frost and inverter.
• Family of 4, LG: LG GRB479BF, 451 liters at ⁦70 cm⁩ wide.
• Large family, big freezer: Blomberg KND3954XP, 554 liters with 160 liters of freezer.
• Bosch and BSH service: Bosch KGN36IJEB.
• Shabbat observers, ⁦60 cm⁩: Samsung RB35C6225 or LG R-2B394BINS.

What not to do: buy a bottom freezer without No Frost, order without measuring height against the upper cabinet, and rely on the energy letter instead of kWh.

If your niche is ⁦80–⁦90 cm⁩⁩, move on to our 4-door refrigerator guide; if the budget is tight, see our cheap refrigerator guide; and we compared all fridge types in our best refrigerator guide.