We’ve all found ourselves lying awake at night, pondering the great questions of our time. Do bees actually have knees? Where did that missing sock go? Why do dogs’ feet smell like corn chips?

Lately, the team at delicious. has been mulling over a kitchen conundrum: why does a fridge have a light, but not a freezer? We took it upon ourselves to address this pressing issue, and discovered there are a few surprisingly simple theories behind it. 

Theory 1: You use the fridge more

Fridges get opened for countless reasons every day. Milk for your coffee, a drink when you’re thirsty, grabbing fresh ingredients when you’re cooking dinner, something to stare aimlessly into when you’re feeling peckish. All of this makes a fridge light pretty darn useful. You’re also more likely to raid the fridge at night, which makes a light extra handy. 

The freezer, on the other hand, might only get opened a few times a week, and you’re more likely to open your freezer when you’re already busy in the kitchen, which means there’ll probably be a light on anyway. Plus, if your freezer is on top of your fridge, it’s in a better position to catch any overhead lighting.

Related story: 50 puff pastry recipes for those spare sheets in the freezer 

Theory 2: It saves manufacturers money

While adding a freezer light might not cost a fridge-maker much, it’s still an additional expense. Anything that reduces overall manufacturing costs is always going to win the day.

Theory 3: It saves you money

As per above, adding a light to the freezer will add to its manufacturing cost, so buying a fridge that has a freezer without a light should theoretically cost you less (see Theory 5). 

Theory 4: It wouldn’t help much

According to this theory, your freezer tends to have items more densely packed in together. A light won’t be very useful if it’s just going to be obscured by all those tubs of ice cream. Or is that just me?

Theory 5: We’re all being hoodwinked

Back in the days before frost-free freezers, a freezer light would have quickly become covered up by ice crystals, rendering it relatively useless. Since that time, so the story goes, people have become so used to having no light in their freezer, manufacturers didn’t see the point in adding one (see Theory 2). And if a fridge does come with a freezer light, the sales guy trying to flog it to you will likely use this as a reason for jacking up the price (see Theory 3). 

A lightless freezer could also just be a giant scam orchestrated by frozen food producers, to trick you into buying more of their stuff. How many half-opened bags of frozen peas have you got in there, anyway?

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