Why fridges have lights

The cost-benefit principle thus predicts that consumers with extremely high incomes might think a light in the freezer well worth the extra cost. And indeed, the Sub-Zero Pro 48 refrigerator has a light not only in its freezer, but also in its separate ice drawer.

The price of this unit? He is guest-blogging for the Business Desk for the next few weeks. Support Provided By: Learn more. Saturday, Nov Other possible explanations include: freezers are too packed for a light to be useful, old style lightbulbs would shatter in the cold, and lightbulb would heat up the food too much. Chilly Reception. A clearly lit fridge is key for late night snacking. But what about the freezer?

Because of this, we need to manually defrost our freezers. Many of us are probably guilty of not doing this as much as we should and, therefore, ice crystals begin to form as a result of us opening the door and allowing humidity to walk right in.

As such, freezers tend to be packed to the gunnels with all sorts of things. So what has that got to do with a light? In order to find the reason why there is a light on one side and not the other, we need to look at the cost-benefit analysis. The benefit of having a light turn on when you open the door is that it is easier to find the things you are looking for.

The refrigerator is opened much more than the freezer is, so there is a much greater benefit to the consumer than there would be a benefit of putting it on the freezer side. So the extra cost of the producer adding a light in the refrigerator side is also a benefit. Since it is not detrimental for a consumer to have a light on the freezer side, most consumers do not mind paying the average amount for a refrigerator with no freezer light.

But as income increases for the consumer, the benefit of having a light on the freezer side increases as well. The cost-benefit principle predicts that for consumers with a high amount of income, will think a light in the freezer is worth the extra cost.