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I voted for freezer on bottom.

side by side does not offer enough width for the freezer.

why we like bottom freezer - we use the freezer less than the fridge, so naturally, we would rather bend less frequently for the bottom freezer than more frequently for the top freezer.

When we redid our kitchen we switched from a small (24" I think?) regular freezer-on-top fridge to a 30" counter-depth Kenmore french door style, with a freezer drawer on the bottom. The increased width made up for going counter-depth and it makes the kitchen feel twice as big. It is fantastic. I love everything about it--being able to open half of the fridge if I'm just grabbing milk, never losing things on deep shelves, etc. And the freezer drawer is amazing; since things don't cascade out when you open it each of the two wire drawers can be filled to the brim. I would definitely hate to go back to a freezer-on-top, and I've always hated side-by-side fridges because of the no-trays problem.

French Door style with freezer on the bottom is good for a lot of people. Though, with French Door and Side-by-Side, you always have to dance around the door to get to adjacent counter, so if you can put the refer at the end of a run, a single door is more convenient, usually. Or then again you can plan to have the landing space opposite - like an island.
I'd try to avoid freezer-on-top - doesn't make sense to me. Cold air falls, so a drawer at the bottom is much more efficient.

Though I prefer freezer on bottom for all the reasons above, the most efficient design is actually the top-freezer design for the very reason CLARITYK cited: cold air falls. Top freezers benefit from using a single chiller that cools the top compartment well below freezing and then use passive circulation to allow some of that cold air to reach the bottom compartment.
Conversely, bottom-freezer models must use either two chillers or use more active circulators to bring that frigid air back to the top compartment.
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I prefer the traditional freezer-on-top model. I currently have a side-by-side, and there are occasions when things just don't fit in the freezer, and I have to find a creative way to get them in there.

I've never had a freezer-on-bottom, but from what I've seen of them, I would think it would be more difficult to work with.

With a freezer on top, you can see everything in the freezer at eye-level, and since the fridge shelves are mostly transparent (glass/plastic or wire), you can see all the way top to bottom from a standing position (assuming your fridge isn't totally packed with food).

With freezer on the bottom, you can't see what's in the back of the freezer from a standing position - you'd have to kneel down or back up to see what's down there. I'm sure you get used to it after awhile, but I just don't see the benefit.

In my case specifically, I eat more frozen food than fresh, so the classic argument for freezer on the bottom doesn't apply to me anyway.

We love our bottom freezer for all the reasons mentioned.

We are remodeling and I would love to find a smaller counter depth bottom freezer, ours is old and probably around 22 cubic feet. Any suggestions?

From the consumer energy center:

"Refrigerators with the freezer on either the bottom or top are the most efficient. Bottom freezer models use approximately 16 percent less energy than side-by-side models and top freezer models use about 13 percent less than side-by-side."

being in a rental, i have your standard fridge. side-by-sides i've never understood. ideally, i'd have a bottom-freezer model, the drawer idea just seems like it would make so much more sense for standing frozen pizzas!

I hate the constant bending over you have to do with freezer on top - in order to peer into the fridge. I voted for side by side - but with French doors, and freezer on bottom. Although at this point, I'd just take a straight freezer on bottom model. I really dislike our current fridge.

I like my side-by-side, but I do wish the freezer half was wider. Wide enough to slide in a sheet pan, say. Probably because I'm only cooking for one, I never keep that many perishables around, but I always have my freezer nearly filled up.

Yes, I know side by side is an energy hog, but I have a reason: I am over 6' 3", so a top-freezer puts the least used part at eye level, prime real estate, and I have to hunch to see what is in the fridge. A bottom freezer is larger, but there is no through-door ice or water in a convenient location.

A side x side works best for me. I did buy an Energy Star model however to partially off-set my guilt. I did replace a 20 y.o. reefer with the new one 4 years ago.

i hate my side by side!!! in rentals we have always had the basic freezer on top... then we bought a home and it came with a side by side, even though its larger than other fridges i've had i swear it seems to fit less!!!

when the side by side here dies out we will probably go with a bottom freezer fridge.

I'd love a freezer on bottom model. some day...

I actually like our side-by-side. It has pull-out wire drawers in the freezer that make it easy to find things. And, if I move things around, I can get a full, 3-layer cake or sheet pan inside. And it has a bin for the ice. The only problem, in fact, is with the ice maker--it freezes up because of the little pieces of crushed ice that melt and re-freeze.

I wish I had a bottom freezer model. But our fridge is going on 10 years strong, sigh.

I cook and bake too much to ever want a side-by-side though. It just makes no sense to me! You just can't fit anything in those things.

Lilysan: we have a Fisher & Paykel counter depth freezer on the bottom model and we love it.

Freezer on the bottom! I love mine. I don't know why fridges were ever designed the other way around. Added bonus for me because I'm tall, so I was always have to bend down and practically climb in the fridge to retrieve anything.

I have a friend who actually keeps a mini-chest-freezer out on their covered porch.

I am terrifically jealous - I grew up in a household where we relied on frozen food heavily to keep food costs and workload down, so it drives me crazy to not be able to fit much in my apartment fridge.

At least I have a top model, so I can usually fit in a cookie sheet or two if I'm freezing a lot of something.

I had a freezer on bottom, and I now have a side by side. After the freezer on the bottom one (a Samsung) quit working in less than a year, I was happy with anything that wasn't freezing soda cans in the fridge and melting my ice cream.

I don't have any issues with the width of the freezer - I can fit cookie sheets in there. (I use it to thaw hamburgers or chicken pieces separately before putting them into a bag.)

In both the fridge and freezer, the more drawers, the better. I have no idea what's more than 6" in on the shelves.

we have a side-by-side (and a counter-depth model, at that) in our kitchen, because there wasn't enough room for another option without destroying the layout. And also, we both prefer the easy access of the s-x-s layout. We also have a another fridge in our basement -- a top-freezer model.

We mostly bought the spare to store stocks, pasta sauces, bulk meat purchases, and other 'pantry' items in the freezer; we didn't like any of the upright chest freezers we could get at the time, and most of them were so big that we'd have struggled to keep it full (which is the way they run most efficiently). So now we have plenty of space for our frozen backstock, as well as fridge space for our seltzer deliveries, extra beer, flours and grains, and all those condiments that don't get used that often. When we entertain, or when we have the occasional item that's too wide for the upstairs fridge, we can keep larger items downstairs, too.

I just bought my first house and went from the standard top-freezer rental fridge to a French-door freezer on the bottom (Samsung from the latest Consumer Reports), and I love it so much I want to marry it. Not really. But still, I love it. It's so freakin' big, I feel like I just keep putting stuff in it and it still has so much room.

We rent, but in Australia that means providing your own white goods, so we had a fridge choice when we moved in (neither of us owned one at that point, having house-shared with others who already had them).

Since my fiance is 6'6", we went for a freezer on bottom, with two drawers & a slide out full-depth tray for ice cube trays etc. He can't see anything in a fridge-on-bottom model (seriously, nothing - has to squat right down), whereas with the drawer-freezer on the bottom, it's easy for both of us (he does still have to bend over a bit to see in the top of the fridge). We're lucky enough to have space for a mini-chest freezer too, which is always full of homemade stock, chilli, various curries, and a ton of meat (we bulk buy free range meat from the monthly farmers' market). And we've freed up counter space by putting the microwave on top of the fridge - being tall can be good like that :-)

my parents actually have 2 full sized separate appliances for freezer and fridge. that's how the kitchen was set up when we moved in in 1985, and when they replaced the fridges they just did the same. it's pretty awesome. a lot of suburban folks have a separate freezer, apparently, in the basement or something, but my parents just have the one big one in the kitchen.

i've never had a side by side fridge. only the top ones. i like the drawer ones, but i rent, so i don't have much choice.

I hunted high and low for MY perfect fridge.I do the cooking so I wanted to pick the best for my needs.I got a freezer on the bottom for several reasons.I have dropped a turkey on my foot before. I also use the freezer less often so i hated it being on top as I could NEVER use my veggie drqawers as I would forget i had things in them. I have small kids so I didnt want a water/ice in door as I know my kids would press it all the time. I also went with a high energy star. I got a kenmore