Fridge freezers: How we test fridge freezers
Which? tests more rigorously than anyone else in the UK – including going so far as to test fridge freezers for the tone and quality of the noise they make. Which? tests reflect all the aspects of a product that will matter to you, so you can be confident a Best Buy will deliver what you want.
You can see the differences between a good and bad fridge freezer, and find out what it takes to become a Which? Best Buy in our video:
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Fridge freezer useable space
Two fridge freezers with the same external dimension might have up to a 20% difference in useable space due to differences in cabinet design.
We fill every fridge freezer with groceries and check how flexible each design is, so you can be confident a fridge freezer will have ample space to take your weekly food shop.
Fridge freezer ease of use
Often we find some fridge freezers are easier to set up and use than others. We rate the position of the thermostat controls and how easy it is to adjust, the type of display and whether a model has a high temperature alarm and automatic door alarm.
Fridge freezer efficiency
Fridge cooling speed
To see how quickly the fridges can cool your groceries, we set the room temperature to 20oC and allow the fridges to acclimatise. Each fridge is then loaded with 6kg of gel packs, the weight equivalent of around 12 tomatoes, one large chicken and four pints of milk.
Using temperature probes inserted into the packs, we record the average time taken for all of the gel packs to cool to 5oC.
Freezer efficiency in a power cut
To test how long the compartment will keep food frozen in a power cut, we load both the fridge freezer compartments with gel packs.
When all of the packs in the freezer are below -18oC, we switch the power off. We then record the time it takes for any of the packs in the freezer to rise to -9oC.
How Which? tests freezer temperature
Fridge freezer temperature
Temperature stability
Room temperatures can vary widely in the course of a day, especially on very warm or cold days.
We record how well each model works at 10oC, 20oC and 32oC to check how stable the internal temperature is when the external temperature fluctuates.
Good fridges should stay between 2-3oC, while freezers shouldn’t get warmer than -18 oC.
Uniform temperatures
The temperature inside a fridge freezer can vary so unwanted warmer spots can develop.
We monitor the temperature at the top, middle and bottom of the cabinet to ensure all parts of the fridge freezer will be keep your food in mint condition for as long as possible.
Energy Saver logo
For products that successfully marry Best Buy performance with superb energy efficiency in our in-depth tests, we’ve introduced our new Which? Energy Saver logo.
Our Energy Saver award is given to Best Buy fridge freezers that meet our own energy-efficiency criteria and is designed to help you choose products that use less electricity compared to other products of the same type that we've tested.
For fridge freezers, we test for energy efficiency then rank the results and award the Energy Saver logo only to Best Buys whose energy use is in the top 20% of all the models we've tested, with separate rankings for tall and side-by-side American-style ones.
The Which? Energy Saver logo is a Which? rating and is not in any way endorsed or associated with official EC labelling laws or regulations. For advice on understanding the official EC energy label on products see our guide energy labels explained.
Fridge freezer noise
It's virtually impossible to spot how noisy a fridge freezer will be while you're in the shop.
Our independent testers not only rate how loud each fridge freezer is when it's cooling, but also how annoying the pitch and tone are.
Trial Which? today to find out which fridge freezers we rated as Best Buys, or log in if you already have member access.
