Fridge-freezers: How we test
Useable space
Cooling power is important for maintaining nutrients in food
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 for your weekly visit to the shops.
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, how easy it is to adjust, the type of display, whether a model has a high temperature alarm or automatic door alarm.
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.
Temperature
We take readings from numerous positions inside the freezer.
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.
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.