Fridges: How we test
Useable space
Cooling power is important for maintaining nutrients in food
2 fridges 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 with groceries and check how flexible each design is, so you can be confident a fridge will have ample space for your weekly visit to the shops.
Ease of use
Often we find some fridges are easier to set up 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.
Cooling power
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 4 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 compartments
For fridges with 3 or 4 star freezer compartments, we test how long the compartment will keep fresh food frozen in a power cut.
We load the freezer compartment and fridge with gel packs and switch the power off when all of the packs in the freezer are below -18oC. We then record the time it takes for any of the packs in the freezer to rise to -9oC.
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 10 degrees, 20 degrees and 32 degrees to check how stable the cabinet temperature is when the external temperature fluctuates.
Uniform temperatures
Each fridge is thoroughly checked to see how easy it is to use
The temperature inside a fridge 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 will be keep your food in mint condition for as long as possible.
Noise
It's virtually impossible to spot how noisy a fridge will be while you're in the shop.
Our independent testers not only rate how loud each fridge is when it's cooling, but also how annoying the pitch and tone are.