Aussies have rated Electrolux as the top brand in Canstar Blue’s latest refrigerator ratings, with the brand rated five stars across all categories, including performance, value for money, internal layout, design, features & functionality and overall satisfaction.
Our review compares refrigerators on customer satisfaction, so you can find out what other Aussies think about the compared brands before you go ahead with a purchase. Think of it as like asking hundreds of your closest mates which refrigerator they think is best!
Canstar Blue surveyed 1,343 Australians for their feedback on the new refrigerator(s) they’ve purchased and used in the last three years. Note: this does not include standalone freezers.
The winning brand is the one that receives the highest Overall satisfaction rating once all the scores from the Overall satisfaction criteria are combined and averaged.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
Find more detailed information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.
Not sure which refrigerator to buy? Check out our buying guide below.
Electrolux was rated five stars across all categories, including performance, value for money, internal layout, design, features & functionality and overall satisfaction.
A Swedish brand, Electrolux is a big player within the appliances space, catering for the laundry, common room areas and kitchen with its range of products. For those after a new fridge, Electrolux offers French door, bottom mount and vertical fridges, but may not have the range as some other brands available.
Its 446L UltimateTaste 500 Single door vertical fridge includes a mark-resistant stainless steel finish, filtered water dispenser, MultiZone deli department and TasteLock crispers to help keep certain foods fresher, with holiday, eco and boost mode also available to help ensure that your fridge cools the interior as needed. The model also features touch controls, along with frost free cooling, bottle bins and a 3.5 energy star rating.
Samsung was rated four stars across all categories, including performance, value for money, internal layout, design, features & functionality and overall satisfaction.
Perhaps best known for its mobile phones, Samsung also has a strong presence in the home appliances market. The company covers a wide range of fridges to choose from, from the classic top mount model through to its BESPOKE range, which allows for additional customisation to help you make your kitchen look the way you want it to.
The 424L bottom mount fridge features a non-plumbed water dispenser, along with a Smart Sensor System to help optimise cooling over multiple areas of the layout, additionally analysing your use of the fridge to optimise against changes of temperature. It also features foldable shelves, LED internal lighting and an ice maker in the freezer.
Kelvinator was rated four stars for performance, value for money, internal layout, design, features & functionality and overall satisfaction.
Well-known in the fridge space, Kelvinator offers a range of top and bottom mount fridges for shoppers to choose from, ideal for those looking for something that can get the job done without all the bells and whistles. Its top mount range varies in size between 210L and 520L, while the bottom mount range consists of models ranging between 420L and 530L capacities.
The Kelvinator 528L bottom mount fridge features multi-flow air delivery to ensure even cooling throughout the unit, Spillsafe glass shelves, flexible door storage, LED lighting to help you see what you’re doing, along with frost-free cooling, a fridge door alarm and separate temperature controls for the fridge and freezer to keep your food fresh.
ChiQ was rated five stars for value for money, with four stars for all other categories, including features & functionality, design, internal layout, performance and overall satisfaction.
A Chinese brand that heavily focuses on fridges and freezers, ChiQ’s range of products includes French door, side by side, bottom mount, top mount and retro models, as well as single door full freezers and bar fridges for those after something a bit more specific.
The 396L bottom mount fridge includes an LED display unit on the outside of the fridge, with a reversible door design also included to help fit the model into your kitchen. With a multi-flow air system to circulate cool air to where it needs to be, along with frost-free operation, temperature control, holiday mode for energy saving and a 5-star energy rating, the ChiQ 396L model also includes recessed handles for a smooth design.
LG was rated four stars across all categories, including features & functionality, design, internal layout, value for money, performance and overall satisfaction.
A well-known South Korean brand, LG offers plenty of appliances for households to purchase and use, with the kitchen no exception. Offering a range of fridges split into French door, side by side, top mount, bottom mount, door-in-door and additional speciality fridges, there’s no shortage of options from LG.
The LG 642L French door fridge includes the InstaView door-in-door functionality, where you can spy what’s inside your fridge by simply knocking twice. It also includes a plumbed ice and water dispenser, craft ice maker for when you want to get fancy with drinks, ThinQ compatibility to help you adjust your settings via your smartphone, as well as adjustable shelves, Wi-Fi connectivity and LED interior lighting.
Hisense was rated four stars across all categories, including performance, value for money, internal layout, design, features & functionality and overall satisfaction.
Another Chinese brand, Hisense covers a wide variety of fridges within its range, including French door, bottom mount, top mount, side by side, bar fridges along with additional cooling appliances such as standalone freezers.
The 503L Pureflat bottom mount fridge features a Pureflat design to help fit seamlessly into your kitchen, with recessed handles ensuring that it fits snugly into the space available. Other features include a mark-resistant finish, Metal-Tech cooling to help ensure cool air is evenly distributed around the interior, reversible door hinges to fit into your kitchen, Super Freeze mode and a 4.5 energy star rating.
Haier was rated four stars for all categories, including features & functionality, design, internal layout, value for money, performance and overall satisfaction.
A Chinese brand, Haier focuses on multiple areas of the house, from the laundry to the kitchen, and offers a wide range of fridges for households to choose from, including top and bottom mount, side by side and French door options. It also offers bar fridges for those who don’t need a full model, or just need something to keep the drinks cool.
The Haier 489L French Door model features a 4.5 energy star rating, along with an adjustable My Zone temperature functionality on the drawer section, allowing you to keep specific areas cooler than others. Additional features also include the Super Freeze function to freeze food quicker, along with a water dispenser for when you need a thirst-quenching glass of water.
Westinghouse was rated four stars for all categories, including performance, value for money, internal layout, design, features & functionality and overall satisfaction.
An Australian brand that now operates under the Electrolux Group, Westinghouse’s range of fridges includes French door, side by side, vertical, bottom mount and top mount models, along with bar fridges for those who don’t need a lot of space.
The 612L side by side fridge model features a holiday energy efficient mode to help save you while you’re enjoying some time off, LED internal lighting, frost free operation, multi-flow air delivery to help cool various sections, along with a lockable FamilySafe compartment and a fingerprint resistant stainless steel finish to help keep the exterior of the fridge looking clean.
Fisher & Paykel was rated four stars for performance, design and features & functionality, with three stars for internal layout, value for money and overall satisfaction.
A New Zealand brand, Fisher & Paykel offers plenty of appliances, with a wide range of fridges available to choose from. Its range is split into Contemporary or Integrated models, with Contemporary fridges leaning more towards stainless steel designs, while the Integrated models are designed to match your cabinetry and blend in with the rest of your kitchen.
The Series 7 569L French door model features an ice and water dispenser, recessed handles for a sleek design, ActiveSmart technology to help keep food fresher through temperature maintenance, an ice maker that empties into a dedicated freezer bin – which can also be turned off if you need the extra space – along with humidity control in the crispers and adjustable shelving to fit your grocery shop.
Bosch was rated three stars across all categories, including features & functionality, design, internal layout, value for money, performance and overall satisfaction.
A German brand, Bosch offers plenty of appliances to fill your home with, from the laundry to the kitchen, with its range of fridges including models such as French door, vertical fridges and bottom mount options.
The Serie 4 bottom mount model includes an anti-fingerprint steel finish to help keep your kitchen looking schmick, along with the VitaFresh feature to help keep your food fresh with climate and temperature controls. It also includes a NoFrost system to prevent ice from building up, LED interior lighting, adjustable shelving and reversible door hinge to help slot into your kitchen.
Not all brands in the market qualify for our ratings (based on minimum survey sample size), but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth considering. Here are several more brands to check out before making a purchase decision.
One of the first things you should consider when choosing a fridge is capacity; or the total volume of refrigerated space available. Fridge capacity is measured in litres, and shouldn’t be confused with the actual physical dimensions (such as the height and width) of the fridge itself. As a general rule, households with one or three persons should make do with 200L-400L of fridge space, but households of four people or more may need at least 500L-700L. Use the table below to size up what refrigerator size you need for your household.
| Household size | Fridge capacity |
| 1-2 people | 200L-400L |
| 3-4 people | 400L-600L |
| 5+ people | 500L-800L |
General guide only
Read more: What size fridge do I need?
Please note: Fridge capacity refers to the total volume of refrigerated space available in the unit and is not to be confused with dimensions which refer to the external measurements of the fridge, typically displayed in centimetres.
While they’ll all achieve the same goal, there’s a number of fridge types for you to consider, with the main point of difference being the functionality and layout of the fridge. Here are the main types of refrigerators:
What type of fridge you need will come down to your household’s size and how much kitchen space you have. For example, top and bottom mount fridges are more suitable for smaller households of two or three people since they have a smaller capacity. By contrast, larger households and families will need a larger capacity fridge like a side-by-side fridge or French door model with ample space for fresh food, meat, snacks, and drinks.
Fridges have come a long way in recent years, with many packed with additional features and functionality to help keep up with households. But what features should you consider before buying?
Everyone wants their money to go as far as it can, so a cheap fridge can be an alluring prospect. Our survey found that Aussie households spend an average of $1,118 on a new fridge. This is pretty much smack bang in the middle of the fridge price range. Fridges can range anywhere from about $400, all the way up to over $3,000 for the latest and greatest. However, cheap fridges can be the silent killer in your kitchen as far as your electricity bill is concerned, as cheaper models often go hand-in-hand with lower efficiency ratings, meaning it may cost you more to run down the line.
Considering the fridge is something that’s always on, the costs associated with a fridge aren’t just limited to the initial purchasing cost. How much energy a fridge uses is entirely dependent on how big the fridge is, the energy efficiency rating it has, and how much you’re using it, with a fridge that’s consistently being opened and closed having to work harder to keep the insides cool. Thankfully we’ve broken down the costs in our guide so you can see how much money your fridge may be costing you.
Getting a large fridge is all well and good, until it comes time to move it! But when it comes to moving your fridge, can you lay it down to potentially make more room in the moving van? You can lay a fridge down to transport it, but the general recommended practice is to move it while it’s standing upright, as laying it down may cause oil from the compressor to snake through the coolant lines, which can cause issues when you plug your fridge back after moving.
However, to avoid any issues after moving, you can simply stand your fridge upright for a number of hours – 24 hours is recommended after laying it down – to ensure that the coolant lines are cleared before you plug in the fridge and begin to use it.
This report was written by Canstar Blue’s Site Editor, Dean Heckscher. He’s our resident expert on all things automotive, health & fitness, streaming and more. Dean is also one of Canstar Blue’s customer research report producers, helping to turn complicated subjects into easily-digestible information for our readers. He’s passionate about helping consumers make better-informed purchase decisions on all manner of consumer goods and services.
Samantha Howse is Canstar Blue’s Consumer Research Specialist, coordinating the consumer research program behind our customer satisfaction awards across Canstar and Canstar Blue in Australia and New Zealand. Sam has earned a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from Griffith University and, with seven years in market research and 2 years in marketing, she is experienced in survey design, implementation and analysis, coupled with an understanding of marketing principles and best practice.
Here are the past winners from Canstar Blue’s refrigerator ratings:
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Appliances - September 29th
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