The Best Fridges To Buy Online In Australia
A good refrigerator can make life a lot easier in your kitchen. We've produced a rundown of some of the best refrigerators available in Australia, as well as the features that make them our top picks.
Best Top-Mount Fridge
Samsung SR520BLSTC 498L Top Mount Fridge
- 4-star energy rating
- Sleek design with recessed door handles
- Quite a lot of space for a 1.6m mid-sized fridge
- Some customers found it noisy
The beauty of this refrigerator is that it can turn its freezer into a fridge whenever you want. This will allow you to store those extra groceries up top whenever you don’t really have a use for the freezer and the bottom section is packed to capacity. This also allows you to keep your food items at eye level, which is great news for anyone with back problems, or even for anyone that doesn’t want to kneel down just to get something off of the bottom shelf.
The Samsung 525L can accomplish this because it has 2 independent cooling systems and temperature controls, which also has the added perk of giving you a backup refrigeration space in the case that one of the units breaks down or can’t achieve suitably low temperatures for some reason.
In case of such a breakdown, this model also comes with a 2-year warranty, as well as a moveable ice maker.
Best Bottom-Mount Fridge
LG 420L Bottom Mount Fridge GB-455PL
- 4.5-star energy rating
- Folding shelves that make finding a place for taller items much easier
- Digital temperature gauge for both the fridge and the freezer
- Doors can only be reversed by official LG servicemen
- Some customers experienced an audible humming noise
The bottom-mount fridge has a freezer located below the fridge section, which is the preferred layout for people that can’t reach the back of the top shelf of this 1.7m refrigerator. Both refrigerator types have their own strengths, and one of the biggest advantages of the bottom-mounted models is how you can store and take out meat and other frozen items much more easily than with the other unit.
The fridge itself only has a width and a depth of 70cm, which allows it to fit into many regular kitchen spaces, and the stainless steel finish also gives it a look that would work great in pretty much any kitchen.
You also get the standard 2-year warranty in case something goes wrong, a “Fresh Balancer” feature that modifies the humidity on the inside, and even a diagnostic function that notifies you when something is wrong with this unit.
Best French-Door Fridge
Fisher & Paykel 487L French Door Fridge RF522ADX5
- SpillSafe shelves
- Three 75cm fridge shelves
- Humidity control feature
- 3-star energy rating
- Soem customers thought the freezer compartment could have been configured more efficiently
French door fridges are similar to bottom-mount fridges in that the freezer section is near the floor. These fridges are different from your standard bottom-mounted model because of the double doors that are mounted on the refrigerator section. These double doors also mean that these fridges are much wider than your standard model and therefore have a lot more space inside where you can store all of your food and drink items.
You’ve probably guessed that you’ll need a lot more kitchen space to fit this unit and that it’ll use up a bit more electricity than your standard-sized refrigerator. The additional fridge and freezer space are definitely worth the extra upkeep costs, and while not everyone needs a fridge this size, it’s one of the best refrigerators that you can get if you live in a big house with a lot of other people. You can also either get the standard 2-year warranty or upgrade to the 3-year option.
Best Energy-Efficient Fridge
Hisense 519L PureFlat Bottom Mount Fridge
- 6-star energy rating
- Reversible doors
- Spill-proof glass shelves
- Farily basic set of features
This is one of the best refrigerators that you can buy in Australia in terms of Energy Star rating. The initial purchase price is just around the same as most refrigerators of this size, but this particular unit will practically pay for itself with the amount of money that it’ll save you in electricity bills. While refrigerators are probably the least power bill-friendly appliances that people own, the Hisense 519L is the best solution to that problem.
Outside of the minimal amount of electricity that it uses, the fridge itself is a standard bottom-mounted unit. It comes with 5 standard shelves, 4 shelves on the refrigerator door, and 2 large shelves in the freezer. While this might not be the best-equipped refrigerator on the market in terms of features, it still comes with a 3-year warranty and everything that you need in order to keep your food and drinks cold.
Best Smart Fridge
Samsung 616L Family Hub Side By Side Fridge
- Door open alarm to prevent accidental defrosting
- Can make meal plans and even order food
- Compatible with phone apps
- 2.5-star energy rating
This refrigerator works similarly to a french door unit, except that there isn’t a separation between the fridge and the freezer. The double doors that go all the way from the top to the bottom of the unit house seven large shelves for your drinks, as well as a built-in ice maker. The unit itself has 8 large refrigerator shelves and 4 freezer drawers. Due to the fact that the freezer isn’t in a separate section, the temperature can’t be dropped quite as low as some other refrigerator models, but it can still keep everything from spoiling.
The outside of the fridge holds a touch screen on the right-side door and the previously mentioned ice maker on the left-side door. The touchscreen can regulate the temperature of the refrigerator, allow you to leave digital post-it notes for your family, and it can even allow you to play music and upload your favourite picture on the screen, without having to use the standard fridge magnets. The fridge does only come with a 1-year warranty however.
Best Cheap Fridge
Beko 345L Top Mount Fridge BTM345W
- 3.5-star energy rating
- IonGuard
- Everfresh+ Crisper
- Limited set of features
- Some customers found the ice tray flimsy
The Beko 345L stands at 1.7 m in height and 60cm in both width and depth, which means that it can fit into most kitchens, even the ones where free space is an issue. The refrigerator itself is also fairly energy-efficient on top of being inexpensive, which means that it’s one of the best refrigerators if you’re on a budget. The 5-year warranty also ensures that you’ll get a lot of use out of this unit.
Aside from that, this model also comes with a “Twist & Serve” manual ice cube maker, adjustable glass shelves for both the freezer and the refrigerator sections, and an antibacterial active seal guard for the door that ensures your food is safe from bacteria. While it might not be the best-equipped fridge on the market, it does everything that you need it to do, and it can really save you a lot on both purchase and running costs.
Best Bar Fridge
Hisense 157L Bar Fridge HR6BF157B
- Adjustable chiller section
- Taller than a lot of standard bar fridges
- Vegetable Crisper
- 3-star energy rating
While it might be half the size of the other refrigerators on this list, the Hisense 157L actually has quite a bit of storage room, especially for a small bar fridge. You get two adjustable shelves in the refrigerator section, as well as a drawer at the bottom, a small drawer near the top, and three drinks holders on the inside of the door, as well as an egg section at the top. The freezer isn’t separated from the fridge, but there’s a built-in door for the chiller near the top that ensures that you can keep your frozen food at the right temperature.
All-in-all, this is a pretty cheap price for a 1.1m high refrigerator with a depth of 52cm, a width of 53 cm, and a 3-year warranty. While most bar fridges are mostly meant for drinks storage, this model has enough room for a decent amount of food, and the chiller also makes it possible to keep some of it on ice as well.
Best Wine Fridge
Vintec 50 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Storage Cabinet
- UV-protected dark storage area
- Door open alarm
- Expensive price tag
As the name might suggest, this particular refrigerator can hold 50 wine bottles, which is pretty staggering when you consider that this unit is only 82cm high, 59cm wide, and 56cm deep. It also has dual temperature zones, which means that you can set your red wines on the bottom and your white wines on top, and have them be set at the correlating proper temperatures.
You get 4 adjustable wooden shelves that you can place however needed, a digital display from which you can adjust both of the temperature settings, and a reversible glass door so that you can place your fridge anywhere without having to worry about blocking the door. And finally, you also get a 2-year warranty, white LED lights all along the inside of the fridge, and even a lock on the door to ensure that all of your bottles stay exactly where you left them.
Best Fridge Brands
LG is a giant in the appliance field, and as such, it can provide a wide range of different sizes and models when it comes to the refrigeration units that it sells. Aside from their reliability, these refrigerators are known for having good energy efficiency. The bigger models are naturally going to cost more to buy and maintain, but their prices are generally very fair, and you get a quality product for your money.
Samsung is a bit more of a jack of all trades when it comes to appliances and it has a hand in pretty much every electronics industry there is. Samsung's large lineup of fridges offers a range of options for different needs.
How to Choose the Right Fridge
The most obvious factor you need to consider is the amount of free space you have in your kitchen. While you might want a french door fridge, you might not be able to fit that sort of refrigerator in a kitchen with limited space. It’s nice to get something that goes with the overall visual theme of the kitchen, but practicality trumps appearance and you should focus more on the features.
One of the most essential features that a fridge needs to have is adjustable shelves, since these make is so much easier to organise the inside of your fridge.
Refrigerator Temperature
Managing the temperature inside of your refrigerator is a lot more than just setting the thermostat. The temperature itself is easy to guess and you can find out what it is by simply reading the packages of your food items (usually between 35 and 40℉), but things get a bit more complicated when it comes to fresh produce. Maintaining the freshness of any fruits and vegetables for more than a few days is nearly impossible without a humidity crisper, so if your diet is mostly plant-based in nature, we’d suggest getting a refrigerator with this feature.
Speaking of temperatures, you might also want to spare a thought for your generator as well and make sure that it has enough airflow to avoid overheating. The generators are usually placed at the bottom of the unit, and all you really need to do in order to make sure that they get enough air to function properly is to keep a few inches of distance between your fridge and the wall it’s placed against.
Energy-Efficient Refrigerators
Most kitchen appliances are pretty wasteful when it comes to electricity, and this goes double for refrigerators due to the fact that they’re usually the largest appliances that you can own. The reality of the situation is that you won’t be able to find an appliance that’s over a meter tall, that’s on all of the time, and that doesn’t affect the size of the power bill that you get at the end of the month. However, you can at least reduce the size of that power bill somewhat.
Keep in mind that even power-efficient large refrigerators generally use more power than their smaller and less-efficient cousins. Size plays the biggest role when it comes to how much electricity a unit uses, but if you’re looking through fridges of similar sizes, then your best bet is to rely on the Energy Star rating.