What's the difference between a £250 frost free fridge freezer and a £700 one?

[ScreamingBeans]

Anyone know? Is it really worth it to pay loads for a fridge freezer? I need a new one, want a frost free, in an ideal world would like a 70/30 or 80/20 but the only ones I can find like that are retro and about £1000 and frankly I don't want to spend that much.

But is there a reason why spending more than £500 on a fridge is worth it? Does it keep your food edible for longer? Does it clean itself? Does it make you a shiny happy person? Or is it better to just get a cheap one and chuck it out and buy a new one when I move (in the next 10 years)?

Personally, I go by the guarantee: Siemens do one with a 5 year guarantee. I’m not spending an arm and a leg for something the manufacturer won’t guarantee beyond 2 years.

I've just gone for an expensive fridge over a cheaper one. The reasons being the build quality, my last fridge had glass shelves but they had plastic strips front and back that the shelves were supported by. They broke so easily and weren't cheep to replace. New one the glass sits directly on the grove and no plastic bits. The volume inside the fridge was significantly bigger and the energy consumption was a lot lower.

Personally, i let the energy rating decide, rightly or wrongly. That seems to make a huge difference to the price so maybe check this.

im sure you’ll be happy with it. Also I agree about the energy rating though they seem to have changed how they do this recently.

Cheaper fridges tend to be smaller inside, noisier, have more crackable plastic parts inside, have crappy lights and last less well.

As with most white goods though the real premium brands are not worth it unless you particularly like seeing the word smeg everyday and have never watched red dwarf.

Yes we have recently learned this lesson the hard way.

I bought a really cheap Beko fridge freezer about five years ago. It was a third of the cost of some of the premium brands and I couldn't be more pleased with it.

When my Siemens finally died I too thought a cheaper one would be just as good, so I bought a Beko. How wrong I was, it's had a number of problems, and really is much poorer quality than the old one.

All my appliances are Beko, cheap as chips the whole lot were under a thousand. 10 years later nothing has broken and all going strong.

£500

sorry couldn't resist

When we did our kitchen, I underestimated the availability (or lack of availability) of budget friendly fridge freezers, so out of desperation we ended up paying way more than we would have ideally liked as we needed it quickly.

We ended up with a Liebherr fridge freezer, and I have to say that it is fantastic. The salad crisper keeps salad fresher much longer, it has an ice maker in it that we didn't realise was there, build quality is excellent as are energy usage and noise levels.

All in we are not disappointed. Also, we bought from a local shop who came and installed it too included in the purchase price. It is an integrated unit, so this was a useful service.

I had a samsung one for years. I replaced it with a hisense. Its noisy and the door hinge snapped after 2 weeks.

It's £450.

@Growlybear83 I think 'Beko' is the diamond in the rough, a bit like how LG was yrs ago too. My friend bought a Beko fridge freezer around 2001 and is still using it, never had a problem and cheap as chips.

I'm on the market for a dishwasher and most seem to be energy rated C-F as soon as you come across one rated a B the price also skyrockets.

£450?

Note to self - always read the question properly and answer the question asked 🙈

I think it’s worth paying a bit more, all my appliances are Bosch, other than my FF, I only by LG FF, just because they go on for years. I also look at the sound rating too for a FF, especially important in an open plan space.

On that note, our Siemens fridge freezer arrived in our home in 2003 (priced about £350 then) brand spanking new and is 21 years later still going strong. Not sure they make them like they used to in those days (built to last), but I'd personally consider another Siemens fridge freezer when (if!) this one gives up the ghost.