Do you get refrigeration rage? Or is your fridge freezer frustration-free? We’re assessing our ease-of-use testing to find out which refrigeration features are the most important for manufacturers to get right.
My flat is rented, so I don’t have much choice about the appliances that are installed in my kitchen. I just have to live with the top drawer of the freezer icing up so much that once I open it, I can’t close it again without enough brute force to make me worried that I might break the drawer.
But I know I could make life easier for myself if I defrosted the freezer regularly, instead of waiting until I just can’t bear fighting with the top drawer anymore. Some refrigeration bugbears are less avoidable, however.
Wonky shelving woes
A fridge freezer with a minor issue might not wind you up that much at first, but after using that appliance every day for years, the frustration really starts to add up.
That shelf in the fridge door that causes a bottle of ketchup to topple out whenever you open it. That salad crisper drawer that doesn’t slide all the way out, so you struggle to reach the cucumber that’s rolled to the back. That badly positioned light at the top of your fridge that leaves the rest of the compartment in darkness if you are audacious enough to store food on the top shelf.
Checking our checks
We carry out more than 400 checks, measurements and tests when we test each fridge freezer, and 87 of these are used for our ease-of-use rating. We look out for flimsy drawers or shelves, and check to see how tricky it is to store food or clean every nook and cranny.
It’s very important that our testing reflects the way that people actually use their appliances, so we’d like to hear from you if there’s something that really winds you up.
Or is there a feature in your fridge freezer that makes your life easier? Is it important to you to be able to adjust shelves to fit in larger items? Do transparent freezer drawers transform the way you view your frozen food or could you live without them? Share your refrigeration woes and wonders with us.