The Best Refrigerators Under $1,000 of 2023

Advances in cooling efficiency and lower-cost components mean that affordable refrigerators are more effective than ever. In the past, a cheap refrigerator might keep drinks cool in your garage and not much more. Nowadays, the best budget refrigerators can hold their own in your kitchen day to day—they just may not have the latest smart home features.

Still, there’s a difference between an affordable fridge and a cheap fridge. We researched and tested the best refrigerators under $1,000, and found that the Hisense HRB171N6ASE (available at Lowe's) offers the most bang for your buck—just make sure you calibrate it first. If that one isn't a great fit for you, don't worry: All of the options listed here would make great budget buys.

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Other Affordable Refrigerators We Tested

How We Test Refrigerators

The Testers

Hi there! We're Reviewed's appliance testing team. Collectively, we have decades of experience testing appliances in laboratory settings.

When we’re testing appliances, we also use them every day as part of our routine. This helps us get a feel for which appliances are bargains at their price points. It also helps us learn which extra features actually make life better.

The Tests

We test each fridge from two perspectives—first, we test from a data-driven, objective point of view. Secondly, we test as a regular person who’s just after the leftover Chinese food. These two types of experiences help us recommend the best fridges at any price point.

Refrigerators behave differently under different temperature conditions. Because they pull in air from the outside and cool it, they may struggle in hot surroundings. They may not switch on at all in cold surroundings.

To prevent that from affecting our measurements, we test each refrigerator in a climate-controlled lab. We keep the air temperature at 72°F +/- 5°F (basically, room temperature). We keep relative humidity to 50% RH +/- 15% RH. That gives each fridge the same opportunity to function under ideal conditions.

We test each fridge for a week. We pack them with water filled containers, because since fridges operate better when there’s less empty space). Then, we measure the fridge’s temperature, humidity loss, freezing time, usable space, and energy use.

• Temperature — Maintaining the right temperature is crucial for food preservation and safety, and it’s a huge part of our testing. We set each fridge to appropriate target temperatures and collect temperature data throughout the week’s testing. We learn how close the temperature in the fridge and freezer are to the target temperatures. We also measure how closely and consistently the air temperature stayed to those ideal values.
• Humidity Loss — For this test, we place a wet floral foam ball in the crisper drawer and measure how quickly it dries. The right balance of humidity is important in preserving produce. Too little humidity will dry veggies out, but too much can make them rot faster.
• Freezing Time — Once the fridge is plugged in, we measure how long it takes for the freezer to cool down to 32°F (the freezing temperature of water). This helps us understand how quickly your fridge and freezer can cool food or beverages from room temperature to the ideal temp.
• Usable Space — Not all of a refrigerator’s interior space is actually useful, with shelving, ice makers, and more in the way. That’s why we measure the usable space—how much empty space is actually available in the fridge’s interior to store your food and drinks.
• Energy Use — Using an electric meter, we measure the fridge’s energy usage (in Watt-hours) over the week of testing. The less energy used, the more efficient that fridge is, and the more money it’ll save you on utility bills in the future.

We also use each fridge in a more casual sense so that we can answer usability questions. We think about how useful the doors, shelves, controls, and water/ice dispenser are. We consider extra features like smart connectivity, door-in-door or flexible storage options.

If a refrigerator keeps the temperature at a perfect 37°F, but it’s frustrating to actually use because the doors or control panel are challenging, that fridge loses points for ease of use.

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What You Should Know Before Buying A Refrigerator

If your refrigerator just died, you’re probably in a hurry to replace it. But there are still some things to carefully consider before you buy.

What Temperature Should a Refrigerator Be?

Ideally, your fridge should be exactly 37°F and your freezer should be 0°F.

These temperatures are important because food needs to be kept within a very narrow band of temperatures to maximize its shelf life. If your fridge drops just 5°F, to 32°F, some food will start to freeze. On the other hand, 40°F is the start of the “danger zone”. That's the temperature at which bacteria really start to proliferate quickly.

If your freezer gets warmer than 0°F, it means your food isn't being truly frozen. Furthermore, if your freezer temp bounces up and down, that’s how freezer burn occurs.

How Long Do Refrigerators Last?

Any appliance’s lifespan can vary due to several factors. However, you should expect your fridge to last for about 10 years.

Most manufacturers will cover at least the first year in their warranty. Some companies even cover specific parts up to 5 or 10 years, or for the lifetime of the product.

How Do You Measure a Refrigerator?

This is a somewhat ambiguous question that we get asked a lot.

To fit a fridge into an existing enclosure, it’s crucial to get the right measurements—but it’s also not particularly hard. One thing to watch out for is the door: If the front of your fridge is flush/level with your cabinetry, the door won’t open properly. Luckily, it’s easy to fix this. Just make sure your fridge sticks out past your cabinetry enough that the door can swing freely.

Measuring the interior of your fridge is more complicated. Most manufacturers measure fridge capacity by essentially flooding it with water, and measuring the volume of the water. While that kind of makes sense, we don’t use these measurements, because they don’t really illustrate how much fridge space is usable. Water can fill up small crevices that aren’t really useful for storing food.

Instead, we measure each shelf, bin, or other storage location—the places you can actually put food—and add those measurements together. That way, we’re only counting the usable storage inside the fridge. That helps us compare the capacities of different types of refrigerators more easily.

How Do You Organize a Refrigerator?

We do have a guide that breaks down how to clean and organize your fridge. But really, there are only a few points to remember.

First, empty everything out and give the fridge a once-over with a soapy sponge. Even if you don’t spill stuff constantly, your fridge will get gross over time. Organizing it is a great opportunity to also knock out a quick cleaning.

Once that’s done, figure out which items make sense to stay in the door storage. You don’t want particularly perishable items on the door. As the door opens repeatedly during normal use, those items will get slightly warmer than the average temperature in the rest of the fridge. Keep items like milk and eggs towards the back of the fridge, where the coolest, most stable temperatures will be.

It’s also important to keep fruits and vegetables separate. Many fruits give off ethylene gas, which can make other fruits and vegetables ripen faster. This is why fridges come with two crispers: To keep your fruits and veggies separate, so they’re happier and healthier for longer.

Finally, don’t stack food too high. For your fridge to work properly, cold air needs to circulate around it. Stacking shelves to the ceiling can cut off airflow. In turn, poor airflow leads to hot spots in your fridge where food will spoil much faster.

On top of that, overstocked fridges can make it harder to find your food. That means food may get hidden and forgotten, only to be uncovered later, teeming with new life. Keeping clutter controlled will keep this kind of food waste to a minimum.

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