Need to know
- Kmart’s new whitegoods range includes a 203L top-mount fridge-freezer at the cheap price of $429 (available in white and silver).
- The fridge is currently being tested in our labs, but our experts have highlighted a few aspects of the model you should take note of if you’re considering buying it.
- CHOICE members can read our full reviews and find out which fridges we recommend buying.
Having gained many a ardent fan across Australia for its brassy appliances and budget homewares, Kmart is nowadays selling whitegoods .
The new roll is available to buy on-line with home plate delivery in selected states ( Victoria, NSW, Queensland, WA and South Australia ) and includes fridges, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers at brassy prices under the Kmart Anko sword .
possibly designed to tap into some of the popularity of rival bargain retailer Aldi ‘s whitegoods special Buys or on-line offerings from the likes of Kogan, Kmart Anko appliances available include a 4.5kg vented dry for $ 249, a 60cm free-standing dishwasher for $ 399 and – what we ‘re focusing on here – a 203L electric refrigerator for $ 429 .
Full test on the way
At such cheap prices, are these products worth buying ? Our choice experts bought the new Kmart Anko electric refrigerator to put it to test in our labs, with wide test results to be published soon and available to CHOICE members.
here they share their foremost impressions and some things to consider before you buy .
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How big is the new Kmart Anko fridge and what features does it have?
“ This is a very minor, basic and extremely cheap electric refrigerator, ” says CHOICE whitegoods expert Ashley Iredale .
“ It is what you would expect for a electric refrigerator with this price tag – a very bare 203L top-mount electric refrigerator with few features as compared to more expensive models. It has limited shelve and storehouse options, no humidity control on the crisp and no dairy compartment .
“ normally for a family of one or two people, I ‘d advise buying a electric refrigerator ranging in size from 250L to 380L, which could cost anywhere from around $ 429 up to $ 2500. “ This electric refrigerator might therefore be suited for a modest studio apartment apartment or office if you do n’t need to keep a lot in it at any one time, or as a little second electric refrigerator in the garage or grandma flat. “ The product description besides lists the electric refrigerator as having standard features such as reversible doorway, recessed treat, internal LED fall, crisper drawer and digital temperature controls .
Read more: Fridge size and dimensions guide
The Kmart Anko fridge at a glance
price : $ 429 in white ; $ 449 in silver ( plus extra for rescue )
size and style : 203L top-mount ( deep-freeze on top, fridge below )
Features :
3 x adjustable glass shelves
1 x fruit and vegetable crisp draftsman
1 x deep-freeze field glass ledge
Reversible door
Internal LED fall
What is its energy star rating and how much will it cost to run?
The Kmart electric refrigerator ‘s energy rat pronounce is three stars, indicating it uses 240 kilowatt-hours ( kWh ) a year .
“ This energy evaluation is not the greatest we have seen, but it is far from the worst, and you would expect that a small electric refrigerator would use far less energy than a bigger electric refrigerator, ” says Ashley .
“ Keep in heed that the energy headliner rat lone lets you compare proportional efficiency of like-sized fridges. therefore, you can have a 300L electric refrigerator and a 700L electric refrigerator that are both three stars, but the 700L electric refrigerator will use up a lot more energy. ”
Assessing energy consumption
As region of our detail electric refrigerator reviews, our experts assess the department of energy consumption of fridges to see if they meet their claims on the label ( plunderer : sometimes they do n’t ). We besides calculate running costs over 10 years based on the claim usage .
We calculate this Kmart electric refrigerator will cost you around $ 72 per class to run, which adds up to $ 720 over 10 years, providing it lasts that long
Ashley Iredale, CHOICE whitegoods expert
“ Depending on how you use it, we calculate this Kmart electric refrigerator will cost you around $ 72 per year to run, which adds up to $ 720 over 10 years, providing it lasts that long, ” says Ashley .
We ‘re presently putting this electric refrigerator through its paces in the lab, but our test is exhaustive and comprehensive. This means it takes several weeks to give you an accurate assessment of how a electric refrigerator do ( it ‘s the most expensive in-laboratory test we do ) and the Anko electric refrigerator is so new we just have n’t had time to assess it properly yet.
But we ‘ll publish the results equally soon as our testing is complete and control, then watch this space .
The Kmart Anko electric refrigerator is presently being tested in our lab, so we can give it a full review .
Other things to consider before buying
Cost and ease of delivery/installation
other on-line appliance retailers may offer exempt manner of speaking ( possibly tied next-day delivery to metro areas or selected regional centres ), but you wo n’t get this fringe benefit with your Kmart buy. delivery costs detailed on the Kmart web site for this electric refrigerator are about $ 50 for metro addresses and $ 100 for regional ( about a quarter of the cost of the electric refrigerator itself ! ), so you need to factor that into the monetary value .
other retailers may besides offer services such as unpacking your modern appliance and moving it into situation, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as removing your honest-to-god appliance if you have one and recycling it. But if you buy a electric refrigerator from Kmart – yes, you guessed it – none of this is included or available .
The Kmart Anko electric refrigerator weighs 43kg and the web site advises a “ team lift or a mechanical aid ”. Although our CHOICE lab experts did n’t struggle to unpack the electric refrigerator when it was delivered, they noted that it would be a difficult job if you had forcible or mobility issues. Our CHOICE lab are equipped with everything they could possibly need to move a electric refrigerator, but it ‘s improbable you ‘d have that equipment at home .
Read more: Three fridges to avoid bribe
cool head : CHOICE whitegoods expert Ashley Iredale is presently putting the Kmart electric refrigerator through across-the-board test in our kitchen lab .
ease of setting the temperature
Our experts besides flagged an issue with the temperature controls on this electric refrigerator. The way they ‘re designed means that it could be unmanageable to get the temperature discipline across your electric refrigerator and deep-freeze compartments, which could result in random freeze things in your fresh-food compartment or by chance defrost meats in the deep-freeze .
“ Most modern fridges will have separate temperature controls for the fresh food and deep-freeze compartments, allowing you to fine tune the temperature in each one individually, but this electric refrigerator is a short different, ” says Ashley .
Our experts besides flagged an emergence with the temperature controls on this electric refrigerator
“ It only has one temperature control, which sets the sum of cooling going to the deep-freeze. We have seen fridges with this type of temperature control before, and even with our preciseness testing ground instruments, we found setting the right temperatures in electric refrigerator and deep-freeze to be identical difficult indeed, and involving a fortune of test and mistake. ”
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appliance life and electric potential for repairs
The Kmart web site says the Anko electric refrigerator has a 24-month guarantee, which is fairly standard. To organise in-home rectify or successor, you ‘d need to contact Kmart customer care .
“ One of the risks hera is that you ‘re buying a electric refrigerator from a sword that has no history of selling or organising the repair of fridges, ” says Ashley. “ The Anko electric refrigerator may be cheap, but unlike fridge brands like Fisher & Paykel and Electrolux, you ‘re going with a new, hereto nameless manufacturer .
One of the risks here is that you ‘re buying a electric refrigerator from a brand that has no history of selling or organising the repair of fridges
Ashley Iredale, CHOICE
“ If something goes wrong with your electric refrigerator, you ‘ll be charting obscure territory in terms of the animate or refilling process. And unlike, say, your clothes dry, you truly ca n’t be without a electric refrigerator for any length of clock, not to mention the price of replacing all the spoiled food within. ”
How long should this Kmart Anko fridge last?
choice experts say that a electric refrigerator at this price should concluding at least 10 years ( with more expensive fridges lasting a set longer than that ). But you can credibly expect a little less from this one, given the super-low price and the compromises it could call for .
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