The refrigerator is one of the most important appliances in your kitchen. It keeps your fresh food fresh, let’s you keep leftovers for the following day, and ideally lets you store your opened jars and bottles for weeks at a time. Many groceries are meant to be stored in a refrigerator and will go bad if not properly stored.
Refrigerators, though there are many on the market, are hardly the cheapest of kitchen appliances, and they can sure cost a pretty penny. But sometimes you have to set a ceiling on how much money you’re prepared to spend. Very few people have the luxury of an unlimited budget. And the good news is that there are plenty of really good refrigerators out there for under $1000.
So the question is, which one to get? Luckily, we’ve done the hard work for you, scouring the market to find the best ones available for under $1000. We have handpicked 5 different ones to show, and our product reviews on them are coming up very shortly. And after that we’ve also got a handy buying guide for you which walks you through everything you might want to think about before you buy.
In our product selection, we have deliberately included a mixture of lone refrigerators and refrigerator and freezer combos. And the selection concentrates on refrigerators for your home kitchen, and not commercial refrigerators. And you may be pleased to hear that several of our Top 5 Picks come well under the $1000 threshold. Moreover our Top Picks are all current best sellers, and all come from top, well established brands.
Top 5 Best Refrigerator Under 1000
OUR TOP PICK
Summary
This refrigerator gives you more food storage space for your money, being noticeably larger than your counter depth refrigerators. It has 21 cubic feet of storage space in its interior, and measures 33.8" x 32.87" x 66”.
If that sounds too big for your kitchen, then you could consider keeping it in your garage, since it’s Garage ready.
You get 4 large shelves in the main refrigerator section, and you also get two shelves in a dedicated freezer section on the top. It’s great for families who like to eat a lot of good, healthy fresh food. Plus there’s also plenty of storage inside the refrigerator and freezer doors, by way of deep door bins that can fit gallon size bottles or wine bottles.
There are 3 transparent slides out drawers, to prevent foods from rolling out when you open the door, 2 very large ones and one small one. We also love that it features adjustable shelving. That way you always know you have room for a big Thanksgiving turkey.
There’s a built in ice maker in the freezer - something that always goes down well at parties. Moreover, the freezer is also frost free, which is great because no ice building up means your food won't spoil.
Another of its stand out features is the adjustable cooling system - it’s great not only for keeping food fresh, but it can help keep energy bills low too.
And speaking of energy bills, this refrigerator is Energy Star rated, which means that it meets all the federally mandated guidelines for energy efficiency.
As for the refrigerator appearance, there’s a fingerprint-resistant surface that’s very easy to keep clean.
And if all that wasn’t enough, if you buy through Amazon, the price also includes delivery and hook up.
(Please note this review is for the 21 cubic feet version.)
Pros
- There’s a built in ice maker
- Adjustable cooling system
- The freezer is frost free
- Energy efficient
Cons
- With only 2 freezer shelves, it’s not ideal for batch cooking for the week ahead
EDITORS CHOICE
Summary
Here’s another great refrigerator for under $1000!
It provides an internal storage capacity of 9.2 cubic feet, and it’s dimensions are 151.92 x 67.15 x 60.48 cm, and as such, it should not stick out from counter depth (but you should measure first to be sure).
As the heading suggests, in addition to being a refrigerator, it also has a bottom mounted freezer. The refrigerator section makes up the larger proportion of the appliance however, and again features adjustable shelving.
It’s a fantastic refrigerator and freezer for storing larger items, whether they be a large thanksgiving or large bag of frozen fries, because of this adjustability feature.
Keeping your drinks cool is also a breeze with this refrigerator. You can stack up to 6 cans of soda via a dedicated beverage dispenser in the refrigerator door, along with a whole bottle of wine, a gallon of fruit juice, and all your sauces and butter, right in the freezer door.
The refrigerator sports 2 large see through sliding glass doors on the bottom shelf, which is great for keeping fruit and vegetables in place that might otherwise roll out on opening of the door.
In the freezer compartment meanwhile, there’s also a sliding door that you can see through, but this time it’s not glass but more like a basket.
Moreover, it features a state-of-the-art frost-free operating system for better food preservation.
This refrigerator is also Energy Star rated, so you can count on it to be energy efficient, and the stylish spotless-steel finish means it’s easy to keep clean.
A particular USP of this refrigerator is that the hinges and handle can be moved, to make the refrigerator left-handed friendly.
It’s worth noting that you can approach the manufacturer for a 12-month warranty on parts and labour with handy in-home service.
Pros
Amazon sometimes has great deals
Can be made left-handed friendly
Frost-free operating system
Dedicated beverage dispenser
Cons
If you want to make ice, the freezer has to be turned all the way down, and this is isn’t so energy efficient
BEST VALUE
Summary
Now, this baby is big enough to be a refrigerator and freezer in one, but instead, it’s all pure refrigerator, so it’s a great choice for those who already have a freezer in place, but need a lot of fresh food storage for their household.
It has a spacious 11 cubic feet of inner storage capacity, and it’s dimensions are 26.06 x 23.93 x 58.75 inches, which means it should come under your counter depth (but of course you should measure up first to check).
There are a total of a whopping 7 shelves, and better yet, they are all adjustable. So not only do you have enough fresh food storage space for a large family, but it’s also big enough to stash food and drinks for parties too. You’ll be so ready for Thanksgiving.
In addition to the main storage shelves, there’s also plentiful storage space in the door which features 5 door bins, and these can hold all your milk and juice, your opened jars and sauces, leaving the main area of your refrigerator for your meats, fruit and vegetables.
Speaking of fruits and vegetables, we would recommend that you stash these in the glass draws at the bottom of your refrigerator so they don’t roll out when you open the door.
It also has the Energy Star advantage, which is something we talk about later on in our buying guide. We also love it’s high-tech mechanical thermostat.
This means that if you were to go on a long holiday, you could adjust your thermostat so you won’t get a big energy bill when you come back home (of course though, when you come back home you will want to keep your new food fresh and cool again).
You can choose from right handed or left handed opening. And it has a spotless steel door finish, which looks identical to real stainless steel but doesn’t have any smudging issues.
Better yet, if you buy through Amazon, you get a worry-free 18-month warranty on parts and labor AND convenient in-home service.
Pros
Amazon sometimes has great deals
11 cubic feet of refrigerator space
Energy star rated
Adjustable shelving
Smart appearance
Cons
No dedicated beverage dispenser
Not many peer reviews around for this product
RUNNER UP
Summary
If you’re into stainless steel appliances and furnishings, you should check out this beauty.
It’s plenty spacious, with 15 whole cubic feet of refrigerator space, plus 6 cubic feet of freezer space besides in the upper part. This spaciousness comes from the appliance’s generous width, which comes in at 78 inches, while the height is not too high at 90 inches, and the depth is perhaps slightly longer than your typical counter depth at 33 inches.
Within the refrigerator space, you get a total of 4 shelves, which are all adjustable, along with 5 door bins. These door bins are also adjustable. This way you’ll have no problem storing larger items such as lettuces or 3 litre bottles of soda.
The door bins are transparent, which means if you have similar looking items you can check which is which by looking at the label. There’s also a dairy pocket in the door for you to store items such as butter and margarine.
The refrigerator section also has 2 large crisper drawers which are ideal for stashing your fruit and vegetables, because they have a different level of humidity from the rest of the refrigerator, specially optimized for such goods.
The freezer section is great too - 2 easy to reach shelves and also complete with transparent door bins. Better yet, the freezer section has an ice maker installed, which is great for having drinks in the evening.
Depending on which retailer you buy through, not only will you get your refrigerator delivered rather than have to transport it yourself, but they will also install it for you, and if that wasn’t enough they will haul away your old refrigerator for you too - how handy is that!
Pros
Amazon sometimes has great deals
Installation & haul away included
15 cubic feet of refrigerator space
6 cubic feet of freezer space
2 large crisper drawers
Integrated ice maker
Cons
No dedicated beverage dispenser
Not many peer reviews around for this product
RUNNER UP
Summary
While this brand is not as big a name as your Kenmore, Danby and Daewoo, the brand has been around for a good 40 years or so, and are great at what they do. But you don’t have to take our world for it - check out the ratings from customers on the retailer web sites.
If you follow the link through to the Amazon page, you will see that this product is available in several different sizes. This review concentrates on the one which has a 12 cubic feet capacity.
We love this refrigerator for it’s retro look - it looks like it came straight out of the 1950’s! And it’s available in 3 colors, a sleek black, bright fire hydrant red version, plus a more subdued color which I would peg as a pale turquoise.
It measures 23.74 x 29.45 x 66.93 inches, so despite it’s large capacity, it should remain within your kitchen counter depth. The refrigerator is made up of 9.36 cubic feet of refrigerator space with a separate 2.65 cubic feet of freezer space on top.
It has that adjustable shelving that we love, along with crisper drawers, and door bins that can store tall wine bottles and up to 9 cans of soda.
But what we really love is the low energy consumption compressor, which cools your food down super quick and by using less energy too! And that together with the adjustable mechanical thermostat control gives you ultimate control over your energy consumption AND therefore your energy bills.
It comes complete with a 1 year warranty, which should reassure those who have yet to hear about the brand.
Pros
Cool retro design
Great customer ratings
Adjustable shelving
Very energy efficient
Adjustable thermostat
1 year warranty
Cons
Please remember that come of the customer reviews on the Amazon page are for smaller versions of the same product
Best Refrigerator Under 1000 Buying Guide
As promised, here’s a quick guide to everything you might want to think about before buying your refrigerator.
What size refrigerator do I need?
It may sound obvious to some, but the first thing you should do before shopping for your refrigerator is to measure exactly how much room you have to spare in your kitchen.
Many consumers like to go for a refrigerator that is counter depth, and this gives the kitchen a more streamlined look and feel. Most counter-depth refrigerators are about 24–25 inches in depth, topping out at around 30 inches. Of course having a counter depth refrigerator is not essential if you have plenty of room in your kitchen.
In an ideal world we’d say the bigger your refrigerator the better, since the more fresh food you can store, the more choice you have at meal times, and the less often you have to go shopping for more. But of course you can only work with the amount of room you have.
If you don’t need a particularly large refrigerator, then it might be handy to have it at your kitchen countertop height, and then you could use the surface either for placing another kitchen appliance or for food prep.
What else to look for in a refrigerator
Adjustable shelving
Unless all the fresh food you buy is composed entirely of chilled ready meals, then the food for your refrigerator will be of different sizes, and that’s when having adjustable shelving can come in super handy. After all, you don’t need the same level of shelf space for your thanksgiving turkey as you do for a pack of button mushrooms.
Being able to see all of your food
Sometimes it’s necessary for your refrigerator to feature draws as well as shelves in order to prevent food from falling out when the door is open. However, ideally you want to be able to see as much of your refrigerator’s contents as possible, so you can see at a glance what is missing, and what items you’re running low on, so know what to include on your next grocery shopping list. To that end, all refrigerator drawers should be transparent, and the door bins should also make their contents visible.
Also to that end, your refrigerator will need an LED light, so you can see the contents regardless of the room’s lighting conditions. Although we haven’t specified so in our product reviews, all of the refrigerators in our Top 5 Picks have this feature.
Energy Star Advantage
Appliances that are Energy Star rated meet the federally mandated guidelines for energy efficiency, and as such use less energy than their counterparts, and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels. And moreover, by reducing water consumption, they also help protect our lakes, streams and oceans.
And if that wasn’t enough, this reduced energy consumption also means the consumer gets lower energy bills to boot.
Special Features
If you’re prepared to spend up to $1000 on a refrigerator, we don’t blame you for wanting some special features included. If you don’t already have a freezer at home, then a freezer compartment becomes a very useful feature that you will always be glad for, you can preserve your food for much longer than you otherwise would.
If you can get yourself a frost free refrigerator, that’s a good thing to look out for because it means you don’t get a build up of ice in the freezer compartment that can cause food to spoil.
Other features you want to look for include integrated ice makers, which is very handy for the many of us who like ice in their drinks. Or beverage dispensers, for those who like their cans of soda.
Sadly, although you can get Smart refrigerators these days, and voice controlled refrigerators, you’re unlikely to find them available for under $1000.