New home wanted New things! So I began selling old things out and buying new ones. This was including a brand new refrigerator too. So I decided my budget to buy refrigerator in the price range below 15000 Rs. So I narrowed down my research to top best selling brands with good market share in India like LG, Samsung, Whirlpool & Godrej.

In this post I have enlisted the best brands I shortlisted for myself, so hope that it will be helpful to you too for finding out best budget refrigerator for your home.

My research included study of customer reviews, price, customer support, features, durability, technology etc.

All these learning are enlisted at the end of this post in the form of Buying Guide, please do read the same if you get some time.

At the end of post I have also added a Home Refrigerator Buyer’s Guide, plz take a look if you have some free time.

Best Refrigerator Fridge in India [2021]

1. Haier HRB-3404BS – 320L 3 Star Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator

Haier is the world leading brand of kitchen household appliances.

With this Haier 320 L refrigerator with bottom freezer, you need not bend to get things out providing nice comfort throughout the day. It has intelligent design, features a bottom freezer and helps reduce bending up to 90%.

Its really a power packed model with so many features, I have listed them one by one –

Frost Free Double Door
This  double door refrigerator remains frost free automatically, as well as has bigger cool pads to retain the cooling effect for up to 10 hours during electricity cut.

Twice Bigger Crisper
Store more twice bigger space, while keeping your vegetables fresh and last longer.

360 Degree Cooling
360 degree cooling technology, ensures air movement across for uniform cooling.

Bottle Guard
Transparent bottle guard, for easy storage of big bottles, no worries with tall bottles too.

Top LED lamp
En-lights the cabinet spending minimal power.

Toughened Glass
Good holding capacity, with longer durability with toughened glass shelves.

Stabilizer Free Operation
Built in voltage regulator, protects the compressor from voltage fluctuations.

One Hour Icing Technology
Innovative 1 Hour Icing technology by Haier, gets down  brings down -5 degree Celsius temperature in just 60 minutes.

Large Freezer
86 L of freezer that more than sufficient for all summer needs of making ice snacks and frozen food storage.

Twin Twist Ice Tray
Innovative twist tray, allows easy collection of ice cubes in the box below.

3 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

2. LG GL-B201ASDX – Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator Inverter Compressor

LG believes in Enhancing your life with LG’s products comes with great values, benefits, promise and personality their punch line is “Life’s Good.”

They are present in almost all the appliances for home use like Refrigerators, Washing machines, Dishwashers, Cooking appliances, Vacuum cleaners, Built-in appliances, Air conditioners, Air purifiers, Dehumidifiers

Here I am recommending fridge for a small family having Single door powered with a Inverter compressor which saves energy and provides uniform cooling.

Lets have a look at main features of this LG model number GL-B201APZY

Smart Inverter Compressor
Features the most advanced and energy efficient compressor, not only does power savings but also gives silent operation.

LG Smart Connect
Smart Connect Technology is a new feature that helps connect your refrigerator to home inverter. Good for those having frequent power cuts but have home inverter system installed.

Toughened Glass Shelves
The shelves are made of toughened glass, easily holds heavy food items. (max load capacity is 175kg.)

Moist Balance Crisper
A special lattice-type box cover maintains moisture at an optimum level.

Anti bacterial gasket – Hygeine for long period
The door gasket can be removed and cleaned, remains airtight hence preventing bacteria and dust from entering insides spoiling food inside.

Stabilizer Free 90V ~ 310V
The compressor is durable and can work on voltage fluctuations from 90 to 310 Volts, hence you need not have a separate stabilizer for it.

Solar Smart
Most of the LG refrigerators with inverter compressor are capable of working on Solar Energy, provided your solar generation system is capable of delivering needed power.

10 Years Warranty
LG believes in trust, which is shown by providing 10 years of warranty on the Compressor, proving that their products are tested and durable.

4 Star Rating – 2017
This LG Refrigerator has 2017 4 Star Rating which means it consumes less power than 2016 4 Star Rated Refrigerator ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

3. Haier HED-20FDS – 195L 4 Star Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator

The Haier group was originally set up in Qingdao, China in the year 1984.

In just over two decades Haier was ranked as the 2nd largest Home Appliances brand in the world.

Here I am recommending total 4 models from this company and this one is first of them.

This 195 Liter model I am recommending for a small family of 3-4 people.

Lets look at salient features –

Diamond Edge Freezer Technology (DEFT)
Diamond shapes in the inner edge of freezer melts ice slower, utilizing it during power-cut.

Stabilizer free operation
Compressor can handle voltage fluctuations in the range of 135-290V

Anti Bacterial Gasket
Eliminates germs and bacteria formation on the gasket

Environment Friendly Gas
Haier refrigerators uses environmental friendly gases, hence does not contribute in the depletion of the Ozone layer.

5 years warranty
Haier’s 5 years warranty comes with 1 year comprehensive & 4 years warranty on compressor.

4 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

4. Samsung RT28M3424S8/HL – 253L 4 Star Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator with Inverter Compressor

This big refrigerator from Samsung I am recommending for big family of size 6-7 people.

Its double door with inverter compressor saves power.

Lets look at the main features of this model –

Ice Max
Now you can make and store a large amount of ice, makes 2.5 times more ice, and stores 2 times more ice compared to similar models.

Digital Display
It features blue LED display with a touch of sophistication! You can change temperature settings or turn on Power Cool to quickly chill. The convertible mode allows more power savings.

LED Light
Features slimmer, brighter and more power-efficient LED lighting.

Easy Slide Shelf
Easy Slide shelf has rolling hinges, so you can efficiently organize and access your food items.

Toughened Glass Shelves
Designed and tested to hold a weight of up to 150 Kg safely.

Big Bottle Guard
Store big containers of milk and juice in the door, along with two rows of beverage cans and bottles.

All Round Cooling
Cold air is blown out through multiple outlets at every shelf level, maintaining an even and constant temperature from top to bottom.

Stabilizer Free Operation
Compressor can operate even in high fluctuation of voltage, so no need of separate stabilizer.

4 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

5. Haier HED-19TBR – 190L 3 Star Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator

Haier HRD-1903SR possess all the features that are already enlisted in serial number 3 above.

I have selected it for a small family with 2 kids, couple or a bachelor with only 190 liters it will suffice the purpose.

So the features like Diamond Edge Freezer Technology (DEFT), Stabilizer free operation, Anti Bacterial Gasket, Environment Friendly Gas and 5 years warranty are common here too.

3 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

6. Haier HRD-1703SR-R/HRD-1703SR-E – 170L 3 Star Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator

Haier HRD-1703SR possess all the features that are already enlisted in serial number 3 above.

I have selected it for a small family, couple or a bachelor with only 170 liters it will suffice the purpose.

So the features like Diamond Edge Freezer Technology (DEFT), Stabilizer free operation, Anti Bacterial Gasket, Environment Friendly Gas and 5 years warranty are common here too.

3 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

7. Samsung RT30M3043UT – 275L 3 Star Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator with Inverter Compressor

Samsung RT30M3043UT is a double door refrigerator suitable for big family of 6-8 persons, the inverter technology further saves money for you.

Features I have already enlisted in the previous serial number 4

Just in short it features, Digital Inverter technology , recessed handles and hidden hinges which give a touch of elegant minimalism, Twist Ice Maker, stabilizer-free operation, MoistFresh Zone, All-Around Cooling function, toughened glass shelves, high efficiency and long lasting LED lighting, Big Bottle Guard

3 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

8. LG GL-B201AMHC – 190 L 3 Star Direct-Cool Single-Door Refrigerator

I have already recommended LG refrigerator in serial number 2,

This is second model from LG GL-B201AMHC with same facilities only with difference is that this is not an Inverter compressor model.

Some of the features to be noted are

• Makes ice 20% faster with a specially designed patented ice tray.
• Toughened glass shelves are capable of holding 175kg.
• Moist Balance Crisper is a special lattice-type box cover which maintains moisture at an optimum level.
• Anti bacterial gasket prevents the entry and build-up of fungi and bacteria inside the refrigerator.

3 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

9. Whirlpool IF 355 ELT ALPHA STEEL – 340L 3 Star Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator

Whirlpool IF 355 ELT 3S is the biggest model out of may top 10 list, suitable for large family with capacity of over 340 liters.

Its a double door refrigerator, and frost free so that you need not keep attention on happenings on the ice formation.

Some of the main features of this model are –

Intelligent Optimized cooling

Has a AI Microprocessor & 3 IntelliSensors senses with its Advanced Adaptive Intelligence (AI) Microprocessor and 3 IntelliSensors senses Load, Weather conditions & Usage Patterns and analyzes the data to ensure optimum cooling and 59% longer freshness

Vents

Placement of vents is done so as to circulate cool air in efficient way.

Freshflow air tower

Freshflow air tower, with anti-odour action of Active Deo keeps the refrigerator environment fresh and odor-free.

DeepFreeze technology

Controls the movement of cold air in this fridge resulting into 40% faster bottle cooling, 50 % faster ice making and up to 3 times better cooling retention during power cut.

MicroBlock

No risk of bacterial growth with MicroBlock in vegetable crisper, fruit crisper, ice twister and collector. further the freshonizer reduces oxidation increasing the shelf life of food items.

3 Star Energy Rated
This refrigerator is energy efficient, as suggested, strikes perfect balance in between price and power consumption. Surely you will not get large electricity bills. ( See my bill calculations in the table at end of this post – Go to energy calculations )

10. Whirlpool FP 263D – 240L Frost Free Multi-Door Refrigerator

Whirlpool FP 263D is a big 240 liter refrigerator suitable for family of 5-6 persons.

I have selected this due to its 3 Door Advantage, providing you better cooling retention, no odour mixing & 32L Largest storage. Also it provides two times more freshness with 6th sense Active Fresh Technology.

Also the Air Booster circulates cold air in cabin to ensure precise cooling as per the loading.

Rest of the features remain same as I have explained in serial number 9.

Budget refrigerator buying guide

Refrigerators are one of the few appliances, which are inherent part of every Indian kitchen, not only urban life but also the village life being affected by this omnipresent kitchen appliance.

Once upon a time it was luxury and today a refrigerator is a necessity!

The technology has helped us to save food at lower energy consumption, which is available at very much affordable cost.

So if you wish to understand what are the characteristics to look for before buying a refrigerator, my guide will be helpful to you to select what you need for.

There are various factors which are to be considered before buying a refrigerator like storage capacity (depending upon your family size), type of refrigerator, budget, eating habits, space in your kitchen. In fact sometimes small refrigerators are also placed in bedrooms!

What are the different types of Refrigerators?

1. Single Door Refrigerator
2. Double Door Refrigerator
   2.1 Bottom Mounted Refrigerator
3. Triple Door Refrigerator
4. Side by Side Door Refrigerator

1. Single Door Refrigerator

Most basic type of refrigerator found in 75-80% of Indian homes. As said, these refrigerators do have a single door up front, and smaller in size. Good for small family of 3-4 people or individuals or new couples or bachelors.

Mostly the freezer compartment is located at the top or bottom, but covered by the same door, so when you want to access anything from freezer, you need to open the main door. (This is slight disadvantage of single door, that is energy loss during access of freezer)

I am using a single door refrigerator since last 25 years (Replaced once, first owned Godrej model and today its a LG brand)

2. Double Door Refrigerator

A modified and bigger brother of single door, with one more additional door, it becomes a double door fridge!front.

One door covers the main fridge compartment while second door covers the freezer compartment. Now obviously this removes the issue of loss of energy in a single door fridge.

In typical Indian weather conditions, most of the times you need to access the main compartment and not freezer! second separate door saves lot of bills.

These are slightly bigger and hence suitable for family size of 4-6 members.

Whenever I will upgrade now, I will go for two door refrigerator.

2.1 Bottom Mounted Refrigerator

This is sub type of double door refrigerator, only the freezer is located at the bottom, rather than traditional top location.

Logic is that freezer is used occasionally in India due to temperatures around 25-35 degrees most of the time in year, which means frequently used section is moved to top, avoiding bending each time you access the food items (fruits and vegetables) in the fridge!

3. Triple Door Refrigerator

The additional door here as compared to the double door works to close the the vegetable compartment.

This is done specially to avoid any mixing of odors by separation of compartments.

4. Side by Side Door Refrigerator

These are also double door versions, but not horizontal split but vertical split resembling to a big cupboard with two doors opening side by side.

They are normally large in size and meant for bigger family sizes upto 10 members!

Most of the times, these facilitates ice and water dispenser on the door itself! Saving energy loss just to get cold water from the fridge.

Two big doors provides enough separation for types of food items, also opening only one door will prevent energy loss from the other compartment.

What size Refrigerator do I need for a family of 4?

Capacity of refrigerator is specified in Liters of volume.

Buying bigger fridge than necessary will occupy more space in kitchen as well as consume more power, giving high electricity bills. Hence it is required to choose optimum size of refrigerator for your home.

So depending upon the family size and number of members like Adults and children, you need to choose correct sized refrigerator.

Here is general thumb rule chart I have prepared for typical Indian family:

Direct Cool vs Frost Free Refrigerators

Direct cool refrigerators are typically much less expensive than the frost free versions.

Direct Cool Refrigerator :

Direct cool refrigerators have the freezer compartment located at the top, hence the cooling in the main compartment happens due to natural flow of clod air downwards forcing hot air from food items to flow upwards generating a natural convection process.

Obviously you get fastest cooling in freezer compartment as well as these types consumes less electricity and hence lower running costs. As of today I own this type of refrigerator from LG brand.

One disadvantage is that you need to manually defrost the freezer compartment, hence keep an eye over ice formation. If you forget to do so, it will decrease efficiency of fridge thereby increasing power consumption.

As on date, direct cool refrigerators are available only in small single door option.

For smaller families or bachelors, single door refrigerator with direct cool is best option.

One more important point, direct cool although is becoming absolute for the home models, still it will remain the main stream for commercial deep fridges or even the industrial models due to its efficiency and low power consumption.

Frost Free Refrigerator

Here the defrost is taken care automatically to remove the ice formation.

Now-a-days almost all modern refrigerators are coming with frost free function. They use electric fans to evenly circulate cool air inside the fridge.

Frost-free refrigerators usually have a longer life due to low duty cycle of the compressor.

To summarize –

1. Frost free refrigerators are more expensive compared to direct cool.

2. Direct cool refrigerators needs manual operation to remove the ice formation.

3. Direct cool refrigerators uses natural convection, resulting in instant cooling and lesser power consumption.

4. Frost free models are good in maintaining consistent temperatures, and keeping food items fresh for a longer period of time as compared to direct cool refrigerators.

Energy Efficiency Rating – Reduce Electric bills

Bureau of Energy Efficiency by the Government of India certifies and provides Energy Efficiency Ratings for electrical appliances. ( Source )

The sticker of EER is displayed on the front panel of any appliance, since this is one of the main marketing criteria in India.

Star rating starts from single star till five stars, in-general higher the star rating is better.

The label will also indicate amount of electricity consumption in units per year of operation. So lower the number better for you, since electricity bills will reduce,so in long terms 5 star rated appliance will payback the investment.

However more start, you need to pay more, so my suggestion is to go for balance of investment versus returns, go for 3 star rated appliance. (My home refrigerator from LG is 3 star rated)

Note: Triple door refrigerators do not come with energy star rating.

How much power can I save by using a 5 star fridge of 250L capacity than a 3 star fridge of the same capacity?

So looking at the above table you will save about 565 Rs per year if you go for 5 star rated 250 Liter refrigerator instead of 3 star rated rated 250 Liter refrigerator.

Inverter compressor refrigerator

First thing is that inverter refrigerator does not mean that you can run it on home inverter!

Its only the technology of compressor and refrigerator that helps reducing electricity bills as well as give you consistent temperature inside the fridge compartment. Look at the image above showing compressor cycle as compared to the general compressor.

The compressor is operated at lower capacity when the energy extraction requirements are low, hence saving electricity as well as increasing life of compressor substantially. You can say it is like variable stroke compressor.

In-general you will get 20 to 30 percent of the electricity savings over standard compressor.

My recommendation is to go for refrigerator with inverter technology which saves energy as well as keeps food fresh due to stable temperatures.

Once you select the refrigerator what are things to look for?

• Design

  • Stylish and sleek.
  • Matching to the color scheme of your kitchen
  • Rollers at the bottom to provide easy mobility

• Toughened Glass Shelves

  • There are 3 types of shelves: Wired, acrylic or tempered glass.
  • Tempered glass shelves looks modern, more hygienic, and are the strongest.
  • Make sure that the glass shelves must be toughened. This avoids any sort of breakage.

• Adjustable Shelves and Bottle Racks

  • Adjustable shelves for height and /or depth provides you the flexibility to package different food items in the same space. This helps if you have some item which is tall or short.
  • Its a good to have feature.

• Separators

  • You can keep fruits and vegetables in different box using the separators, helps you to organize things in better way.

• Deodorizer

  • Again a good to have feature, but not a must
  • Odor in refrigerator depends upon how do you keep the food items (closed or open)
  • Deodorizer uses odor filters during the power fan circulation, thus keeping fridge fresh.

• Ice-Making Process

  • A quick-freeze compartment Faster ice-making is very useful feature at times.
  • Specially helpful during summer season, when demand for ice is more.

• Cool Pack

  • Most of the Indian areas face power cut issues, during which items in fridge may get spoiled due to increase in temperature
  • Cool Pack feature in the freezer contains cooling gel which holds the fridge compartment temperature lower for a longer period during power cuts.
  • As per me this is a must have feature if you face more power cuts in your area.

• Water & Ice Dispensers

  • Good to have feature for big families
  • You get water or ice without opening the fridge door, thus increases your comfort as well as saves power due to less fridge opening.

• Moisture Control

  • Good to have but not a must feature
  • Helps fruits and vegetables to remain fresh for longer periods of time.

• Stabilizer-Free Operation

  • Most of the refrigerator in India now offer stabilizer-free operation, since voltage fluctuation is common across India, this is a must requirement to save the compressor burning off.
  • This eliminates need to external stabilizer to protect from voltage surge / fluctuations.

• Noise

  • Must to look for this feature, noise must be lower.
  • This is important for small homes, since during night time switching ON/OFF cycle from the compressor makes disturbing noise.
  • Also during night time compressor noise becomes prominent and if you have small home, it becomes irritating.

• Lock & Key Feature

  • Good for those who have kids at home
  • Not sure but people do keep money inside the fridge !! just kidding !!!

Buying Refrigerator Online in India

Important question, Should I Buy Refrigerator Online in India?

Shortest answer is YES.

Reasons

• You get good bargains than local shops due to the fact that online owners are generally distributors and have lower operating costs compared to the local shops.
• Online sites like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal provide after sales support, in case of any issues you can even return the product.
• You get good discounts as well as exchange offers from big online sales like Diwali sale, Summer sale etc.
• No need to bargain, just search for best deals and you are ready to go.
• Simply make sure that you buy refrigerator, from Amazon Fulfilled seller or Flipkart Assured seller or Cloudtail and OmniTechRetail who are trusted sellers for refrigerators.

Refrigerator Energy Conservation Tips

• Do not put hot food directly into the fridge, cool it first.
• Do not overfill your refrigerator
  More loading means less air circulation, means less efficiency and hence more electricity bills, plus improper operations.
• Set the refrigerator temperature correctly 
  Do not set the Refrigerator to lowest temperatures, it will not save energy, set it to optimum as per the food loading, else it will increase your energy consumption by – 20 to 25 %.
• Don’t open refrigerator door frequently
  Frequently opening of refrigerator door will increase energy consumption by about 7%. So decide once and remove as many items you need.
• Clean regularly
  Keeping fridge frost free will save lot of energy bills.
• Go for highest STAR rated refrigerator:
  You have already seen how star rating affects the energy consumption and saves money year over years.

Do read our blog on USA website about Willz Refrigerator Review [New introduction 2021]