Appliance reliability

In general, the type of mixer or blender doesn’t matter either, although the new breed of single-serve blenders has lower-than-average reliability. These products are also relatively new, 76% of single-serve blenders in our survey are less than 18 months old. It remains to be seen how they hold up with more smoothies under their belts. For now, Nutri Ninja blenders are most reliable, with only 2% needing repair.

Satisfaction is highest for Magimix food processors (with 81% very satisfied), and KitchenAid and Kenwood mixers (with 85 and 77% very satisfied). For blenders, Nutri Ninja and NutriBullet owners are most satisfied.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Blenders

Total number surveyed: 1927

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Blender type reliability

Food mixers

Total number surveyed: 1615

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Food mixer type reliability

Food processors

Total number surveyed: 1295

Brand reliability and satisfaction

For more information, see our tests of blenders, food mixers and food processors.

Simpson was the most reliable brand back then, and it is still up at the top with 95% not needing repair. They are joined by Bosch, also scoring 95% reliability, closely followed by Miele with 94% and Fisher & Paykel with 93%.

Miele owners are a happy bunch, with 91% very satisfied. Sulking at the bottom of the table were Haier owners, of which only 36% were very satisfied their clothes dryer.

Vented dryers are the simplest and most popular type of clothes dryer, making up 70% of our survey. They are the most reliable type too, with 93% not needing repair. Heat-pump dryers made up 6% of the survey. They are an expensive, but reliable, option; 89% of them didn’t need repair.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 1256

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Clothes dryer type reliability

For more on clothes dryers, see our test.

Bosch and Ariston are the most reliable brands with 97% free from repair. Bosch owners are satisfied with their cooktop (82% very satisfied).

Parmco reliability is below average with 19% of cooktops needing repair. It is the only brand to have less than half of its owners very satisfied, with 17% saying they were dissatisfied.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 1954

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Cooktop type reliability

For more on cooktops, see our test.

Evantair propped up the dehumidifier satisfaction results, with just half of owners claiming it was “excellent”. Evantair owners were more likely than any others to say their dehumidifier did not perform well in temperatures under 15°C.

Total number surveyed: 589

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

For more on dehumidifiers, see our test.

Miele and Bosch, with 92 and 91% of dishwashers not needing repair, are still the most reliable brands. However, Haier is closing the gap with Simpson, another budget brand. It’s good to see you don’t have to spend big money to get a reliable dishwasher.

Satisfaction is a different story. While Miele and Bosch have the most very satisfied owners (86 and 83%), Simpson have only 67% of owners very satisfied. Haier is bottom, with just 47% of owners very satisfied.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 2901

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Dishwasher type reliability

For more on dishwashers, see our test.

We asked our members how they use their electric blankets. Of people who remove their blankets during summer (36% of respondents), those who roll it up for storage experience fewer blanket faults than those who fold it. We advise always rolling, not folding, your blanket when storing. We also found one in 5 of us leave our blanket on all night during colder nights, and more than half never use a timer. Homemaker blanket owners were more likely to leave them on all night, and Sunbeam owners were more likely to use the timer. Perhaps unsurprisingly after the recall, Sunbeam owners (one in 10) were more likely to get their blanket checked annually by an electrician. However, the vast majority of electric blanket owners don’t bother.

Total number surveyed: 2285 (bought since 2007)

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

For more on electric blankets, see our test.

The most reliable brand is Kent, achieving a remarkable 1% repair rate. The most common brand in our survey is Goldair, which also manages above-average reliability.

Despite overall reliability performance being very good, electric heater owners aren’t especially satisfied with their products, with only 85% satisfied. Evantair has the fewest very satisfied owners (49%), while Celsius has the most dissatisfied owners (22%). In contrast, 71% of Kent owners are very satisfied with just 1% dissatisfied.

Dyson AM04 and AM05 heaters sold between March 2012 and March 2014 were subject to a voluntary recall, which is included in the reliability data. If this data was not included, Dyson heaters would have above average reliability.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 1927

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Heater type reliability

For more on electric heaters, see our test.

Total number surveyed: 1522

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

Espresso machine type reliability and satisfaction

For more on espresso machines, see our test.

Freezers

Total number surveyed: 1000

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

Fridges and fridge-freezers

Total number surveyed: 2581

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

Fridge-freezer type reliability and satisfaction

For more information, see our tests of freezers, fridges and fridge-freezers.

The performance of your heat pump on cold mornings goes a long way to defining how satisfied you are with it. When outside temperatures fall below 5°C, about the point where frost forms, the outside part of the heat pump may need to defrost before it can generate heat. Overall, 8% of members said their heat pump had not performed adequately on cold, frosty mornings. Significantly, more Fujitsu owners (12%) and fewer Daikin owners (4%) were dissatisfied with the cold weather performance of their heat pump.

A common concern with heat pumps is noise. While the interior and exterior parts can be noisy, you’ll notice the interior more (close neighbours may be more bothered by the exterior). How much noise it makes depends on how hard the heat pump has to work to maintain a temperature, as well as the design of the heat pump itself. Our survey didn’t show noise to be a major problem for most heat pump owners: just 1 in 10 said they considered the indoor part of their heat pump to be noisy. Mitsubishi Electric had the fewest owners (7%) who noticed noise — which is a rare example of an advert telling the whole truth. However, significantly more Hitachi (20%) and Panasonic (15%) owners thought their heat pumps were noisy. This may be a factor in the lower-than-average satisfaction of Hitachi owners — just 60% of them said they got “excellent satisfaction” compared to the category average of 75%.

Total number surveyed: 1833

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

For more information, see out test of heat pumps.

The standout brand across both categories is DeLonghi. Of the 510 DeLonghi toasters and kettles bought, only 2% have needed repair. Breville is the most common brand, accounting for almost a third of toasters and kettles in our survey. Its reliability is good too, with 95% of toasters and 93% of kettles not needing repair.

No matter how reliable they are, we just don’t get too excited about our toasters and kettles. Only 60% of toaster owners are very satisfied. It’s a similar story for kettles, with 66%. The exception is Dualit toaster owners — 81% are very satisfied. No other brand came close.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Kettles

Total number surveyed: 4237

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Toasters

Total number surveyed: 3130

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Toaster type reliability

For more information, see our tests of kettles and toasters.

But, despite the high number of repairs, 91% of owners are satisfied with their lawnmower. Perhaps we just expect our lawnmowers to go wrong, or maybe we love mowing our lawns so much we can tolerate poor lawnmower reliability? Comments from members who are satisfied with their mower even after repair, such as “all ride-on mowers break when used hard” and “initially had a lot of trouble starting this mower but have learned its ways” would suggest there’s something in that.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 1854

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Lawnmower type reliability

For more on lawnmowers, see our test.

While Bosch is most reliable, with only 4% needing repair, Stihl and Husqvarna owners are significantly more likely to be satisfied. These are the only brands to achieve more than 70% of owners very satisfied (Stihl has 82%, Husqvarna 74%, the next best is Ryobi with 56%).

While we didn’t ask specifically for comments about satisfaction, many members mentioned dissatisfaction and problems with line feed and spooling. Homelite owners were most likely to report this as a problem needing repair.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 1567

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Line trimmer type reliability

For more on line trimmers, see our test.

LG owners are the most likely to be very satisfied and to recommend the brand to others. But our members are generally satisfied with their microwave — at least 90% of owners of all brands, except Samsung, are satisfied.

20% of microwaves in our survey are combination models. These aren’t as reliable as standard microwaves (90% versus 94%). That’s not surprising, as they have microwave and regular oven functions.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 2897

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Microwave type reliability

For more on microwaves, see our test.

The worst brand across ovens and stoves was Parmco. Its freestanding stove reliability was particularly bad (57%) and even after accounting for a small sample size it was below average. More than a fifth of owners said satisfaction was “poor”. One in 6 said value for money was “poor”. Parmco stoves were more likely than any other brand to have problems with the thermostat, oven controls and gas burners. In contrast, other brands show it is possible to build a reliable freestanding stove: Bosch and Westinghouse returned above-average reliability of 88 and 85% respectively.

Built-in ovens

Total number surveyed: 1246

Freestanding stoves

Total number surveyed: 739

For more information, see our tests of built-in ovens and freestanding stoves.

However, just 83% of members are satisfied with their rangehood, the lowest of any appliance in the survey. Bosch had the largest number of owners who are very satisfied (77%). At the other end, only 43% of Robinhood owners are very satisfied.

Many members commented about how noisy their rangehood is. The exception was Schweigen rangehood owners. We didn’t specifically ask about noise, but we noted 16 of 41 owners commented on how quiet their Schweigen is.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 1601

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Rangehood type reliability

For more on rangehoods, see our test.

Total number surveyed: 913

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

For more on steam mops, see our test.

One in 10 vacuum cleaners had needed repair or replacement. Canister vacuums remain the most popular with more than 2500 reported, but cordless sticks are on the rise. In 2012-13, just 4% of models reported were cordless sticks, but by 2016-17 this had risen to 22%. More than half of cordless sticks were Dysons. However, cutting the cord comes at a cost — they were the only type of vacuum below-average in our survey. Batteries or charging was the main problem (56% of all cordless stick and 24% of all Dyson problems). This lower reliability doesn’t affect satisfaction though. They were up there with corded canisters and uprights.

Total number surveyed: 3513

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

Vacuum cleaner type reliability and satisfaction

Note: we didn’t get enough robot vacuum responses to calculate reliability.

For more on vacuum cleaners, see our test.

HRV has a reputation, and it isn’t good. This isn’t a result of system performance, as it returns solidly average scores for reliability, system effectiveness, satisfaction and value. Rather, it is the brand’s history of aggressive sales tactics, including attempts to sell upgrades and other products to existing customers. Our survey shows it is the leader in this behaviour, with more than a third of HRV owners reporting the problem (the next worst — DVS — has only 9%). However, there are signs its behaviour is changing. Whereas almost half of owners of HRV systems installed between 2007 and 2010 reported issues, for systems installed in 2015 or later, this reduced to just 15%. We hope this improvement continues.

Total number surveyed: 804 (bought since 2007)

Brand reliability, satisfaction and value

For more on ventilation systems, see our test.

LG and Fisher & Paykel are the other brands to have above-average reliability, scoring 92% and 89% respectively. LG also scored highly for satisfaction, third of all brands behind Miele and Bosch.

Samsung washing machines manufactured between February 2010 and February 2013 were affected by a recall, which accounted for some of the repairs reported in our survey.

Continuing the trend we noted last year, front-loading machines are rivalling the popularity of top loaders. We see very little difference between front and top loader reliability – top loaders score 87% compared to 85% for front loaders.

Results are from our 2016 survey.

Total number surveyed: 3056

Brand reliability and satisfaction

Washing machine type reliability

For more on washing machines, see our test.