Hi
We need to buy a new fridge freezer but will hopefully be emigrating to Oz within the next 2 years so the question is, do we buy a decent one that we can take with us or should we get a temporary one due to the fact that it wont work in Oz anyway?
I am told that even with a British to Oz adapter plug, it wont work for some reason - is this true?
Has anyone taken a fridge freezer and had any problems?
Thank you.

As I understand it, it will work but it might not cope well in the hotter parts of Australia.

We brought our samsung american style fridge freezer..... we debated weither to bring it or not...... as we though it might get a bit mouldy in the container, we had a look at the prices of them here and what they were in the UK and they seemed to be far cheaper in UK, we are really glad we brought it as to buy one similar here is about $3000 or more, they do work here, just change the plug and away you go

Gill

Hmmm, having browsed around here, I might have to reconsider our Only-Take-What-Can`t-Be-Replaced Theory...

While we`re on the subject, anyone know if UK landline phones work out there? OH wants to take our cordless, but stuff I have seen suggests they don`t work or will need an adaptor. Any ideas?

Just change the plug and it'll work fine. The story that UK fridges can't handle the heat is a BE urban myth. We brought 3 fridges over and they all work perfectly well.

I would go against that in retrospect - if you're coming from the UK, a container costs...5 grand pounds? Is that right or am I miles out? But it's easy to spend $10,000 on the electrics that you already own. Don't forget that kitchenware is very expensive - I've probably spent a good $1500 on that alone.

IMVHO, the cost of transporting that stuff is much less than buying it new. But if you were super organised, you could have things packed up by priority so that the stuff you definitely wanted to take went in first, then progressively packed a container with the less valuable stuff so that by the time you filled it, anything left over would be stuff that you weren't too bothered about either way.

(But if you could do that, you'd be miles more organised than me!)>

Agree - bring everything. If you don't need it, sell it here - Aussies love buying 2nd hand.

Selling / giving-away what works then buying new (or second-hand) is most likley to be a waste of money. You get lots of trouble selling and get next to nothing in money but then have to pay from savings, present or future.

Savings are your most costly money; they come after you have earned the money, paid income and other taxes, paid your living expenses, put money aside for holidays, emergencies and retirement.

It is another urban myth that white goods cost more in Aus than Uk. UK brands cost more in Aus is closer to the mark.

I would agree aswell, the amount of stuff we didnt bring that we wished we had of brought and the amount of things we sold in the UK for practically nout..... Wished we had brought the whole lot with us and anything we didnt need just had a garage sale. It wouldnt have cost us much more to ship it, and we are finding it hard to replace some of the stuff here. Although where we live now some things are more expensive than the Uk and some things are cheaper. Its worth while looking on some of the retailers websites in Oz to compare

Gill

I took mine, it's a bt espirit 1200 digital cordless and it won't work. just no dial tone at all when i connect it up. might be as well for you to sell it there and get a new one here.

hth
ob

took our fridge and it works fine. quite glad i did tbh. bought a 2nd hand one when we got here to tick us over til our own got here and we've still got it!

ob

Ours works fine here...
Someone elses didn't. Could be a model specific thing.

I guess unless you can get a decent amount for it if you sell it, I'd be inclined to bring it. As others have said, bring as much as you can, easier than paying out to replace here (which can be very expensive in the beginning & adds up quickly especially while you're still trying to land on your feet).

We have several friends who have done the move before us, most said to sell as much as possible & rather replace here. Our shipping quotes came out with very little difference to bringing the extras & furniture or not, so it didn't make sense to have to buy it all again here. Plus, remember there's a lot of European/British brand stuff that is very expensive here due to import costs, so it's worth bringing things that you have & like, that will be more expensive here.

Have you changed the cable from the bottom of the basestation to the wall socket ?

Very wise words

Google Freecycle,its an website that allows you to post free wanted and offers ads in your area.You can easily find your local group in your area.So your ad would read something like "Wanted,good working order fridge ?????size,can pick up"and see what happens.Your ad will then get sent to all members of your area (I think we have 5,000 in ours alone!)You would be surprised what gets offered on that webiste,clothing,furniture,toiletries,all kinds of household goods.If you have anything you want to get rid of (for free of course)just post an ad on the website and someone is bound to respond and collect!Its all free,no money changes hands,never know,someone might give you a fridge if they are upgrading or whatever!(My own MIL gave away her fridge/freezer as she was moving and it was too big for her new place so it does happen!