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Australia's most reliable cooktop brands

The cooktop brands that best hold up over time, as chosen by CHOICE members.

cooktops couple cooking dinner
Last updated: 07 July 2020

The annual CHOICE reliability survey asks thousands of members about the types of cooktops they own, what they think of them and how they've held up over time. 

More than 6000 members participated in our 2020 reliability survey, with 52% (3115) telling us they bought a cooktop brand new. The information they provided gives us a really good indication of how various cooktop brands perform over time – something we can't test in our labs.

Use this article to find the most reliable cooktop brands from our latest survey.

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The top performers

Most reliable brands: Westinghouse, Bosch, AEG

Highest owner satisfaction: Bosch, Miele, Fisher & Paykel, AEG, Westinghouse, Electrolux, Smeg

Main problems: Difficult to clean, problems with the igniter/ignition

Cooktop ownership by type includes:

  • 48% gas
  • 34% induction electric
  • 15% ceramic electric.

The most reliable type of cooktop is still a ceramic.

Statistically, there isn't one clear-cut winner when it comes to the most reliable brand, or the one with the highest satisfaction, but Westinghouse, Bosch and AEG do achieve above-average reliability scores. Benchtop cooktops have an 84% reliability score and an 85% satisfaction score across all brands, while freestanding oven/cooktop combos achieve an 80% reliability score and an 82% satisfaction score.

Although Omega cooktops are cheaper than other brands (with 56% paying under $700), its reliability and satisfaction scores are among the lowest of the brands recorded.

Of those who bought their cooktop in the last eight years, 63% have never experienced problems. 9% complained that it's difficult to clean, 8% had problems with the igniter/ignition and 12% had contacted the brand for service support (49% of them did so due to a major failure).

Members also provided open-ended feedback on their cooktop brand. Bosch owners were generally happy, although there were a few complaints of the cooktop being difficult to clean. A few Westinghouse owners mentioned problems with the knobs coming off or discolouring.

Cooktop brand performance

Cooktop brand performance
Brand Reliability score (%)* Satisfaction score (%)
Westinghouse (225) 89 84
Bosch (255) 88 90
AEG (86) 87 85
Fisher & Paykel (108) 83 86
Miele (203) 81 88
Electrolux (103) 80 84
Smeg (155) 80 83
Omega (61) 79 76
AVERAGE (1750) 83 85
Table notes: Sample sizes in brackets. Reliability scores are based on data from 2012-2019 (8 years) for reliability. *Differences of 5% or more between brands are significantly different. Brand If your brand is missing, this means we don't have enough owners by year group to report about reliability for that brand.

How we get the data

We calculated each brand's reliability score and owner rating based on a survey of 6009 CHOICE members, conducted in 2020.

About the scores

Reliability

Reliability figures are based on owner assessment, not test data. We use the data we collect from members to rate the most popular brands for reliability. We take into account the age of the products so we can compare fairly between brands.

Owner satisfaction

We asked owners to tell us what they thought of the products they own, rating them from excellent to terrible. We've used this information to give each brand an owner satisfaction rating so you can see what people who use the brand, day in day out, think of them.