For those of you who are conflicted and confused about what the distinctions are between a "wine cooler" and a "wine cellar", let this reviewer be clear about this Danby model: it is a mini refrigerator that has a tinted glass door instead of a solid door, and a black interior instead of a white interior, and has wire racks spaced to accommodate wine bottles instead of groceries. Other than those styling differences I am sure that it is made on the same factory line as Danby's mini fridges, has the same mechanical guts and thermostat, and is otherwise not in any way made especially for wine. It's a mini refrigerator styled to make you feel good about putting your wine in a "wine cooler" instead of a refrigerator.
That is not a bad thing, in itself. But don't expect too much beyond that. Many people feel that the ideal temp for wine storage is about 55F. I was able to get the Danby to maintain a roughly stable temp of 55F with the temp dial turned to barely a fraction above OFF. With the thermostat turned higher (stronger) it is likely that the unit would achieve a temp much like a regular fridge, of about 40F. Several reviewers have noted that their units ran "cold". One thing I did notice, using a digital thermometer, was that there was about a six to seven (6-7) degree difference between the top rack and bottom rack of the unit. If it was 55F on the top rack then it was 49F or even a little colder on the lower racks. Someone thinking about paying a premium price for a cooler model advertised as "dual zone" might want to contemplate this. It may be that wine coolers of this type are "dual zone" by nature, no need to stress and worry and pay extra for this "feature".
Some people have expressed the opinion that leaving wine in a unit like this for extended periods will dry out the corks. I left a digital humidity meter inside for a day, and noted that the humidity level was 60%. Hardly desert like.
The unit seems well built and solid. It certainly weighs enough at about 70 pounds. It is slightly noisy, as others have noted, making a noticeable whine when cycling for a few minutes every so often. But I tend to think that the sound levels are more a product of a unit like this being placed in living rooms or dens, where this kind of noise is unusual and calls attention to itself, more than it is due to the system being more noisy than average.
It does in fact hold 36 standard sized bottles. Adding one broad shouldered bottle per row didn't cause any problem. But if your whole assortment of wine is all broad shouldered bottles then you might wind up with only four bottles per row rather than five. But standard 750ml bottles were no problem.
I am basically happy with my Danby wine cooler for what it is: an inexpensive unit that is mostly for convenient wine storage close to the dining table, at a temp that is approximately the right temp for storage, that protects wine from big temp swings and excessive heat. It's not a system for long term aging or preservation. For the price, about $240.00 from Amazon with free shipping for Prime members at the time of this review, it is certainly the cheapest unit of this type on offer. It seems to be a great bargain, even with the features that it lacks. It does not, for example, have a digital temp readout, or the ability to maintain warmer temps up to about 60F, or humidity control, and although the racks are removable they are not slide out trays, you have to pull each bottle out to see what it is. For the money I am a happy buyer. At higher prices one should be more critical, and might think harder about the system's characteristics before buying.
For the money- this no frills wine refrigerator cannot be beat. It is attractive and fits nicely under a “countertop island”. There is one caveat though - and that is the temperature differential (approximately 5 degrees) between the bottom portion of the fridge and the top. This works well for me because I store my white wines in the bottom racks where it is colder - and my reds in the top racks where it is slightly warmer.
I've hesitated to post this review. I have owned this wine cooler for about two months now.
- It seems to maintain a constant temperature.
- It uses relatively electricity.
- It is a bit louder than desired and I've found that I need to turn it off when guests are staying in my living room.
- I am generally able to fit five bottles per shelf (with some creative arrangement) and a few more in the bottom. It can accommodate most Pinot Noir bottles but I have had difficulty with some champagnes (then again, I don't care for champagne anyway).
I purchased it because I wanted to store my wine in a separate unit with climate control. I travel quite a bit for work and my apartment is subject to some substantial temperature swings.
The temperature control is imprecise at best and keeps the reds too cold for consumption even at the lowest possible setting. I apologize for the lack of precise numbers. I'll acquire a thermometer and report back.
PURCHASE DATE: 03OCT18
PRICE PAID: $212.61
REVIEW DATE: 08MAY19
Short and to the point. Wife and I made a bar area which she designed (see attached pictures). We love to have family and friends over but we kept running into issues with our kitchen refrigerator being filled to maximum capacity prior to arrival of guests and no room for extra beer, mixers, nor spirits. So...we decided to go with this Danby Mini-Fridge in our bar area. Reviews are mixed but please read and see our posted pictures.
We have owned this item now for seven months and it has been consistent in temperature. I placed the fridge temperature gauge at maximum temperature. I used a ThermoPro Digital Thermometer to check drink temperatures as follows:
TOP SHELF: ranged between 44 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit immediately after opening
BOTTOM SHELF: ranged between 40 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit immediately after opening.
The listing shows a temperature that ranges between 43 and 57 degrees Fahrenheit. I am pleased with it thus far. It has blue LED lights inside which illuminate the fridge interior. Our bar area and this fridge are near a TV area and when on idle it sounds as if water is trickling slightly in the background. When it turns on to cool it is not loud. The picture we posted with offset shelves is how it arrived after taking it out of the box. It was the same height as our Mayfair website bar you see shown to the left. It comes with a 12 month warranty. I will update this review if anything arises but for now cheers and thank you for reading!
PLEASE NOTE: I do these reviews to help people out. This review is my honest opinion after doing much research and purchasing this product for personal use. Prior to purchasing any product I conduct thorough research, test the item, and photograph it prior to posting a review. "Was this review helpful to you?" if it was please click on "HELPFUL" button below. If you would like to leave a “Comment” please do so and I will respond to any questions you might have as soon as I can. THANK YOU!
I really enjoy this Keg cooler. It arrived undamaged and on time, as per my usual experience with Prime shipping. Set up was a breeze, though I do have experience with bar keg systems. All necessary parts were included. This cooler gets plenty cold. I was able to have it pour in the low 30's, but have now settled in at a nice 37-39 degrees. My biggest piece of advice is to keep the CO2 tank outside the kegorator. This will eliminate your foaming problem. I am not a scientist so I don't have the mechanics worked out, but I wasted a good portion of my first keg to foam with the tank inside. Moved it outside and had 2 kegs now that have poured perfectly. it has a handy mounting bracket for the back, and you simply have to wrap a few lengths of duck tape around the hose to seal opening to the cooler. it might look bad or cause you to be creative to hide the tank (mine is tucked to the side next to the wine server table thing), but if you don't you will waste beer. your choice. Also, you will put on weight because draft beer in you living room is glorious.
P
Feature Product
- 17 bottle countertop wine cooler
- Scratch resistant worktop
- Reversible door hinge
- Black wire shelves
- Tempered glass door
Description
Danby's DWC172BL 1.8 Cu. Ft. 17-Bottle Counter-Top Wine Cooler is a compact wine cooler that takes up little space but offers big storage. The counter top design provides a convenient and economical alternative to chilling wine in the fridge. The molded scratch-resistant worktop provides additional storage for accessories.The all black cabinet and tempered glass door with reversible hinge will suit almost any decor.
I waited a couple of months to write this review to have a solid opinion. The hardest thing to get right was the temperature...but, to be honest, I have it in my uncooled garage in Florida: A big No-No! I bought a digital thermometer and fooled with the setting on the cooler's backside for weeks before I got the thermometer to consistently read between 60 and 64 degrees depending on the time of day and the ambient garage temperature. Of course there is one caveat: Those temps are only for the top half of the cooler. The bottom is about 5 degrees cooler, which actually works for me. I keep my red wines in the top two racks and a few bottles of white on the bottom. In fact if I had the cooler in the house, the temp would be too cold for my reds since other reviewers have mentioned problems getting temps above 59-60 degrees in air-conditioned rooms; I prefer red wine between 62 and 65 degrees, so I am a happy camper. That being said, I may have a shortened life span for the cooler since it may be working harder than designed in my extremely warm garage. The cooler was cheap enough so if I only get 2 or 3 years out of it, I will be satisfied. I had another Danby {a much larger discontinued model with 2 temperature zones} for about 10 years before it died. It also was in my garage and performed very well, which is why I bought another Danby.
I love it! It barely makes any noise, it looks nice and it keeps my wine at a consistent temperature. It was also very affordable.
The cons:
36 bottles doesn't take into consideration the wideness of pinot noir. Therefore, I would say 30-36 is more accurate. However, I did manage to fit a magnum sideways in there ;-)
The temperature is just a dial. The only way I know approximately what temperature it is, is because of a meet thermometer I put in there. I have the dial about as high as I can put it and it's about 48 degrees. Ideally wine should be stored between 45-65 degrees so it barely falls in place.
Overall, it's great for the price though and would recommend it!
I have gone through several of the solid state wine coolers (no compressor) and at best they have been disappointing. They have had noisy fans and marginal electrical cooling circuitry that fritzed within 2 months of use and had to be replaced. The concept is great in a climate where the year-round inside house temperature is less than 15 degrees above than the desired wine temperature, but that's not often possible except maybe in the northern third of the US. The Danby was amazingly quiet even when first turned on. It makes significantly less noise than the microwave oven next to it. I will have to buy some internal thermometers to vet the temperature since the thermostat is very basic. A design with a couple of internal LED lights would have been nice, but I leave a LED flash light on top for viewing. This cooler is basically a standard refrigerator design from 30 years ago with a front glass door, but that has been a proven, durable design. Time will tell whether the refrigerator components last a reasonable time (ten years?), but I am sold on it now.
Handsome but inexpensive unit that we have in the corner of our dining room. FedX person handled box, but It was heavy for us old folks to unbox and move - used a hand truck. Easy set up (temp set not exactDanby 36 Bottle Freestanding Wine CoolerDanby 36 Bottle Freestanding Wine Cooler - no digital readout just exterior dial easily accessed at top of the back for higher or lower temp). Wire racks are sturdy and slide easily with bottles. We bought unit that accommodates greater number of bottles than we usually store assuming we may have to take out a rack to accommodate some larger bottles. I'll update review after a couple months use- in place for a week now. Was going to consider extended warranty since our last thermoelectric NewAir wine chiller, costing $100 more from Sears, only lasted 2 years, but Danby only offers the extended warranty to Canadian residents per their written information.
Keeps a constant temp at 42. I set it to the coldest like instructions said to do so and it has stayed constant. I have a thermometer reading the temp that I purchased separately.
The packaging was very well done. it not only came in and outside box but the inside that box it was inside another box with foam padded sides and nylon straps.
The LED light inside is blue and can be left on or set it to just come on when the door is opened.
You do lose a lot. a degrees of cooling opening and
closing the door, so having a glass door to see the contents is great. si have large licor bottles standing up in the bottom. But the large ones will not fit. Larger wine/champagne bottle need to alternate in direction the fit well. You do have to give them a little push, so if you collect labels keep that in mind. You can remove racks but not adjust as the positions are fixed. I removed two racks, the two bottom racks.
I had bought a New Air wine chiller and it was packed very poorly, came defective from the manufacturer and they told me to return it as it could not be fixed (the door hinges were installed incorrectly at the factory). So I returned it and bought this brand and so far I am happy. Have only had it a week though.
0 comments:
Post a Comment