Haier HBCN05FVS 150-Can Beverage Center

• Beverage center for chilling and storing up to 150 12-ounce cans
• 4 full-width adjustable vinyl-coated shelves hold both cans and bottles
• Adjustable thermostat; reversible glass door with recessed handle
• Removable lower bottle rack; automatic defrost; lock and key for optional security
• Measures 21-1/4 by 20-1/2 by 31-3/8 inches

My beverage center arrived quickly and we were quite eager to get it up and running as my husband always takes too much space in the fridge with his bottled water, soda pop and beer. Just as advertised, it holds a lot of stuff!

The honeymoon ended quickly though, when we found that we could not get the temp to go below 49 degrees, which is pretty tepid for any cold beverage and absolutely unacceptable for beer. We tried everything, reread instructions, etc. You can only set it on a dial, there no indication of what the temp actually is...so we bought a thermometer and got the bad news that despite being on the coldest setting possible, we weren't getting below 49-50, which according to the thermometer we bought is actually in the "danger" zone of letting bacteria breed.

So, we call the manufacturer who says that we should have know it is a "cooler" not a fridge and will only keep beverages 20 degrees cooler than the ambient temp in the house. What a crock!!!!!!

So, we're stuck with a piece of equip that barely cools things down.

I suggest anyone interested in purchasing these things, now matter the price, be well informed between the differences of cooler and refrigerator. I have learned an expensive lesson.

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This thing broke in 9 months. Never really got drinks cold anyway. More of a "chiller" than refrigerator. Get something else.

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Reading all the other reviews of this product......you have to blame the error of the customers and not the product itself.

If you have ever owned a Wine Fridge.....you know it is NOT a refrigerator....that is not its purpose. If the other reviewers wanted a beverage holder that was able to keep food in it or keep beverages below 40degrees....then they should have gotten a REFRIGERATOR...not a wine fridge/chiller.

So knowing that....let us give an honest and realistic review of this item based on what it was actually designed for.

This unit while not the highest frills of wine chillers is attractive with a stainless steel trim on the door and a glass front and a black body. The door is reversible and it has an internal blue LED interior light you can turn on/off depending on your mood. It does not have a Temperature indicator with a simple dial for temperature with MIN to MAX indicators. It is simple and attractive.....and given its price....thats to be expected. I purchased a suction cup thermometer that faces out and mounts to the interior of the glass door for like 2$.

It comes with 4 adjustable racks and the nice bonus of a bottom storage area rack that has not been present in other wine chillers I have purchased. It allows you to stack cans on the bottom on their side so they don't roll out.

My unit is new and I purchased it as it is replacing an old Urbina thermoelectric wine chiller that finally crapped out after 2.5 years (It was dirt cheap so no big whoop). We will see if this unit is the exception.

Lets be honest......these units don't tend to last more than 3 years on average so if you are worried about that a higher end unit may be to your liking....but you will pay a pricey premium for actual fridge-like beverage centers like GE's.....or just invest in a long extended warranty so you can be re-imbursed should it fail within 3 years (this is what I did).

This unit unlike my old model has an actual compressor and sealed coolant system which is a luxury at this price range....usually you are getting a thermo-electric cooling system at prices below 200$.

I will update my review in the coming months but so far my unit on MAX is cooling better than expected with an average of 33F below room temp:

(Current Results = Room Temp 75F / Cooler Temp 42F )

* NOTE: Cooler is in a shaded corner away from direct sunlight...and this is also one of the 'newer' models in stores now.

Hopefully this informed and realistic review will help others. This is good unit for the price if you want a beverage chiller. It is similar to units they use at bars and convenience stores on or near the counter. Your beverages will be chilled but they will not be ice cold. Your white wine will be in the perfect temperature range (depending on the temp of your home or room)......which is exactly what this unit was designed for.

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The fridge looks great, would be a perfect for beer, and I thought would be perfect for my bar. Only problem is that it is junk. It does not get cold whatsoever. Might as well stick your beer outside at night to get it cooler. Do not buy unless you know how to rig the thermostat.

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Having read the reviews about the lowest temperature this gets to, I was skeptical, but decided to buy this one anyway. Mostly because of the price and the fact that it fit almost perfectly in the space where the old one was.

Although this is NOT meant for built in spaces, I had a planned workaround. Anyway, my first tests were with the fridge in the middle of an 80F room with plenty of air circulation and no direct sun. Note that this unit does not have a condenser fan (the fan on the back of most larger refrigerators). Instead, the coils are behind the side panels, so they do get very warm. Anyway, because there is no fan, you should not use it built in.

So how did it do? I used a temperature logging device with my laptop and a power meter. On the maximum setting, it cycles on for 30-45 minutes and then off for about 30 minutes. It uses about 80 watts when on (0 watts when off, unless you have the LED's on so maybe a watt) and the temperature ranged from 35F to 45F with a median temperature of 41 (that's what a can of beer or soda would be at any given time because of its thermal mass).

80 watts seemed like a lot of energy for such a small unit, but since Amazon doesn't provide energy data for these, there's no way to compare.

Just for grins, I tried putting the unit in the cabinets (with 1/2" side clearance, 2" on top and 4" in the back) with no modifications. While it did cool about as well as in the open, it ran almost continuously, turning off only for about 5 minutes every 2 hours. That would be a huge energy hog so what I did was put a ~5" diameter muffin fan in the side of the cabinet such that it drew cool air from an adjacent area (the drawer section) and exhausted it into the area where the fridge is. Since the only openings were towards the front, that gave good circulation all around. I had an old Sears Craftsman power switch that I wasn't using (the kind normally used to turn on an accessory when a tool is turned on) that now turns the fan on whenever it senses the fridge is running. The added fan draws 10 watts, but it keeps the fridge from running constantly so it will save electricity. In fact, it may actually may run less than when it was in the open because of the added air circulation.

I find the unit is quiet (sorry don't have a decibel meter), but it is in the family room where the TV is and is not objectionable. Even when it was out in the open and not in the cabinet, it wasn't too loud.

I wish it was more energy efficient, but considering the price it is a good buy.

UPDATE 8-9-12:

I found that having the blue LED lights on affects the temperature inside. That's because the power supply for the LED is in a section of the housing where the thermostat is. If you have the lights on all the time, they generate a small amount of heat which makes the thermostat think the whole fridge is warmer. Thus it will run longer and get the inside about 5 degrees colder. This could explain why some people say the temperature inside is too warm. If you want to get it colder, try turning ON the blue LEDs!

I lowered my initial rating from 4 to 3 stars because of poor Haier customer service. I needed to get a new plastic plug that covers the hole in the door left from reversing the hinges (it was jammed in so tight and it is soft plastic so it got mashed up when I tried to remove it). The manufacturer basically said too bad, you have to buy a new one! This is for a part that couldn't cost more than a quarter.