Wine Enthusiast 18-Bottle Touchscreen Wine Refrigerator (Slimline - 2-Temp)

• Dual Zone for Reds & Whites
• Silent Cooling Technology
• Temperature range: 46-66F
• Touchscreen controls
• 18 Bottle Capacity

I have another Wine Enthusiast Wine fridge and it is so silent you can't hear it. This one hums so loud you have to turn the TV up in the next room. It's horrible. Don't buy. I'm returning it as soon as I can figure out how to ship it back. I feel like I have the humming tell-tale heart in the other room.

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I am aware of the number of negative reviews on this and other brands of the same product so the reading was carefully done and it came down to this one after about three days of examining various remarks on different sites. It's not easy picking one because these wine refrigs come across as sensitive and not really durable or built for longevity. Once I subtracted the extraordinary negative reviews for the different brands, which must come from competitors, and try to estimate how many dumbazzes do not treat the appliance properly during set up, then I got the percentage of reviews I needed to determine who prevailed. Cost, design, and features then completed the selection process.

Wine Enthusiast, according to some, cannot be trusted for customer service or quality. Some of the same reasoning, however, can be found for other brands. So, I chose this one based on the design (tall and slim) so it would fit between a basement bookshelf and table, noise (it is very quiet), attractiveness in a living area (black metal with tempered glass front surrounded by stainless steel trim), and cost for the goods received (18 bottles 750ml each storage for Amazon's price proved highly desirable).

Future buyers caveat: DO NOT do anything with it until you read the small manual included which you will find inside the unit. Too many people do not understand the need for the air temp parameters in the room where it will be located, allowing the unit to reach room temp before plugging it in, keeping it upright for at least 2 hours before plugging it in (I let mine sit overnight just to be sure any lubricants in it settled properly), and positioning it where it will get the best ventilation around the the sides and back. This is not a unit to be built in under a cabinet and you have to keep it away from air conditioners or heat sources. There is a statement in the manual that reads "In order to reach the lowest temperature (lower zone), the best ambient temperature will be around 60-65 F". Mine is in the finished basement area where the temp is typically 66 in the winter and might get to 70 in the summer on very hot days.

When you plug it in you should set the temps desired and wait for the two sections to reach those temps before loading in case there might be some type of malfunction. I left mine overnight because after 3 hours it was still adjusting and it was time for lights out. The next morning the two sections were correctly reading my settings. If you have difficulty remembering, recall that HEAT RISES so the top part should hold the reds and be set warmer and the lower will have your whites which will be 8-10 degrees cooler. The design provides different high and low for each section.

I then loaded the wine bottles that had been in the refrigerator (where the interior temp was 40deg) and both sections of the wine refrig dropped a few degrees. About four hours later the sections were reading back to the settings. Remember that these little starter coolers are not for fine expensive wines but are only to allow you to provide your bottle at the proper drinking temperature when the meal is ready...in addition to freeing up all of your refrigerator space if you like to have 10 to 18 bottles on hand of different varietals.

So, after 48 hours I can tell you that everything is mellow and the first bottle from the Slimline was at just the right temp for the Sunday meal. No more fumbling through a lot of bottles on a fridge shelf, estimating when to take the bottle out and leaving it on the table with the hope that it will be at the right temp when the serving plates are passed around.

If there are electronic problems in the near future, i.e. up to one year, I will return and update. WARNING: I thought I would look into Wine Enthusiast's 2,3 and 5 year extended warranty plans considering the problems that these types of appliances have. When I clicked on each one all three stated that due to "overwhelming demand" the plan was no longer available. Something smells about that notice. How does a company "run out" of extended warranties unless they already know that the consumer bought a lemon? At best, they should not have even offered such a plan on their site if they could not deliver. This was something I was unaware of until after delivery and I had to register the unit with the company.

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The "silent" and "ultra quiet" claims from Wine Enthusiast are completely bogus.

I bought one of these to fit in a smallspace in our living room, but can't use it there because the 'silent' fridge is so loud that it would be very distracting when we are watching TV it's that loud.

Now I have it inside a closet (with the closet door closed) over 50 feet away from the living room and yet we can still occasionally hear it.

BTW, I also contacted WineEnthusiast customer support online, and recieved an email from them promissing a response within 2 working days. That was several weeks ago, and despite several follow-up emails to them I got no response at all (and yes, I checked my spam filters). I finally contacted them by phone and asked why I had recieved no response no explanation given, and no apology for being utterly unresponsive.

Silent my foot... don't believe the hype.

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I Purchase this refrigerator is real loud . Is louder than my big refrigerator . If i would know I wouldnt purchase it.

I spent far too many hours researching wine fridges before settling on this one. That said, calling it a "fridge" is a bit inaccurate. These "budget" units use fans and some fancy electrical stuff to create the not-so-low temperatures your wines need for proper storage. They use less electricity than a refrigerator, they are very quiet, and they don't get down to freezing temperatures.

Unlike many, however, this cooler DOES get cold enough for proper white wine storage (I have it set to 46 degrees). The dual zone function is awesome (I have my reds at 55). You get nine bottles per zone. It's very attractive, 100% silent (folks saying theirs isn't have defective units and should return), and works great. If you're on the fence, make the leap; this has taken our wine consumption to new levels (quality, not quantity).

My only complaint would be that the wire racks are a bit flimsy and the storage space is very tight, which means you won't be able to fit 18 bottles if you have anything even a little bit oversized (champagne).

Save your time and rely on my research. This is an outstanding product.

UPDATE: Dropped down to 3-stars. After a few weeks of use (no changes in the product's environment), the unit is unable to hold the correct temperature for reds. It's still rocking for my whites, but it's too cold for reds (set to 55, but it won't go above 51). Could be worse, but worth mentioning.