Monday, July 22, 2013

New EdgeStar 46 Btl Built-In Dual Zone Wine Cooler

New EdgeStar 46 Btl Built-In Dual Zone Wine Cooler
  • Upper Zone: 41 - 54ºF, Lower Zone: 54 - 64ºF
  • 115 Volts - 60 Hertz - 300 Watts -2.6 Amps
  • Undercounter or freestanding application
  • 3 - 8 bottle stainless trimmed wood shelves, 1 - 6 bottle stainless trimmed wood bottom shelf
  • Blue interior LED lighting displays your wine collection

I always do my due diligence when purchasing any product. We completely remodeled our kitchen last year and specifically built a spot for a wine fridge. My criterion for the fridge was: built-in, quite, reliable, shelves capable of fitting larger bottles, and memory for settings.

We received the unit in mid-April. I unpacked the until and let it sit in our kitchen for 36 hours to allow the oil in the unit to settle. I then installed the unit in the built-in place and set the temperature. The first 2 months the unit worked without significant issue. I would certainly not call it quite but it was not horrible. It did not drowned out the living room TV, but if the TV is off you could certainly tell the fridge was running.

The trouble began in month 3. We noticed the unit rattled. I move the unit out of the area and ensured the bolts were all tight and the motor area was clean. The issue went away. Then we have a power outage. Once it was back on the unit did NOT go back to its previous settings. I was highly disappointed in this result.

In August we started to see the unit fail. The temperate in the unit would not remain where we set it. A setting of 45 only dropped the temperature down to 60. I though the circuitry might need to be reset, so I turned the unit off and unplugged it. I then set it up again out side of the built in area. The unit worked fine outside of the cabinet. I then took measurements to make sure we had proper clearance all around the unit. It did. I then slid the unit half way into its spot. The temperate went up from 45 to 55.

I then contacted Edgestar support. I was told to ensure the coils were cleaned. To do this I emptied the unit and put it on its back after unplugging it. Then i wiped down the coils which were not dirty at all. I again allowed the unit to settle for 36 hours. After plugging it in it returned to 45 degrees outside the cabinet. Push it into place and the temperature shot up to 60.

I contacted Edgestar again and I was told I'd have to ship the unit to their warehouse, pre-pay at least $70.00 to cover the first hour of labor cost, and pay to ship it back. I am VERY lucky though as their warehouse is in Austin, Tx, where I live. However, to two-way ship something of this size plus pay for labor, it would cost nearly 40% of a new unit. I asked if they provide information for local contractors and they stated they do not have recommendations.

The fact this unit has a 90 day labor warranty and I have to ship such a large appliance back to a warehouse is very disappointing. Given the reviews on BBB and around the internet, I would STRONGLY advise you NOT TO PURCHASE from this company and definitely DO NO PURCHASE this product.

Buy New EdgeStar 46 Btl Built-In Dual Zone Wine Cooler Now

We purchased this wine cooler to replace a Magic Chef MC44DZ. My Magic Chef worked great for 2 years then quit. After waiting for 4 months for a compressor part that was covered under warranty I paid $180 to have it installed. The unit was so loud you could hear it in every room of the house and it would not cool either zone. Several phone calls to MC customer service proved totally useless threw the unit away will never buy another MC product again and don't recommend them to anyone.

We searched and searched for wine coolers in this capacity and price range before we ran across one that met all our requirements: # of good reviews, quiet, freestanding/built-in, dual-zone. We purchased from Living Direct with a 5yr. warranty product arrived without issue and was well packed.

The quality of the unit is much better than what we had. The door is solid double-pane glass with sturdy stainless steel surround. The wine racks are pretty solid, but the other reviews that talk about larger bottles not fitting are accurate only a tall slender 750ML works perfect for front & back stacking (reason for 4 instead of 5 stars). If you don't have the unit totally full of wine this shouldn't be a huge problem. Unit hit perfect temperatures very quickly and runs very quiet. The blue lighting looks great at night doesn't quite reach all the way to the bottom, but there are lights @ the top and under the middle divider.

Would highly recommend this unit.

Update 1/2013

A few weeks back the unit quit cooling. No noises or indicators, just happened to see both temperatures ~ 77 degrees. Contacted RepairMaster to initiate "in-house" warranty that we paid $100 something for @ time of purchase. Two weeks later no phone call from anyone. Contacted RepairMaster again (very lengthy on-hold times) finally got to someone that said EdgeStar appliances were ONLY repaired @ the factory and they would not ship parts to local repairmen. Contacted EdgeStar technical support and confirmed with factory in Austin, TX that the unit would need to be sent back to them for repair. RepairMaster offered to cover freight and repair costs they also said I could try a local repair man and they would reimburse me for that. Contacted Living Direct whom I purchased the unit from and told them it was probably not a good idea to advertise/sell an in-home warranty on a product that per manufacturer can't be serviced in home. I decided to roll the dice and call a local repair service to look @ the unit since I was not interested in crating it up and shipping it off. Local repair man (Thank you H&H Appliance Lecompte, LA GREAT SERVICE) replaced a relay in about 30 mins and unit is back up and running. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue to work without issue.

Had I known that EdgeStar was a company that would NOT work with local repair companies to replace electronic boards, compressors, etc. especially on such a simple appliance, I would not have purchased this unit. RepairMaster could improve their hold times on the phone, but they came through in the end. Living Direct should be very clear to customers about warranty expectations on this product when selling it to other customers.

Still a little frustrated about bottles fitting in the unit, but the unit still looks good and is VERY quiet. Hope to get a few more years of service...

Read Best Reviews of New EdgeStar 46 Btl Built-In Dual Zone Wine Cooler Here

We thought we did enough research on Edgestar products. Boy, were we wrong. The unit started having difficulty about 6 months after we got it. It started making rattling noises, so my husband unplugged it for a couple of days. When we plugged it back in, it seemed to work fine without the noise. A few weeks later, it went out. We were in the middle of moving and just did not have the time to deal with it. Once we did, we called the customer service only to be told that it was out of warranty (which is only 90 days)and there was nothing they would do. We took it to a local appliance repairman and he said the compressor was bad and it was not worth getting a new one. So disappointed after spending $800 and only getting 6 months of good use out of it. I will never buy another Edgestar product again.

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The shelves are so closely spaced that it is difficult to get the shelves in and out when full of wine bottles and to place and remove Bordeaux bottles. It is impossible to do the same with Burgundy bottles. If you don't mind scraping the labels off your bottles while struggling to get them in and out, then this might work for you. I consider it a big mistake for my needs unfortunately, it's mine now.

Bought this product a year ago and it no longer works. The warranty is terrible (90 days parts and labor/ 1 year parts only). If they truly made a good product the warranty would be at least 3 years. Do not buy this product.

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