Wednesday, July 24, 2013

NewAir AW-181E Space Saver 18 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler, Stainless Steel

NewAir AW-181E Space Saver 18 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler, Stainless Steel
  • Thermoelectric cooling technology operates quietly & is vibration free for storing wine to its best advantage
  • Insulated door maintains the interior temperature & reduces UV penetration for wine chilling consistency
  • Handsome stainless steel & black finish complements home decor, adding sophisticated elegance to virtually any setting
  • Compact, freestanding design fits in small spaces easily, making it perfect for any room
  • Easy-to-read, push button digital temperature controls allow for simple custom chilling

I bought this wine cooler to put under the bar top in my winery tasting room. It has functioned well and is sleek and compact and completely silent.

BUT...perhaps it is my fault but I did not notice before I bought it that the COLDEST setting it goes to, which I now understand is a function of the non-mechanical way it creates cooling, is 54 degrees! While this is adequate for dry white wines, it won't we cold enough for sweeter wines and certainly not cold enough for late harvest, dessert type wines that should be chilled to 45 degrees or so.

ALSO... be aware of two limitations caused by the very compact design:

FIRST, heavier weight (read that, more expensive) bottles with even a slightly larger diameter than standard Bordeaux bottles WILL NOT FIT in the wire racks. There is a reason why it will fit eighteen bottles in such a small space: the tolerances are VERY TIGHT and sized for grocery-store standard cabs, etc.

SECOND, opened bottles with the cork reinserted part way or with a vacuum cork WILL NOT FIT in the cooler because the depth of the cooler brings the glass door right up to the foil of the unopened bottles.

As I said, it's a nice cooler....BUT

Buy NewAir AW-181E Space Saver 18 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler, Stainless Steel Now

I just recieved the wine cooler. I have to say its pretty amazing. The build is top notch. Very comparable to my friends Vinotemp but hundreds $$$ less.

The Review:

The package arrived with good protection as seen in the photos below.

The used double boxes with a layer of foam in between the boxes. Then another round of padding is added to the cooler edges. The cooler was delivered in perfect condition.

After un-boxing, I did a quick check around the cooler to check out the quality. It is very nice. The brushed stainless matches my Samsung refrigerator and seems of good quality. The door hinges are solid and have no play. The window is double pane and the seal wraps around the frame with continuity which should help with the efficiency.

Looking inside of the cooler. There are chrome racks that slide in and out easily. The door handle and screws are inside. The door handle is the only part of the unit that needs assembly. It is very easy, you just lift part of the rubber seal to expose the screw holes, put the screws through, and screw down the handle via the 2 stainless steel screws.

Its a clean and easy to use setup. There is and "up" and "down" temperature control buttons and one light button, which controls the LED internal light.

Once plugged in, the thermostatic showed 74 degrees. I started my chronograph to clock the amount of time it took to drop down to 54 degrees (the lowest temperature setting).

The internal LED lighting is really cool looking. The blue light reflects off the chrome racks to appear like there are hundreds of little blue sparkly lights. The photo doesn't do justice. It is a nice look at night and should impress the friends if they come over for a drink.

The cooler took approximately 20 minutes to drop the internal temperature from 74 degrees down to 54 degrees. I think that's pretty fast for a coolant-less thermoelectric cooler. I also go my analog thermometer to gauge the accuracy of the built-in digital thermostat, its dead on accurate. One thing to note is the that since its not a wine "refrigerator" you can only get down to 54 degrees, which is perfect for both red and white wines. However, you cannot effectively store other beverages like beer and soda because they need much lower temps unless you like semi-warm beers. On the other hand, you save money on the unit (thermoelectrics are much cheaper than refrigerators) and you save money on power consumption.

The noise...5 stars! Not much noise at all. There is a slight humming. Maybe slightly louder than the electrical humming of an alarm clock.

The capacity is 18 regular sized bottles. It will hold much less if you have over-sized bottles or champagne bottles to store inside. After playing around with the wine bottle configuration. I noticed that the top shelf is the only shelf that can fit over-sized (extra girth) bottles. You can fit 3 girthy bottles on the top shelf. The rest of the shelves only fit normal sized bottles. * also notice in the photo below, my cooler actually got down to 53 degrees.

For the full review with photos

Read Best Reviews of NewAir AW-181E Space Saver 18 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler, Stainless Steel Here

I shopped high and low for the right wine refrigerator, reading all reviews available and even consulting with friends who own one. I settled on the New Air model because it seemed to me it fulfilled all my requirements: good quality, right size, good looking and great value.

I'm very impressed with this item. It arrived in one day, and came well packaged no chances for dents or scratches. The handle was easy to install and does not compromise the door seal. The unit is light enough that one person can handle it.

I followed the instructions and let it rest two hours before plugging it in. It cooled down to my desired temperature (62') in less than an hour. It's pretty quiet but the fans are on all the time so there is a slight buzz coming from it, but nothing annoying though.

I like the fact that the thermostat can be easily accessed and that the light can be turned on and off at will as the controls for both are placed on the front of the unit. So far, I'm very happy with my purchase.

Want NewAir AW-181E Space Saver 18 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler, Stainless Steel Discount?

This is a beautiful product. Well constructed. Looks great. But you can hear the thing running from down the hall. It made 10 times more noise then my kitchen fridge does that is 5 times the size.

Thankfully they were happy to take it back.

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I am really disappointed with how LOUD the refrigerator operates. The humming is by no means quiet. I can hear this cooler humming from two rooms away. Worse, every time the fan runs it picks it up a notch in terms of noise. It is easily 10 to 20 times louder than my refrigerator. It is really too bad, because I really enjoy the aesthetic of the cooler and it seems to hold temperature and cool bottles well. Maybe if you live in an urban area with a lot of background noise you might not notice the sound maybe. There is nothing subtle about the hum.

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