NewAir AW-280E Classic 28 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Collector, Black

• Stylish chrome-plated wine racks slide-out for easy access to your favorite bottle of wine
• Thermoelectric cooling technology operates quietly & offers vibration free storage to protect the natural flavors of the wine
• Features an interior LED light for accenting your favorite wines, while still ensuring they are stored at the proper temperature
• Digital temperature display allows you to check the temperature of your wine with just a glance
• Boasts an elegant freestanding design with a sleek silver handle & black trimmed door, storing up to 28 bottles of wine

SEE the UPDATE at the bottom of this review.

I've owned this fridge for three months now, and for the price, it has performed reasonably well--so far. When you add together the price and the shipping rates, you probably won't be able to find a cheaper thermoelectric wine fridge with this storage capacity. (I consider the non-vibrating feature of thermoelectric fridges an important requirement for cellaring wine long term.) However, there are some definite deficiencies and one really big question mark about long-term performance.

As my wine collection has grown, I've purchased several wine fridges from different manufacturers. Of the four wine fridges I now own, this one has the cheapest look and feel. Yes, it looks quite attractive from a distance, but when you get up close, you notice that every element of its construction seems just a little (and sometimes a lot) flimsier than my other fridges. For example, the material used for the inside walls of this fridge looks and feels like extremely thin plastic that could easily crack or be punctured. (The plastic liner seems comparable in weight and thickness to the thin plastic that is often used for packagaing small electronics accessories like headphones or video cables.) This plastic inside wall liner will probably hold up just fine if treated gently, but it seems like a clue to overall quality.

Similarly, the chrome trays that hold the bottles are just a little thinner, lighter, and flimsier than those in my other wine fridges. Speaking of the trays, with a tray loaded with bottles, you are supposed to be able to pull it out a few inches to get easier access to the bottles and a better view of the label. But the trays on this fridge do not slide smoothly once they are loaded with wine. Instead, they snag and get hung up. In fact, I worry that the force required to unstick and pull out a tray with bottles on it either might cause the bottles to come flying out on onto the floor or might tear the thin plastic that lines the inside walls of the fridge. So to get a tray out safely, you have to remove the bottles first, which defeats the purpose of having trays that are supposed to slide partway out for easier viewing and access.

With gentle and careful use, you can probably avoid problems with the flimsy physical construction of this fridge; however, the thing that worries me most about this fridge is the long-term endurance of the thermoelectric cooling device. This fridge sits side-by-side with another fridge I own that was made by another manufacturer and has exactly the same storage capacity. Compared to the other manufacturer's fridge, the AW fridge's cooling device kicks on and runs more often and longer--probably more than twice as long--to maintain the same temperature. With the temp set at 55 degrees, this fridge's cooling system runs almost non-stop, never shutting off for more than just a few minutes before kicking back on for another long stretch, and that's what makes me worry about long term durability. Because of my concern about the cooling device running constantly, I've raised the temp setting from 55 to 58 degrees, and that seems to help somewhat, but this thermoelectric fridge's cooling device still runs much more often and much longer with the setting at 58 degrees than my other same-size thermoelectric fridge does at 55. It only makes sense that the more often the cooling device kicks on, and the longer it runs, the shorter will be its working lifespan.

One last word to the wise: For those who are just starting to appreciate the pleasures and advantages of cellaring your own wine, maybe it makes sense to buy a small cheap "starter" unit until you can decide whether your wine bug is a temporary infection, a manageable illness, or a lifelong obsession. But before doing as I did--buying a second, and then a third, and then a fourth fairly small fridge--consider taking the money you'd spend on a bunch of small fridges and instead putting those dollars into the cost of one higher quality, higher capacity unit that will solve your wine-storage needs over the long haul. Better yet, find 25 or 30 cubic feet of space under the stairs or in a closet of your house, wall it off, put in racks, insulate it, and buy a cooling unit to refrigerate it, to make your own mini-cellar where you can easily store several hundred bottles.

The Bottom Line: This fridge seems like a fair deal for the price, but if I had it to do over, I think I'd be better off in the long haul spending just a little more for a probably more durable fridge of the same size (which you can find on sale for not that much more), or putting the money into a much larger fridge or cellaring system that would better satisfy both present and future wine storage needs.

UPDATE: The original review above was written in July 2009, about three months after I purchased this wine frig in early April 2009. This update was written in mid-August 2010. Today my New Air 28 bottle wine frig died. It lasted about 16 months. To reflect the short life span, I've deducted a star, reducing my rating to two stars. This unit never was able to get down to 55 degrees. The coldest it could do was 60 or 61. So to keep the unit from overworking itself, I set the temp to 60, instead of 55. Two of my three comparable Wine Enthusiast branded units are still running. One of my three WineEnth branded units has also died, so the fact is, none of these thermo-electric units can be expected to last very long. As stated in my original review above, rather of buying one or more of these cheapie units, I would recommend putting that money into a better product that will hold more bottles, or better yet, build your own mini-cellar in closet or under a stairway.

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Let's talk about the pros and cons of this Thermoelectric Wine Cooler so you know what to expect. On the plus sideLook and Price. This cooler looks really good, especially when you turn on the small blue LED light which envelopes the interior. And the price is inexpensive in the world of thermoelectric coolers. On the con side-Function. First, it definitely is not "silent" but hums at a level that your brain will quickly assign to "background" noise. Secondly, a digital temperature readout provides a sense of satisfaction that your vino is comfortably cool. However, don't mistake this with the actual temperature inside, which will fluctuate as high as 10 degrees above readout as evidenced by an internal thermometer we placed inside. To summarize, if looks are more important to you than substance or you just need something to keep a chill on your favorite table wines, this bling is for you. Expensive wine needs another home.

Quick update as of June 6, 2011 this little gem has literally achieved room temperature. No parts available anywhere to fix the temperature control board. So, it lasted less than 2 years and I don't think I would recommend anyone purchase this unit, unless you're a big fan of planned obsolescence.

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I bought two of these, one for Reds, one for Whites. While they ran, they were very quiet and cooled just fine. However, both of them died completely after the 1 year warranty expired, but within 2 years, basically around 15 months and 18 months respectively. Air and Water said the best they would do is sell me replacement parts.

Also note, if you lose power or unplug these, they reset to the coldest temp setting possible. No memory for what temp you set them to.

These are the cheapest coolers, per bottle of storage, on the market but at the expense of reliability. I won't be buying these again, or from Air and Water.

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This is the worst refrigerator I've ever owned. As another reviewer mentioned, the fan runs constantly, even when the set temperature is reached. And it won't go below 54F under any conditions, so it's really limited in what it can store. The holes in the door frame don't line up with the holes in the door glass, so the door pull can't be installed. The interior is plastic, and the shelves only pull out about half-way before they start to fall out of the slots in the walls--no bearings, no draws, just a slot.

And it's loud! I think I'd prefer a standard compressor-based unit (vibration problems aside); I've had cheap student dorm-room refrigerators that were quieter.

The kicker is that the cost to return it via UPS is almost as much as the refund would be, so it's probably not worth it.

Lesson learned--don't buy single-sourced products that can't be tested first.

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OK for shorter-term wine storage able to keep temp around 65F for the most part, when ambient temp is < 80F.

After 1 year, the fan and/or logic board died. So in computing price per bottle of storage, factor in amortization over 1-2 years tops, not 5-10 years that's typical for higher-quality wine cabinets.