While it took a while to get here, my husband agrees with me that the Avanti Hot and Cold Water Dispenser was well worth the wait.
After our old dispenser gave up the ghost after twenty plus years, we looked at each other and said, 'what do we do now?' We tried shopping for another one locally but nobody had what we were looking for and we were, quite frankly, spoiled.
What do we like about the Avanti?
As the poet put it, let me count the ways.
First of all, because of its Energy Saver feature, the Avanti consumes less electricity than our old dispenser which ran constantly. It was also noisy. The Avanti, in contrast, is very quiet.
The Avanti features a neat little safety lock on the hot water faucet, which the old dispenser did not The storage space in the bottom, while it doesn't keep anything cold, is quite handy.
The Avanti's white plastic square design looks clean and nice. Our old brown metal dispenser did not. Also, unlike some of the round dispensers we looked at, the Avanti is not 'tippy'. Since it sits next to the kitchen doorway and a heavy traffic area, this was a real concern.
We also looked at dispensers that pumped from the bottom as well as the reviews and decided they were not for us.
The only CON was a chemical, almost musty, taste in the water for a few weeks after we got the Avanti, but that is now gone.
All in all, we are extremely pleased with the Avanti. It's much, much better than our old dispenser and we definitely give it 5 stars.
Update 7/3/2012
Now there is a problem. (Another reviewer had the same thing happen to them in December 2010 and, in their case, it was a broken hot water line.).
When I changed the three gallon bottle for a fresh one yesterday, everything seemed fine.
As recommended, (and as usual), I left the unit unplugged, ran 4 cups of water out through the hot water faucet then plugged in the unit and turned it on.
My husband woke me at around 11 p.m. with the news that there was a huge puddle around the dispenser and what should he do? I unplugged the unit, removed the bottle and emptied the reservoir through the hot water faucet. A seam along the top of the bottom cabinet door was wet and the drip catcher under the faucets was full.
Not wanting to spend the rest of the night working on the problem, I unplugged the unit and removed the bottle altogether.
After carefully drying everything off this afternoon, I replaced the bottle, removed another 4 cups of water via the hot water faucet, plugged in the unit again and turned on the hot and cold water. At first everything seemed fine. Then an hour later, I found another puddle. This time it appeared to be the result of an overflow from the reservoir, and the water level, which I had carefully marked on the outside of the bottle, had gone down about 25%.
We have spent the rest of today trying this and that. Now the new bottle is empty, there is still a puddle of water on the floor, tomorrow is July 4th and it's too late in the day to call Avanti's Customer Service. However, first thing, Monday, I'm going to call them and see what they have to say.
Film at 11.
Update, Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I called Avanti's Customer Service number yesterday. Once I reached a technician, she questioned me about the problem in detail and I listed all the steps I had followed.
She said, in her opinion, we needed a service call and gave the number of an authorized repair shop in our area.
The repairman arrived first thing this morning. After he checked out the entire unit and found no problem, he called Avanti's Customer Service.
The Avanti technician suggested that he look at the water bottle. He did and, sure enough, there was our problem. We'd been using three gallon plastic molded bottles which we'd purchased from the same health food store where we get our distilled water.
The bottle has four seams around the top, which fits snugly into the collar above the reservoir. When we examined the last bottle we used, we noticed some extra material on a couple of the seams. This extra material is known in the plastic molding industry as 'flash' and it's supposed to be trimmed or buffed off as soon as the part comes out of the press. (More years ago than I care to count, I worked as a press operator in a plastic molding plant which made glasses for American Airlines. So I know all about 'flash'.)
The Avanti Customer Service technician said this is not an uncommon problem with these plastic bottles.
As the repairman explained, the Avanti dispenser's operation depends on maintaining an intact vacuum seal between the bottle's top and the reservoir. When a defective bottle is installed, the sheer weight of three gallons of water creates the necessary vacuum seal and it'll stay that way with no leaks until a certain amount of water is removed from the dispenser. However, as the bottle's level goes down, it weighs less and raises slightly. This, in turn, exposes the four seams around the bottle's top. The space between the the extra seam material, or 'flash', creates an air space between the bottle and the reservoir collar. When this happens, the vacuum seal is lost. The bottle level then starts gradually going down by itself for no apparent reason and, after an hour or so, there's water all over the floor.
Because our dispenser is over two years old and out of warranty, we had to pay for the service call. However, it was worth it to us and I will still give the Avanti Water Dispenser an unequivocal five stars both for their Customer Service department's helpful and courteous response and the excellence of the product itself.
December 9, 2012
Update: Our Avanti dispenser is still working fine and, to date, we've had no more problems. I will say though, for anyone who might be interested, we only use distilled water which we purchase at a local health food for .89c per gallon. It's also very important to remove 4 cups of water from the dispenser via the hot water faucet immediately after replacing the bottle.
I spent a long time trying to find the best water dispenser in this lower-end price range, and I finally decided on the Avanti WDP75. I had two GE water dispensers for 8 years, one was a higher priced stainless model with digital features, mini frig, etc, and the other a white model similar in price and features to this Avanti. So my comparison is against the GE model that sells in Home Depot for about $120.
Pros:
Very Quiet operation.
Energy Star feature: this was important to me, but it's hard to know for sure how much electricity it consumes. I do not use the hot water, so I keep that turned off. The unit shows when the chilling cycle goes on, and it is not constant, so I believe the unit is energy efficient. I was happy that the bottom is not a mini-frig, since that was a waste of electricity, and I found that the refrig area got a musty smell from moisture.
The cold water is a perfectly chilled temperature, not as ice-cold as the $300 digial GE model, and that is a plus for me. The lower priced GE model would freeze up every day, and I would have to turn off the cold, let it defrost, then try again for a few hours before it froze up again. I would never buy that GE model again for that reason, and I am so happy to say that after 2 months of use, the Avanti has never frozen up, and the cold water is a constant temperature all day. That is what I got the dispenser for.
The unit has seperate reservoirs for hot and cold water, so if you turn off either the hot or cold, that side will dispense room temperature water.
The press down area to dispense the water is easy and the water flows very quickly. I read reviews of other models which said it took a long time to fill a cup. That is not the case with this Avanti.
It's a good height and very stable. Some dispensers seemed too low, but this is the standard height, with easy access to use.
Cons:
I followed the directions exactly, and also followed the optional step of using baking soda and water and let it sit overnight. It still had a metallic musty taste. I called Customer Service and they told me to put a half cup of bleach in a gallon of water and flush it through. I did that and it still had a bad taste. It took 3 days and many gallons of water, but it is good now. I wish they could do this before it gets to the customer.
I asked Customer Service if the reservoirs were accessible to clean, and was told no, there is no way to clean the reservoirs except by adding the bleach water to the top and flushing it through.
It's ok looking, but not exactly stylish. But its a water cooler, so ok.
It does not have the feature which punctures the water bottle top. You have to peel off the sticker of the water bottle and push in the plastic center before turning the open 5 gallon bottle upside down into the dispenser. I really do not like this feature, and I don't like the way the water bottle just sits in the top reservoir of water it doesn't seem stable. The top of the 5 gallon water bottle should be cleaned with alcohol or bleach before inserting, because it literally sits in the water that is being dispensed. Despite all the other good features, I may not have bought this model if I saw this. The other models had a self-puncturing piece as part of a ring that supported the bottle. I thought all dispensers had this.
Compared to the similar priced GE dispenser, the Avanti is MUCH better because of the efficient cooling system. I also like the dispensing buttons and flow much better on the Avanti than the GE. In this price range, this model is fine. If the disadvantages are an issue, then it is necessary to go up in price to something with more features.
Quick update: I'm very satisfied with the dispenser. I don't mind the bottle-top issue, and we can turn it over without any spillage. The bottle sits securely into the opening, so it is stable. I just clean off the top and neck of the water bottle with alcohol before inserting. Works great for nice chilled water!
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After reading the reviews I was not sure what to expect. But we are really happy with the water dispenser. It arrived in very good condition. No water leakage etc. We left it in upright position for 2 hours before the first use, and it worked ever since!
I agree with the previous reviews in all the positive aspects and to our biggest surprise, only the very first cups had the 'burned plastic' taste. After the fist 5 gallon bottle, the taste was completely gone. Thumbs up!
Read Best Reviews of Avanti Energy Saver Water Dispenser Here
Pro: This water dispenser does exactly what we wanted it to. We turned off the cold and just have two temperatures: room temperature and hot. That allows me to drink endless hot drinks made from bottled water without constantly resorting to the microwave.
Con: There isn't enough height under the dispensers to fit a small pitcher under them for making coffee. That is mildly inconvenient.
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Bought this item as a gift for my son's family, so I had a lot of requirements to meet. Product for the price was the best I found. Main concern was safety of my grandchildren due to the hot water feature. Happy to say, with the temperature control and safety latch there has been no problems. Water tastes like it should and not "plastic" as some other brands have had reported. Very pleased with the service Amazon gives.
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