- 1.8 cu.ft. (51 litre) capacity all refrigerator
- Reversible door hinge for left and right hand opening
- Cycle defrost
- Gen II CanStor beverage dispenser holds 5 beverage cans
- Integrated handle
I wanted a refrigerator that would get really cold, was black and had more room than one with a freezer which I knew I would rarely use. So, based on the good reviews I purchased this Danby DAR195BL 1.8 cu.ft. All Refrigerator Black.
This compact fridge is very nice. I wanted to mostly use it for drinks, and some lunch stuff/snacks and quick meal items like a carton of eggs, salad dressings and cheeses/luncheon meats; maybe a loaf of bread. They went in with room to spare. The slots for soda/beer cans and my once a day 9.5 oz. bottles of iced Starbuck's Frappucino are nice, everything slid in perfectly. Plus it fits a 2-liter bottle of soda in the door or a quart of milk and a quart of orange juice. Nice 11" depth on the top 2 shelves but items can overhang by another 2", so ideal for leftovers or take-out. Only the bottom shelf is shorter, about 6.5" deep. But so far great! And when you get the temperature dial just right and figure out where to put the soda cans so they get a bit of a freeze on them, you get a heavenly cold drink on a hot day.
(If you don't want to read about all my woes with getting a bad unit, skip down to the UPDATE section)
So, that's where the good part ended. It was supposed to be quiet according to most reviews. So I waited a few hours before firing it up (as was recommended) then plugged it in. To my dismay, when the compressor came on it was pretty loud. But I shrugged and just thought it needed about 24 hours to cool itself down and figured it would adjust itself. Well, that didn't happen. It sounds like a mini airplane running it's engine all night long in my bedroom(I've got it set about mid way on the dial). I can even hear it in the living room, over the sound of the television. It makes a constant humming sound at a pitch that just can't be ignored. And we have moved it to different locations/positions too, to try to get it to make less noise but to no avail. The left side also gets VERY hot while the compressor is running.
I love everything about this little fridge but the noise is driving me crazy. I've turned down the dial to a less cool setting to keep the compressor from coming on as often, but now my drinks aren't nearly as cool and refreshing. It's kind of ironic though, because I read a comment about the Emerson 1.8 Cu. Ft Compact Refrigerator (not currently available on Amazon but sold by Target) which is also supposed to be very quiet. That person said his fridge sounded like an "airplane overhead". So I'm thinking this is a quality control issue with these type of fridges or possibly cheap Chinese compressors. Maybe it's just the luck of the draw if you get a quiet or noisy one.
At any rate, I'm thinking maybe I got a defective one, because no one has complained of noise like this. I plan to call Amazon and get a replacement. I'm just hoping that I WILL actually get a quiet one. I really don't mean to discourage anyone from purchasing this unit, because I REALLY like it. But I did feel I should point out how noisy mine is, because maybe they're not making them as good as they used to or maybe they are now being manufactured by another company. Don't really know, just very, very disappointed.
UPDATE 4/3/12: Noise Problem Resolved: Replacement fridge is Great. It's VERY quiet and is warm, not hot, on the sides when the compressor is running. Did have a wobble but was an easy fix. With the dial set to 3/4 my coffee drinks are freezing cold at the bottom level in the door and the back of lower shelf. Need to do a bit more fiddling with the dial, or not. I'm definitely keeping this one!
Note: The AC plug is a "flat to the wall" type so the cord(measuring 6 feet 3 inches) runs against the wall instead of sticking straight out. This means you can push the fridge quite close to a wall. This is a small feature but one I like a lot.
No matter where you buy the fridge it comes only in factory packaging which is not very protective. However, neither of the two I received was dented.
UPDATE 5/12/12: Fridge still running great and I still love it. Holds so much stuff.
UPDATE 6/14/12: The back of the middle shelf is the coldest shelf in the fridge as it sits directly in front of the cooling element. With the temperature dial set at a little past the 3/4 mark, food can freeze on the middle shelf. Once you're past the 3/4 mark on the dial the areas with the greatest freeze potential are anything closest to the back of the middle shelf with the exception of the top shelf. The top shelf is the warmer of the 3 shelfs; hot air rises physics I guess. Fridge working good and I'm still amazed at how much stuff it holds.
UPDATE 8/7/12: As I know this is the time of year when people are looking to send their kids off to college with a compact dorm fridge I will just mention that this item is also sold by at Home Depot but may not be available online.
Buy Danby DAR195BL 1.8 cu.ft. All Refrigerator - Black Now
I'd read some reviews on other sites for this model about how lots of people had to adjust the temp because their drinks were too cold (or even freezing). Since that's how cold I want my fridge to be able to cool, I bought one. The other reviews were right! The unit is advertised to keep a temp that's 40 degrees cooler than the surrounding temp. I can testify it does that and more. I have this in in an office environment at work, which is always near 70 degrees. The first time I got this fridge running it cooled down to the high 20's my drinks were partially frozen and undrinkable. That means this fridge is capable of cooling to a little more than 40 degrees than it's surrounding temp. Perfect! I merely adjusted the temp a little so now it hovers around the low 30's. That means I can depend on my drinks being ice-cold. The knob for adjusting the temp is in the back, so it's a little hard to reach. But fortunately it's near the top, so you don't need to pull out the fridge to reach it. You just have to crouch down all the way and reach over the top.
I work in southern California where it's now in the 90's outside, so it's aweseome when I'm hot and sweaty to be able to open up my fridge and pull out an ice-cold drink. I'm actually going to buy another one for home!
The only problem I had is the first one arrived defective didn't cool at all. The vendor arranged a UPS pick-up (fortunately I'd kept the packaging it was dead out of the box) and within a few short days the replacement unit arrived. It's worked perfectly since.
Read Best Reviews of Danby DAR195BL 1.8 cu.ft. All Refrigerator - Black Here
I bought this model based on Musicdex's recommendation above. Everything (s)he says is right on the mark. I've had food freeze in this fridge, so it probably can keep a frozen entree frozen or pretty darn close.
It's also very quiet. I have it under my desk at work, where I'm in an equally quiet area of the office. Love it, love it, love it.
Want Danby DAR195BL 1.8 cu.ft. All Refrigerator - Black Discount?
I purchased this refrigerator in June of 2011 and am very pleased with how well it maintains its cold temperature, even when the temperature of my room is around 80 degrees during the summer. I selected this unit because it uses a compressor rather than semiconductor technology which, from what I've read, is not recommended for ambient temperatures >77 degrees. I keep a hanging thermometer inside and check the temperature frequently. I have set the temperature so that it is just below 40 degrees, which is below the maximum setting. This refrigerator can really get cold. When I tested the maximum setting, it was 34 degrees inside.
This unit has two shelves and a "can rack" in the door. The top shelf is just high enough for a carton of eggs and deep enough for two cartons. A portion of the bottom is sacrificed to the compressor in the back but, overall, this refrigerator can hold a lot. The can rack can be used for condiments, yogurt, etc. And the space in the door next to the rack will hold two quart-sized milk/juice boxes. Just be careful not to block the vents in the back of the compartment because the back wall will ice up and the refrigerator will shut itself off. This happened to me, but once I unplugged it and let it thaw out and then plugged it back in, it came back on.
Pros:
COLD.
Energy Star. Economical to run.
Nice unobtrusive black finish.
Efficient use of interior space.
Compressor cooling.
Cons:
Not loud, but may be a little noisier (because of the compressor).
I am pleased with this refrigerator and recommend it highly.
UPDATE 5/6/13: This refrigerator has been running for nearly two years with no problems.
I purchased this fridge to go in our bedroom. Sometimes at night especially in the winter with the dry heat my hubby and I get thirsty and don't want to go all the way downstairs to the kitchen to get a drink late at night. I looked a several models and reviews and decided to purchase this one in spite of the fact that some reviewers were complaining about a noise. Well unfortunately, I think I got one of those. The instructions say to let it sit at least 2 hrs after unpacking before you plug it in (I guess to make sure that the compressor oil is settled)and I let it sit for about 4 hrs. When I plugged it in, it made its normal fridge start up sounds and began cooling. It took about 3 hours to initially cool my drinks inside. I love the can holders on the door. My little 8oz drink cans fit perfectly and I was also able to put 12 19.9oz bottles of water inside. The noise happens when it cycles on and off to cool. I was ok the first night, but by the second day it began to also whistle (I guess this was the airplane noise customers described) while it was on and it got louder and very annoying. It cools great but neither my husband or myself could sleep that night because it was so annoying therfore, I had to send it back. I don't think I want to try another one at this point to see if it works better, I'm just going to try another type I was also looking at.
