The Auswine Forum

Choice magazine published some wine fridge reviews recently. Amongst those reviewed were:
Dome 24 Bottles Wine Cooler 900192 ($299)
Homemaker 40 Bottle Wine Cooler HMTW-16EQ ($199)
Liebherr Vinidor WTUes 1653 ($4699)
Rank Arena 28 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cellar RAWC28 ($188)
Transtherm Studio Integrable 1T ($2700)
Vintec V40SG "e" ($1599)

They rated in "the best"
Transtherm Studio Integrable 1T
Vintec V40SG "e"
Homemaker 40 Bottle Wine Cooler HMTW-16EQ

Though their criteria for the best seems odd. They factored in quite heavily the ability to maintain temperature in extreme external temp variations. I would think these fridges would be in the home, hence, very little fluctuation and no extremes.

The best scores for minimal internal temp fluctuation were:
Dome
Rank Arena

The Liebherr and Vintec had the best humidity score. Lowest vibration were the thermoelectric Dome and Rank Arena, however, the best the thermoelectrics could do in extreme 40 deg C heat was 13 deg C below ambient.

They all used large amounts of energy compared to regular domestic fridges.

For the record, I own a Dome bought from target for $149. The first one died after 6 months, the 2nd very noisy fan bit still going. Reliability is suspect. Temp stays in the 12-15 deg mark. Humidity hovers around 50-60. I also store some wine under the house in a styrofoam box, and I am suprised at how cool the bottles are on 30 deg days. Still dont know permanent solution to store long term (10-20 yrs) though.

Makes you still wonder what the best storage option is! Wine fridge, passive cellar, active cellar, offsite storage, styrofoam box under the house!?!?

How hot is it under the house in the middle of summer ? If it's below 18 you're fine IMHO.

Choice are a weird bunch, we'll at least they are when they review coffee machines!!

Andrew

My family gave me a Homemaker wine cooler on or about the 10 December. It never cooled down below 29 degrees C over 3 days of running. It was returned to KMart who gave my family a raincheck. A new one was delivered and installed on Friday 21 December and filled with 34 bottles of wine. The temperature was set to 7 degrees C and the inside temperature has never decreased less than 15 degrees C. in 24 hours of running.
I reside in Townsville the max temperature is 32 degrees C and the wine cooler is located inside my house. Should I replace it again?
"not happy Jan"
BevinI

BevinI wrote:My family gave me a Homemaker wine cooler on or about the 10 December. It never cooled down below 29 degrees C over 3 days of running. It was returned to KMart who gave my family a raincheck. A new one was delivered and installed on Friday 21 December and filled with 34 bottles of wine. The temperature was set to 7 degrees C and the inside temperature has never decreased less than 15 degrees C. in 24 hours of running.
I reside in Townsville the max temperature is 32 degrees C and the wine cooler is located inside my house. Should I replace it again?
"not happy Jan"
BevinI

I would wait and check again as that sounds about right. You have to remember that there is a LOT of heat inertia with that many bottles so even 24 hours isn't that long so it may go down further. The other issues are to put it in a cool area to start with and also away from direct sunlight.

In the end 15 degrees Centigrade isn't that bad anyhow!

cheers

Carl

7C is a long way below ambient temperature for Townsville .

Check your instructions; many fridges; even the pricey ones; are aimed mainly to provide a differential to current ambient temperature and do it with some degree of stability.

While your first was obviously faulty; the second fridge is done creditably to get to and sustain a temp of 15-17C given an ambient temperature in the high 20's or higher.

Beyond that do the other things to help it out; put the fridge in the cooler part of the house (ie the core or downstairs) and make sure there is space around it for airflow.

Have had two Domes for about two years and living in Perth. Never once did it move more than a single degree out of 14 degrees Celsius (summer and winter). Mine were very quiet and paid $150 each. “Choice” rated them a dud product of the year. I wrote to Choice for a further please explain two weeks ago. Still no reply.

Choice is now my dud of the year. Last ever subscription from me

Partagas wrote:Have had two Domes for about two years and living in Perth. Never once did it move more than a single degree out of 14 degrees Celsius (summer and winter). Mine were very quiet and paid $150 each. “Choice” rated them a dud product of the year. I wrote to Choice for a further please explain two weeks ago. Still no reply.

Choice is now my dud of the year. Last ever subscription from me

The couple of Mountbase 28 btl thermoelectric coolers ($270 each) I have are probably from the same Chinese factory as the Dome. They seem to be pretty good, maintain a lower temp than the Prima 72 btl that struggles when the ambient temp gets over about 30C. Mind you the Prima is meant to operate best at a max 25C, a stat I don't recall seeing on the eBay site from which it was bought.

I should check out the local Target store. I've melted a bit of plastic recently.

daz