Wine lovers understand the importance of keeping different wines at different temperatures to preserve your favourite beverage’s tastes and aroma. Here’s where wine refrigerators or wine chillers come in handy for storage.
Unlike wine cellars, Wine coolers are an affordable way to keep your wine collections at the perfect temperature range. With this appliance, you need to make an important decision: thermoelectric or compressor wine cooler.
These technologies offer several benefits but not without downsides, which might be a deal-breaker to you. Read on to find out which one best suits you.
Thermoelectric Wine Coolers
What I Like
Thermoelectric wine coolers have less moving parts which mean it requires less power to function. Thus, they are more energy-efficient than compressed cooled units. Also, you should expect less vibration and low noise when in operation.
Its quiet operation allows users to place it anyway in the living room, home office, or kitchen without causing distractions. Further, this wine cooler does not vibrate and hums like the traditional beverage refrigerator.
All in all, they offer a favourable environment for your wine collection, which makes it a go-to if you tend to age your wine for an extended period.
What I don’t Like
Thermoelectric wine coolers are not very powerful and only ideal for people looking to store a small wine collection. On top of that, they are not best suited for extra warm or unstable environments. This machine’s cooling capacity is affected by a high ambient temperature. These machines run all of the time, which can add to the cost of operation.
Compressor Wine Cooler
What I Like
One of the many benefits of compressor cooled wine refrigerators is their powerful cooling capacity. This unit utilizes a compressor, which explains why most models are built-in units. Besides, most large capacity wine coolers feature compressor cooling functions.
More so, its high power cooling capacity ensures this unit handles extensive wine collection without any hassle. Thus, it’s a great buy for people looking to chill and store many wines.
That’s not all: these units adapt better to extra heat load and varying temperatures to ensure a stable internal temperature regardless of the environmental conditions. Compressor Wine Cooler is ideal for keeping wine bottles in uninsulated areas like your basement.
What I don’t Like
Unlike thermoelectric wine coolers, compressor models have several moving parts cycling on and off, which often causes slight vibration. However, some high-end units feature rubber brushing to attenuate the slight vibration and disturbance.
Another prime concern with a compressor wine cooler is the noise due to the moving components. Although the noise level is softer than your standard refrigerator’s hum, it can be a deal-breaker to some people.
Best Thermoelectric Wine Cooler: Top 3 Picks for Your Wine Collection
Top 1 – NutriChef PKTEWC120 Nutrichef 12 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler Refrigerator
This model comes with a 12-bottle storage capacity to store and chill your white and red wine collections. This product is equipped with precision thermoelectric cooling technology for accurate and easy temperature control.
Further, it features a built-in circulation fan to help maintain the temperature and LED lights for easy wine retrieval. NutriChef PKTEWC120 Nutrichef Thermoelectric Wine Cooler Refrigerator sports a reinforced glass door offering an airtight seal for a modern and compact design. This refrigerator is perfect for the kitchen, home office, or living room.
That’s not all: this unit features a freestanding design for countertop, table, or floor placement. NutriChef PKTEWC120 Nutrichef 12 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler Refrigerator incorporates an advanced cooling system that ensures ultra-quiet operations. Even better, this product is backed by a 1-year limited warranty to assure customers of quality and satisfactory performance.
Top 2 – Koolatron KWT10BN Wine Cooler
Koolatron KWT10BN Wine Cooler is another decent wine cooler with digital temperature control. This model comes with a clear digital display and temperature control buttons to set the preferred temperature range for storing your white or red wines.
This model features a flush back design that helps maximize space. Also, its four removable wire racks let users customize the interior space based on the bottle sizes. Plus, it has a glamorous mirrored glass door and soft interior lights to match your house decor while keeping your wine collect safe from damage by harmful UV rays.
Furthermore, Koolatron KWT10BN Wine Cooler is equipped with a Thermoelectric semiconductor module to offer an eco-friendly cooling system that maintains the temperature between 45 – 64 degrees F. This efficient system functions without harmful CFCs or vibration.
Top 3 – Koolatron Urban Series 8-Bottle Thermoelectric 0.8cu.ft Beverage Refrigerator
Another spot, another Koolatron wine cooler. This product is quite similar to Koolatron KWT10BN Wine Cooler. Koolatron Urban Series Thermoelectric Beverage Refrigerator can accommodate 8, 750ml wine bottles and takes up a little space, thanks to its space-saving flush back design.
What’s more? This appliance has a double-paned mirrored glass to subtly display your expensive wine collection while protecting them from UV rays. Besides, it comes with four removable stainless steel racks to allow users to fit different bottles regardless of shape and size. This unit utilizes thermoelectric technology to keep the temperature environment within 46 – 64 degrees F for eco-friendly cooling.
Even better, the Koolatron Urban Series Thermoelectric Beverage Refrigerator operates quietly since there’s no vibration. Best of all, it has a touchscreen digital control panel for users to easily set the preferred storage temperature for your white or red wine.
Best Compressor Wine Cooler: Top 3 Picks for Your Large Wine Collection
Top 1 – Antarctic Star 1.6cu.ft Wine Cooler/Cabinet Beverage Refrigerator
If you are in the market for the best compressor wine cooler, the Antarctic Star 1.6cu. Ft Wine Cooler/Cabinet Beverage Refrigerator is a decent choice. This wine cooler helps store your white or red wine at an optimal temperature range (40 – 61 degrees F) for long term ageing.
This beverage refrigerator comes with an airtight sealed, reinforced glass door that keeps humidity at the ideal range. Also, it comes in a compact and modern design. Thus, making it perfect for your home office, kitchen, and living room.
On top of that, it has a blue soft LED interior lighting to showcase your wine collection beautifully without damaging the wine. This model can also serve as your beverage and canned beer storage. Besides, its horizontal rack system helps maximize the interior space to hold any shape and size bottle without harming your wines.
Top 2 – KUPPET 19 Bottles Wine Cooler
If you want a large bottle storage capacity, we recommend KUPPET 19 Bottles Wine Cooler. This appliance can store 19 Red Bordeaux bottles. This unit is a perfect choice for storing and chilling white, red or other wines.
More so, it comes with an accurate precision compressor cooling technology, ventilation grill, built-in circulation fan, integrated LED lights, and adjustable temperature control. The KUPPET 19 Bottles Wine Cooler comes in handy for storing fruits, beers, and other types of drinks besides wine.
This wine cooler is designed to let wine lovers store their wine collection for both long and short term in an optimal temp environment. Remember, it offers adjustable temperature control ranging from 41 to 64 degrees F to allow you to customize temperature for the wine ageing process.
Top 3 – Ivation 12 Bottle Compressor Wine Cooler Refrigerator
This review won’t be complete without the Ivation 12 Bottle Compressor Wine Cooler Refrigerator. This compressor wine cool offers impressive temperature stability to preserve both your white and red wines. This model maintains an optimal temperature ranging from 41 – 64 degrees F.
With Ivation 12 Bottle Compressor Wine Cooler Refrigerator, all you’ve to do is set the temperature, and this appliance utilizes the built-in fan to maintain a consistent temperature for an optimal wine storage environment.
More importantly, it is equipped with a double-paned glass door to keep the interior insulated and protect your wines from harmful UV lights. Thus, this appliance helps improve your wine’s overall flavour.
The Ivation 12 Bottle Compressor Wine Cooler Refrigerator incorporates an energy-efficient LED light, illuminating your wine collection subtly, unlike the harsh fluorescent bulbs that affect flavour and fade labels.
Conclusion
To ensure you make the right choice, you need to consider your expectations from a wine cooler. If you want to store a case of wine containing only a couple of bottles, then the thermoelectric wine cooler is your best bet,
But if you prefer to keep and preserve an extensive wine collection for the long term, a compressor wine refrigerator will be the perfect option for you. Also, the compressor wine cooler is your go-to if you built your wine cooler into your cabinetry.
After pinpointing how you want your future wine refrigerator to serve you, check out our top 3 recommendations for the best thermoelectric wine cooler and the best compressor wine cooler.
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