Wine Cooler Recommendations

Ballymoney

I’m looking for a 300mm wine cooler for the kitchen, ideally in the budget category (£300-£350).

I can see many brands (Baumatic, Belling, Amica, Innocenti etc) but the actual coolers all look very similar. From people’s experience are there particular brands that are better than the others? Or, at that price range, are they all as average as each other?

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Doozergirl

I suspect that they are all much of a muchness.  I have purchased a few and they're really rather expensive for items that have terrible energy ratings. It is really about vanity - anything efficient costs a absolute fortune, anything else costs a small fortune.   

We have a 600mm AEG one, but it was bartered from a project where the buyer didn't want a wine fridge so we replaced it with a cabinet 'for free'.   

If I was being money saving about having a wine fridge,  I'd be putting an integrated under-counter fridge in.  I think I'd get more in and it would run more efficiently.  

My own experience is that I've never had a fridge die on me, so my main concern would probably be how many bottles it genuinely holds.  Read the reviews.  We like fizz in this house and it reduces the capacity to about half what it could be.  Beer bottles stack perfectly, even normal
wine doesn't quite seem to fit like it should, but maybe I should be stacking some with the bottom facing out... 

FreeBear

From the reviews I've seen, wine coolers that use a Peltier heat pump (thermo-electric or compressor free) do not last long (typically 12-18 months) and are not particularly energy efficient. I have a small (15 bottle) one that I picked up from Currys (conventional compressor), and it is adequate for my needs. Temperature regulation isn't brilliant, but that was easily fixed with an industrial thermostat.

Rosa_Damascena

Doozergirl said:

We have a 600mm AEG one, but it was bartered from a project where the buyer didn't want a wine fridge so we replaced it with a cabinet 'for free'.   

If I was being money saving about having a wine fridge,  I'd be putting an integrated under-counter fridge in.  I think I'd get more in and it would run more efficiently.  

My thoughts exactly. I don't understand the point of a 300mm drinks cooler, is there one?

FreeBear

Rosa_Damascena said:

Doozergirl said:

We have a 600mm AEG one, but it was bartered from a project where the buyer didn't want a wine fridge so we replaced it with a cabinet 'for free'.   

If I was being money saving about having a wine fridge,  I'd be putting an integrated under-counter fridge in.  I think I'd get more in and it would run more efficiently.  

My thoughts exactly. I don't understand the point of a 300mm drinks cooler, is there one?

Gap filling.

A full depth 300mm cupboard is a waste of time, and as a drawer unit, next to useless - I suppose one could use a pull-out rack system, but they get expensive and don't work for everyone.

Rosa_Damascena

FreeBear said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Doozergirl said:

We have a 600mm AEG one, but it was bartered from a project where the buyer didn't want a wine fridge so we replaced it with a cabinet 'for free'.   

If I was being money saving about having a wine fridge,  I'd be putting an integrated under-counter fridge in.  I think I'd get more in and it would run more efficiently.  

My thoughts exactly. I don't understand the point of a 300mm drinks cooler, is there one?

Gap filling.

A full depth 300mm cupboard is a waste of time, and as a drawer unit, next to useless - I suppose one could use a pull-out rack system, but they get expensive and don't work for everyone.

I have a 300mm lower cabinet, specifically to house my multiple trays. Tea, coffee and assorted beverages - preferably served nicely with cake - are important to me

A 300m tall unit would do for brooms, mops, Dri-Buddies, stick hoovers and ironing boards. Anything that reminds me of the mundane things in life.

Ballymoney

Thanks All, some good food for thought there. 

We’re definitely keen on a wine fridge. As owners of a row of vines in a vineyard we drink a lot of sparkling wine (some would say too much) so to be able to store a decent amount indoors but outside of our fridge freezer will benefit us greatly. And I make no effort to hide the vanity side of it too, I think they look great 🙂

Doozergirl

Refer to my comment about fizz bottles not fitting well!! 

There are so many reviews on line of specific models and this will be the sort of thing they'll
mention.  

FreeBear

Doozergirl said: Refer to my comment about fizz bottles not fitting well!!

Even a bigger concern if you are buying Jeraboam or larger bottles

Ballymoney

We only ever get them bottled in standard 750ml bottles. From what I’ve seen I should be able to fit 2 bottles of fizz on each shelf in a 300mm cooler. This is perfectly adequate for what we want/need.

Doozergirl

Ballymoney said:

We only ever get them bottled in standard 750ml bottles. From what I’ve seen I should be able to fit 2 bottles of fizz on each shelf in a 300mm cooler. This is perfectly adequate for what we want/need.

The height of the shelf too? We've removed a shelf to accommodate.