Review of Electrolux 24" Under-Counter Wine Cooler with 44 Bottle Capacity, Model EI24WC65GS (price, deal)
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A wine cellar, or wine chiller, is essential equipment if you have a collection of decent wine. Otherwise, you risk losing your investment when temperature swings cause your wine to degrade. They're like refrigerators that are designed specifically for wine, but most of them are not very energy efficient.
The Electrolux 46 bottle wine cooler is an efficient model as far as electricity usage goes. It's an attractive stainless steel design that is 24" tall, so it can be built-in under the counter or used freestanding. The door is reversible, which allows you to set it up as either a left-swing or right swing door, depending on your needs.
The racks are black "Soft-Coat Wireform" that slide out effortlessly on a ball-bearing system.
One very nice feature is that it comes with an integrated electronic locking mechanism, to protect your fine wines from being pilfered.
The controls are located at the top of the door for easy access. An air filter circulates clean air so that mold and mildew don't have a chance of developing and the interior is always frost-free. An alarm system notifies you in case there has been either a power failure, or if the door has stayed open longer than a period of five minutes. Also, the alarm goes off if for any reason the interior temperature should rise for 10 degrees or more over a period of four hours.
One drawback is that this model does not offer two-zone wine chilling, so all the wine will be kept at one temperature. You can adjust it to be anywhere from 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, although you can choose to display either Fahrenheit or Celsius. It uses LED lighting, which accounts partly for its energy efficiency. You can set it manually to display mode so that your wine collection is illuminated. The glass door has a UV filter which protects ultraviolet light from degrading the wine's quality and flavor.
There is a vacation power mode as well as a Sabbath mode, so that maintaining your wine collection doesn't put you in violation of your tradition. The long-term storage quality afforded by this wine cellar is excellent. It's got a suggested retail price of $1699, which makes it a significant investment as compared to other wine chillers. This is an ideal model for the serious wine collector, who may choose to own more than one so that reds, whites and sparkling wines can all be kept at their optimum temperature.