Customer
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2020
I bought this cooler in 2018. It looked great and worked well for about a year. It froze several of my wine bottles in the fall of 2019. I shut it down, cleaned it up, and it worked well for a few more months. Eventually it froze bottles again. The sensor must not be working as it just keeps running. Luckily I bought the extended warranty on this cooler. Amazon attempted to find a dealer in my area to repair the item but there wasn’t an option. They supplied a gift card for the original cost per their policy-unfortunately it costs more now to replace. I will try another brand as I really like having a wine cooler in my kitchen.
Rod H.
Reviewed in Canada on May 31, 2019
I'm very happy with this wine cooler, but those who reported in their product reviews that it's noisy are absolutely correct. I would not buy this if you are in a small apartment or condo, as you may not be able to escape the noise. The unit itself works well. It's just that the manufacturer has it set so that it cycles the compressor or motor about every 2 minutes, for about 10-15 seconds. It's not loud, but it is absolutely noticeable. Thankfully in our case, the unit is in the kitchen, far enough from our bedroom that we can't hear it at night. Good unit, but don't buy it unless you're installing it in an isolated location.
Ilona
Reviewed in Canada on January 31, 2018
Don't buy this, repeat, don't buy this. It worked for 18 months, now the useless 1 year warranty is up and my option from Whynter is to ship this piece of junk from British Columbia CANADA to California USA and pay for shipping and repair. Are you kidding me? If I pay $600 for a small wine cooler I certainly expect it to last more than 18 months. Should have shopped for a Danby or something cheaper that I know would probably last forever. I thought spending more would mean I would end up with a quality unit, not so. Disappointed because, when it was working, it fit under my kitchen counter island and looked great and worked well. Now I'm stuck with a piece of junk and have to start over. Whynter did respond to my email in an effort to troubleshoot the problem but, big surprise, they don't know what the problem is. Save your money and buy something with a decent warranty and/or less expensive.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2017
I had been searching for something to replace the old trash compactor. I found this wine cooler on sale and thought it might make for a nice addition. The stainless front is stylish and matches the other appliances. Installation was pretty easy as all you need to do is plug it in and slide it in place. I am concerned a little with the noise level. I may pull it out and reinstall with foam around the outside to help with the vibration against the cabinets as this may be the cause of the noise. Overall, it looks great and operates properly. I am able to adjust temperatures low enough to accommodate even beer. I currently have it set at 40. deg. I also bought an extended warranty as I have read a number of reviews that indicated that their appliance was less than dependable.
RL
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2017
Stopped refrigerating completely after 3 years. Too expensive to be a disposable device. Warranty is only 1 year. While the unit is good looking, it is noisy when it worked. It did fine for 2 years, then intermittent for a year - sometimes not fully cooling, then now nothing - fan and noise are there, but no cooling. Would not buy again.
Tim G
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015
I received and installed the unit and it seems to work well. Looks great and really finishes my kitchen display off nicely. So there's the good news...13 months and it fails. The compressor has gone bad. Called up the Company and they did respond quickly with some tips and tests to try and resolve the situation, which of course failed. So they kindly offered to take the unit back and repair even though it was a massive 1 month out of warranty. I was instructed to pack it in a box suitable for packing a cooler (what on earth does that look like?) or any damage is not their issue and then they said please ship it at your cost to our warehouse in CA - from MD this would have been around $200 so may as well ship to the moon!They are smart because they don't have a dealer network to service the units so therefore asking people to ship to CA will clearly protect them from cost as they know it is unlikely to happen. You are probably thinking why am I moaning after they offered to repair? Simple...a $500 crappy little wine cooler should not break after 13 months of doing not much. Time to buy a much cheaper one which, if it breaks, wont be too upsetting......
Jodie Burns
Reviewed in Canada on May 18, 2015
Excellent value for the money. We love it and it fits perfect in our new kitchen!
Chief9300
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2015
I was looking for a replacement for a built-in trash compactor and found that nobody makes 12" wide ones anymore, only 15". I started looking for something to fill the hole and found that some wine coolers would fit. After considering some other brands I bought the Whynter. It fits the cabinet space perfectly and looks great with our other stainless appliances. You can hear it run, but it's no louder than a refrigerator. It maintains the temp setting and chills quickly. All this for half the cost of a trash compactor that I can easily do without.
Whattsamattau
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2014
Given some reviewers saying this unit was noisy, we were a bit apprehensive as the cooler will be included in a master suite and the last thing we wanted was a noisy 'fridge'. The unit arrived extremely well packed (3 heavy duty boxes inside one another with foam inserted at corners and sides). Prepped the unit per instructions and brought it down to 48 degrees Fahrenheit in about 30 minutes. During this time the compressor was running, then shut off with only the air circulating fan running. I have NO IDEA what the negative reviews concerning noise were about. We could barely hear it running in either mode, even less so when we pushed it back into the cabinet area where it belonged. I actually put a decibel meter on it. Circulating fan peaked at 34 DB, Google search says that's a whisper in a quiet library at 6 feet; with compressor running peaked at 60 DB, average of 54 DB, about equal to a quiet conversation at 3 feet. I did find that if the unit is not level, the compressor gets noisy, but that warning is in the instructions; same warning as my home refrigerator. Solution I found was to turn it off, let the refrigerant settle, make it level and turn it back on. Whisper quiet again!!
FC Factory
Reviewed in Canada on October 6, 2014
I purchased the BWR-18SD to insert in our kitchen island.Great looks, solid build ...would easily give this a 5 star rating if it wasn't for fan noise.I read the reviews and was on the fence about the noise.... but still bought anyways.The fan cycles on and off continuously with a noise that can drive you crazy. There must be a way to tackle this problem.Too bad...
François
Reviewed in Canada on January 20, 2014
Everything is Really good looking a little bit noise when the compressor start but after a while you wont notice.
Samuel J. Biller
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2013
I purchased the Whynter Built-In Wine Cooler as a replacement for the Whynter WC-211DZ that I've been using in the same under-cabinet space since October 2010. The build quality of the BWR-18SD is an order of magnitude better than the WC-211DZ. Amazon shipped the unit to me triple-backed and it arrived unblemished. Initially it wouldn't fit under my 34 inch counter top due to some tile floor irregularities. I was able to remove the adjustable feet and install the unit perfectly. The unit is very quiet and chilled my red wines to my preferred 64 degrees F very quickly. It was very easy to put on the door handle. Not that the door handle does stick out a bit from the unit. I would have preferred to have an option for the handle that wasn't so large. There is a water tray that the manual indicates to fill with 3/4 water for humidity control. The water tray does eliminate one bottle of storage from the top tray. The trays are somewhat staggered to accommodate larger bottles on the bottom tray. The trays accommodate "bulk-storage" meaning that you need to turn the bottles around or stagger (i.e., stagger them front to pack) to maximize storage. There is a good photo showing the bulk-storage. The bottom-line is that I'm initially very satisfied with the purchase as a replacement for my WC-211DZ. It seems like the unit will last many years as its extremely high-quality.