Mini Fridges & Wine Fridges

Koolatron? What kind of track record do they have? (I’m kind of afraid to ask.)

Koolatron and the Gangatron?[youtube=3GwjfUFyY6M][/youtube]

http://www.woot.com/offers/coca-cola-personal-6-can-mini-fridge-1

I bought my sons one for their room. the If you expect refrigerator-quality cooling, this isn’t for you. It will only cools to ~54F where a standard refrigerator cools to ~43F.

Read the fine print; if is says that it is a Thermoelectric, that means it will only cool about 32° below ambient temperature.

My sons like theirs, but do not use it all the time unless they are writing papers and locked in their room.

They have had theirs 6 months with no issues.

I have been tempted to try one for DragonCon as opposed to paying 15$ a day for a fridge every year. However, I’m struggling with paying nearly 100$ for inferior size and cooling. Sigh

I use the little Coke fridge in my office and it works fine. Keeps my soda cans cold. Thermoelectric cools some 30 degrees below the ambient temperature. so room temperature has a lot to do with it. I did see there was a couple of compressor based units as well. Those will give you more cold temp regardless of room temps.

I got one of the Koolatrons in a Bobby On Crack and it’s kind of neat. It isn’t going to get your drinks ice cold, but it will cool them down or keep them cold if they’re already ice cold when you put them in.

I ended up placing it under my work desk cabinet where I can’t hear it because it’s surprisingly loud.

For these things, think cool, not cold.

Also, the efficiency is pretty poor compared to a traditional fridge (although with these small sizes, that doesn’t matter as much).

I’ve always wanted one of those retro Coca-Cola fridges… Even though I don’t generally drink soda/cola/coke, and there’s no real reason to have one. But they’re so cute! (I guess that’s the reason?)

Does not, I repeat does not, keep beverages cold. I bought this and returned it because it does not keep beverages in bottles or cans cold at all.

although it will heat your Coke to 149 F. so thats always a bonus. I love a good solid 130+ degree cola. sweet death bubbles.

Anybody have any comments/experience with the 45-bottle dual-zone wine fridge? Thanks!

I have a 12 can version of the coke one (it doesn’t say coke on it). It keeps drinks cool, as other said about 30 degrees below room temperature. Coke wasn’t cold enough for me, but sweeter drinks, like Sunkist or Cherry Coke, I was ok with the coolness. As another note, I bought tiny waters to put on the top row, two columns of three. The can drinks tend to drop too high from 3 up and spew over on me. It is a pretty cool thing to have at work to avoid paying $1.50 for a bottle drink everyday. I did read that the power supply tends to have problems on the version I bought (not available on woot). Also, make sure to empty the tray of water daily. Depending on humidity, it does produce a bit of condensation. As long as you empty it every few days, you will be fine.

This is the version I purchased, similar to the 10 can dispenser.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/NTESearch?storeId=6970&ipp=24&Ntt=vending%2Bmachine
($79.99)

To that point, why does this only hold 10 cans when Coca Cola (and this may be a Michigan thing) only sells to consumers in increments of 6 once you are beyond purchasing a single can?

…unlike hot dogs/buns, Coke will keep just fine outside this fridge and will neither spoil or go stale. The only question is how many cokes do you plan to drink in the time it takes to cool them…

I have several of the Coke refrigerators. The instructions say it needs to be turned off at least one hour a day or the motor may fail or overheat. Mine are made by Koolatron. What I did is use a timer so I didn’t have to remember to turn it off. The cooling part is fair to average.

Is there some exceptional quality I am missing with these mini fridges? Seems awful expensive …a 4.6cuFt for $220.00 … I just bought a dorm fridge for my kid, this size was more like $100 at the retailers I checked… (ie Walmart, Target & a little more at Home Depot.)

An option you may want to consider is something a car-powered travel cooler/warmercombined with a power inverter. Take a look at the Black & Decker TC212B.

Don’t fret that it’s over $100, the Rubbermaid version of this cooler is identical (except for the coloring and labels) and is 1/4 the price.

The cooler is designed to sit in your car and is big enough to cool-down a dozen cans. When I go to a con, I drag it in from the car and use the power inverter to plug the car 12V plug into a wall outlet. Keeps my beverages, leftovers, salsa, cheese, fruits, etc all nice and cool… especially since I set the room temp to 68-70.

I bought mine primary for long family road-trips, but the money I saved from just two trips to Chicago TARDIS more than paid for the whole set up.

Good luck!