Best Beverage Refrigerators

What Features to Compare

First, you need to clearly determine the Cooled Beverage Type you want to keep in a beverage refrigerator you are about to buy, as well as the refrigerator Installation options. The refrigerators of this type are divided into the units designed either for storing beverages or wine. With that, there are combined units with a dual zone storage function for storing different beverage types at once.

There are built-in, freestanding, integrated and outdoor beverage refrigerators. Despite such differentiation, the refrigerating units can allow for several types of installation. It is important for the built-in beverage and wine refrigerators to have a venting on the front side. Owing to their design integrated beverage refrigerators completely blend into the surrounding cabinetry with all their elements including the front panel. The outdoor beverage refrigerators are made of weather-proof materials intended to endure the environment influence. One of the advantages that beverage refrigerators bring is the low power consumption ranging from 75 to 150 watts.

The next important points are refrigerator Capacity and Interior. The wine refrigerators are usually equipped with curved shelves designed for storing wine bottles, for the most part of the standard 750 ml volume. At that, the capacity of the beverage refrigerators is estimated in the maximum amount of 12oz. cans they can accommodate. The refrigerators of this type use flat shelves. The rearrangement of the shelves and their placing at different levels enable you to adapt the interior space of the refrigerators to your needs as well as to vary the size of bottles and cans stored. Owing to the removable design of the shelves used you can easily access even the beverages put deep inside your beverage refrigerator. For the most part, the shelves are the holed glass panels or latticed panels, which serve for maintaining the circulation of the cooled air.

The next essential criterion for choosing a beverage refrigerator or a beer refrigerator is Controls and Special Features of a refrigerator, which depend on the cooling type. You should keep in mind that wine is recommended to be stored in conformity with certain temperature ranges. The suggested temperature for storing white wine lies in a range between 46°F and 56°F, while the recommended temperature range for red wine storage is 58°F - 68°F. The higher the beer strength the less cooling it needs. The beer type with high alcohol by volume (abv) value have the recommended storage range of 50°F-60°F, while the types with lower abv should be stored at 35°F-50°F.

The wine refrigerators must be exposed to vibrations as little as possible in order to avoid the undesired churning and stirring of the wine sediment, which may negatively affect the wine gustatory quality. In this respect, units that are equipped with a thermoelectric cooling system are a perfect fit due to the absence of vibrations otherwise caused by the refrigerator operating principle. There is a drawback of thermoelectric cooling that is worth noticing – the temperature inside the thermoelectric units is heavily influenced by the temperature of the environment. That is why you should look to a compressor beverage refrigerator if it is not possible to install the refrigerating unit in a premise that does not have a big temperature differential.

In the vast majority of cases, the bar refrigerator units have an auto defrosting feature, which prevents the ice build up and frosting. In case of choosing a wine refrigerator, you should pay attention to the availability of humidity adjustment feature that allows avoiding wine bottle corks overdrying and shrinkage. A valuable advantage is the glass door of a fridge compartment, which allows seeing what is there inside the refrigerator and keep you from opening the door too often. With that, a must for the wine refrigerators and optional feature for the beverage refrigerators is the UV-protective coating of a glass door for avoiding the exposure of wine to sunlight. A lockable door is another desirable feature for protecting alcoholic beverages. A charcoal air filter can be used for removing unpleasant odors inside a fridge. A reversible door, adjustable height legs, and door handles provide the largest choice of installation options and make a fridge suitable for both, right-handers and left-handers. The availability of ETL certificates for an undercounter beverage refrigerator ensures its compliance with North American security standards. The prevalence of stainless steel finishing and colors or dark colors in the design of beverage refrigerators makes them fit in the vast majority of environment types. A built-in lighting also serves two purposes: it allows seeing what is inside even at night and highlights the aesthetical look of wine bottles stored in a beverage refrigerator.