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Gadget grump
I'm sure that at least 1% of you will give a damn . . . but as it has put me in a hacked-off mood, I'll rant here in public. That's what blogs are for, right?
<rant>
As our Real Life™ associates know, Bonnie and I are fans of wine (in the sense of "oenophile," not "wino"). Since we don't belong to the Moneyed Classes and can't afford a house with a wine cellar, we saved up our pennies and bought a climate-controlled wine cabinet in November 2001. This was modest – a mere 110 bottles in capacity – but well-built, and worked perfectly until May 2007, when the cooling unit abruptly expired. As anybody who has ever owned a display fridge knows, 5.5 years is neither great nor lousy mileage for the cooler in a box that sacrifices a thick insulated door for a thin glass pane. We ordered a replacement cooling unit and were back in business the same week.
This week, though, the new cooling unit is reading 20°C when it's supposed to be at 14°C. That's not good. Fortunately, the cabinet has very good seals, and the internal temperature is still in the safe zone. Unfortunately, it means that our replacement cooling unit has expired after a piddly 1.5 years. That's crummy whatever way you slice it. Naturally, we had a one-year warranty . . . so I guess another full-price replacement is in order.
Anyway, for those in the market for such things, be aware that the original Vintage Keeper-branded cooling unit is a workhorse, but that the Drobot-brand "Nuvo" units sold to replace these aren't so hot. Actually, they aren't so cool, which is the problem. I'd ask for alternatives, but the warranty on the cabinet itself requires us to use this lousy cooling unit. So take it as a friendly product alert.
</rant>
<rant>
As our Real Life™ associates know, Bonnie and I are fans of wine (in the sense of "oenophile," not "wino"). Since we don't belong to the Moneyed Classes and can't afford a house with a wine cellar, we saved up our pennies and bought a climate-controlled wine cabinet in November 2001. This was modest – a mere 110 bottles in capacity – but well-built, and worked perfectly until May 2007, when the cooling unit abruptly expired. As anybody who has ever owned a display fridge knows, 5.5 years is neither great nor lousy mileage for the cooler in a box that sacrifices a thick insulated door for a thin glass pane. We ordered a replacement cooling unit and were back in business the same week.
This week, though, the new cooling unit is reading 20°C when it's supposed to be at 14°C. That's not good. Fortunately, the cabinet has very good seals, and the internal temperature is still in the safe zone. Unfortunately, it means that our replacement cooling unit has expired after a piddly 1.5 years. That's crummy whatever way you slice it. Naturally, we had a one-year warranty . . . so I guess another full-price replacement is in order.
Anyway, for those in the market for such things, be aware that the original Vintage Keeper-branded cooling unit is a workhorse, but that the Drobot-brand "Nuvo" units sold to replace these aren't so hot. Actually, they aren't so cool, which is the problem. I'd ask for alternatives, but the warranty on the cabinet itself requires us to use this lousy cooling unit. So take it as a friendly product alert.
</rant>
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(I assumed that the back would have radiator fins of some sort)
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This cooling unit is futzed, but its replacement would live longer if we wrapped the cabinet, yeah. However, it's meant as an attractive showcase first and a fridge second; you can even get display lamps for the interior. The included insulation is unobtrusive by design, limiting how good it can be. We wouldn't want to change that – an ugly-but-efficient wine fridge for the closet or cellar is much cheaper, but we paid extra for a good-looking one for the dining room. That said, a selling point of these cooling units is that they're supposed to have the sort of duty cycle that lets them suck it up. The first one did. This one didn't, and that's because it vented its coolant . . . which is likely due to a mechanical flaw, not due to overwork. That's what has me pissed off.