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Igloo 6-Bottle Wine Cooler Review

In today’s review, we’re gong to look at the highly-popular Igloo 6-Bottle Wine Cooler. This is a nifty little countertop model that looks slick, gets tons of positive reviews, and has the backing of a well-known appliance brand.

If you happen to be reading this and it’s still before the holidays, you also might want to consider this small wine cellar as a potential gift for those on your Christmas shopping list.

Product Details

Igloo makes wine refrigerators in a number of sizes, but this particular model is built for 6 bottles and sized to fit on your countertop. The arrangement is 3 vertical rows of 2 bottles each, which is a logical design that minimizes the appliance’s footprint.

It features a double-layer glass door, black exterior, interior LED light, and wire shelving. The cooling is accomplished with a thermoelectric cooling unit, which is most typical for wine coolers in this size range. The temperature can be adjusted to a range of about 46 to 64 degrees F.

Pros and Cons

Igloo’s 6-Bottle cooler has a sleek, modern black design and looks great in any kitchen. The size is perfect for someone who just wants to keep a few bottles of wine cooled to a good storage and serving temperature. The target customer is probably someone who enjoys wine but isn’t a hardcore collector or connoisseur. It’s also ideal for a grad student or young professional living in a smallish apartment without lots of room to spare for a bulky wine fridge.

The price of under $70 (at the time of writing) also makes this the perfect first wine cooler or gift item for a wine-loving friend.

It cools well, but you have to remember how thermoelectric coolers function in order to get the best performance. As a general rule, solid-state thermoelectric wine coolers can only achieve a difference in interior-to-exterior temperature of about 25 degrees F. So if it’s 85 degrees in your kitchen, you’ll have a hard time getting the cooler to chill down any lower than 60.

Furthermore, thermoelectric coolers need some space to function properly. They work by transferring heat to the outside air, and in order for the outside air to not remain too warm you’ve got to keep the back side of the cooler spaced away from a wall. One foot of space will provide for enough air circulation to do the trick.

Buying Recommendation

I’d recommend getting this model if you are a casual wine drinker who just needs to keep several bottles at a good temperature. If should hold enough wine to last you between trips to the supermarket. This is also a great product to give as a gift for a novice wine lover. The slick design will look great in most anybody’s home, and they’ll love the experience of popping open a bottle of properly cooled red wine vs one that has been sitting around at full room temperature.

If you are really serious about establishing a wine collection, then of course you’ll want to purchase a larger model for your home, perhaps a 28-30 bottle capacity wine cooler.

Igloo 8-Bottle Wine Cooler Review

The Igloo 8-Bottle Wine Cooler is a wine cooling system with adjustable temperature designed to keep your wines—white or red—at your desired temperature. The 8-Bottle Wine Cooler is relatively compact (22″ deep, 16″ wide), while adding a level of class and sophistication to your kitchen or dining room. Any dinner guests or friends you have over will be impressed with your care and your treatment of wine. This is also one of the most affordable models on the market.

The 8-Bottle Wine Cooler is able to hold a total of—you guessed it—eight bottles of your favorite wines. And the wire shelves are also able to slide right out.

This wine cooler has a one-button temperature regulator, so there is absolutely no learning curve to using this wine cooler. And the white interior light gives you an almost intrusive view into your wine bottles’ contents, allowing you to judge for yourself the quality of the wines you have in stock almost instantly.

But for a more in-depth analysis of this product, let’s look at the pros and cons of this model.

Pros

The design of the 8-Bottle Wine Cooler is simple, compact, and generally will be an unobtrusive addition to your kitchen and/or dining setup.
I like how quiet it is for keeping wine cool.
You will definitely save on the amount of electricity used over the bigger wine cooling systems.
8-Bottle Wine Cooler is portable for the most part. It is compact and can be store in a variety of places. This is NOT JUST for kitchen use. You can store it in the bedroom closet or even use it for the camper. All you really need is an outlet.

Cons

You are obviously limited to 8 bottles. For many people this is plenty, but if you’re a wine collector, then you’ll want to move on to a larger model.
I heard that the product may eventually overheat, and become loud over a period of a year and a half or so. But it really depends on how well you take care of it.

Overall, the Igloo 8-Bottle Wine Cooler is not a bad model when you consider its low price. Some buyers, however, might like to spend just a little more to get comparably sized unit with added features such as wooden shelves or different styling.

Igloo FRW133 12-Bottle Wine Cooler Review

The Igloo FRW133 12-Bottle Wine Cooler is the perfect wine cooler for storage of a modest wine stash at home. I like it that it can hold up to 12 bottles and cool them down to 52 degrees. It does that without making any noise like a regular fridge does. I find its unique compact design blends very well with my other kitchen appliances.

Product Features

Holds a Maximum of 12 Bottles

This wine mini cooler is everything you need at home for storing your wines. It can cool them down to 52 degrees Fahrenheit, which is below the recommended temperature of 55°F for storing wine. So you can safely store your wines for as long as you want. For many casual wine drinkers, this 12 bottle capacity is plenty.

Digital Temperature Control

It uses a micro-controller to keep its internal temperature in check. That is helpful when you are looking for a stabilized temperature to store your wine. All I have to do is set the right temperature on its digital display panel, and then the micro-controller will do the rest. It does not cool the wine instantly. However, it does hold the temperature constant once it reaches the temperature you have set.

Adjustable Interior Space

I found out that you can take out the shelves to increase the interior space of a row if you need to. That is helpful when you have bigger wine bottles to store.

Double Layer Glass Design

The double layered glass design improves its cooling capability. That is because the gap of air between panes of glass slows heats loss by convection. It also offers addition structural strength to this compact wine cooler.

Thermoelectric Cooling System

The Igloo FRW133 12-Bottle Wine Cooler is environment-friendly. It does not use a compressor to cool its interior. It, therefore, does not pollute the environment with Freon, a coolant in compressors.

Silent Operation

Since this mini cooler uses a thermoelectric cooling system instead of a compressor, it can run more quietly as compared to other cooling systems. You can have it in your bedroom, and you will sleep comfortably without being kept awake by noise. The only moving parts are small fans that help to circulate the cooled air in its interior.

No Vibrations

Another advantage of this type of cooling system is a lack of vibrations. That means your wine’s sediments stay undisturbed for the entire duration of storage. Therefore, when you finally take out the wine, you can enjoy its crispy taste because it will taste like any professionally stored wine. After that, you will not want to store your wines in your fridge again.

Pros

It’s super silent compared to a fridge. You can have it in the kitchen or even in your bedroom.
The compact size of this wine cooler is ideal for conserving spaces in your kitchen.
Its unique design makes it easy to blend it with the rest of the kitchen appliances.
Sufficient capacity for many wine lovers.

Cons

The cooling only goes down to 52 degrees F. So it’s not ideal for chilling white wines down to serving temps.
If you want to take out the shelf, you have to open the door by at least 90 degrees.
Open the door with care. It can come off its hinges if you are not careful.

Conclusion

This wine cooler cannot chill your white wines to 50 degrees F or below. If you, however, want to store your wine, it will do a perfect job. It is environmentally friendly and does not make disturbing noises. I also love its unique design that blends with other kitchen appliances. It is a great small-capacity wine storage device to have at home. I find it to be the kind of wine cooler I would give someone as a gift.