Hotpoint HTR16ABSRWW Review

Introduction

Design & Usability

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The overall design is not one for consumers that value style.

The exterior may remind you of simple, dormitory living. Despite the barren front, we nevertheless found an indicator of the model’s cheaper design: The brand logo is attached at a crooked angle.

The Hotpoint plays off of open space rather than storage flexibility. Minimal shelves all around mean there isn’t a whole lot of customization available in either compartment, with slits on the side that the shelves rest on. Looking for a low-tech freezer? Well, look no further. This Hotpoint is simply a box with no shelves, no light, and no features of any kind.

{{photo_gallery "Front Photo", "Fingerprints Photo", "Handle Photo", "Handle Detail Photo", "Water/Ice Dispenser Photo", "Water/Ice Dispenser Controls Photo", "Water/Ice Dispenser Detail Photo", "Interior Photo", "Refrigerator Main 1 Image", "Refrigerator Main 2 Image", "Refrigerator Main 3 Image", "Water Filter Photo", "Refrigerator Door 1-1 Image", "Refrigerator Door 1-2 Image", "Refrigerator Door 1-3 Image", "Refrigerator Door 2-1 Image", "Refrigerator Door 2-2 Image", "Refrigerator Door 2-3 Image", "Freezer Main 1 Image", "Freezer Main 2 Image", "Freezer Main 3 Image", "Freezer Door 1 Image", "Freezer Door 2 Image", "Freezer Door 3 Image", "Ice Maker Photo", "Back Photo", "Back Detail Photo", "Sides Photo", "Side Detail 1 Photo", "Side Detail 2 Photo", "Fridge Temperature Image", "Freezer Temperature Image", "Vegetable Drawer Photo", "Vegetable Drawer Controls Photo", "Ease of Access Photo", "Controls Photo", "Cleaning Photo", "Other Features Photo"}}

Features

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

With almost no spill containment, this fridge is a juicer’s worst nightmare.

The only time the unadorned design becomes a hassle is when you overwhelm the appliance by shopping in bulk. The more items you have, the sooner you have to start stacking things. If you have so much that things start to pile up, then getting to items in the back or on the bottom can become problematic. This is especially true in the freezer, since its complete lack of shelves means you’ll wind up with a leaning tower of groceries sooner than you will in the fridge.

The Hotpoint is controlled with a simple little dial inside the fridge interior. This controls both sections, meaning the fridge is at the mercy of the freezer (or the other way around). There isn’t any actual degree correlation or manufacturer’s recommended setting, so if you want to know what temperature your actually storing your food at, you’ll need to purchase an external thermometer.

If anything spills in this fridge, you’re in for a big mess, both literally and metaphorically. You may not want to store liquids high up in the fridge, since the top two shelves are made of wire and won’t prevent any spill, drop, or dribble from falling onto the items below. The bottom shelf is a bit better, with a raised edge keeping things from leaking behind the drawer. The door shelves are also quite poor at keeping things contained, since the bottom isn’t attached to the front. A gap about an inch and a half wide will only keep larger items from falling out, and won’t help in the least if your favorite condiment wasn’t shut properly when you put it back.

Performance

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

This budget fridge actually did quite well... except in the freezer.

The ambiguous controls meant the top was already a bit warmer than our target 37 degrees, and it only gets warmer as you near the bottom. The overall shift wasn't too big, though, and the excess warmth is easily fixed by turning down the thermostat just a bit. Luckily, there was almost no shift in temperature over time—an unusual trait for such a budget machine.

The fact that the Hotpoint only has a single temperature control means one compartment is always at the mercy of the other; we calibrated the appliance to a good fridge temperature, and as a result, the freezer never quite got as cold as it should have. The top came close to zero degrees Fahrenheit, but the bottom was definitely warmer, and not by a small amount. As in the fridge, though, temperatures here were very consistent.

Despite not having a proper crisper—the drawer in this fridge lacks any sort of humidity control—the moisture retention wasn't terrible. Displaying very average performance, any fresh produce stored here should last about as long as you might expect. Keep things in here for more than a couple of days, though, and you'll start to notice some spoiling. One downside worth mentioning is that the drawer itself is opaque; there's no way to check the status of your produce without pulling it open, thereby letting more moisture out.

Conclusion

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

With a sub-$500 price tag, consumers could do a lot worse than this Hotpoint.

You may not be that familiar with the Hotpoint brand, and after encountering the Hotpoint HTR16ABSRWW, it’s quite possible that you'll never want to hear anything about it ever again. With some temperature issues, almost non-existent spill containment, and an interior design that’s rather unattractive, it doesn’t make the best first impression. This machine isn’t trading on looks, though; its strengths lie in its size, power consumption, and price tag. It’s a smaller fridge that's ideal for tiny kitchens. It’s also very cheap to operate and consumes energy quite efficiently. The best part of all? Its MSRP is just $499. Oddly enough, many retailers actually sell it for more than the MSRP, but we still found some that got as low as $375 before tax and shipping, making it the cheapest full-sized fridge we've tested to date. Even if you can’t find it on sale, though, it's just as good as some other budget fridges that cost as much as $200 more.

Science Introduction

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

There are some small temperature issues in the fridge, but nothing major. The freezer, despite its open appearance, actually has some major temperature gaps from the top to the bottom; luckily, they don’t fluctuate all that much over time. Moisture retention is adequate as well, despite the cheap-looking drawer in the fridge. Unfortunately, the Hotpoint doesn't offer much in terms of storage space.

Temperature Performance

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Major temperature changes in the freezer mar an otherwise acceptable budget product.

Near the top of the fridge, the temperature was about 38 degrees Fahrenheit, just slightly warmer than the ideal 37 degrees; that by itself is more an issue with the thermostat than anything else, though. As we move toward the bottom, however, temperatures crawl up another degree, just breaking 39 degrees. Luckily, produce can be stored at a slightly warmer temperature than other refrigerated goods, so this slight change shouldn’t have any adverse effects on your food. The excellent thing about this Hotpoint fridge is that there was almost no fluctuation over time, so food is not being exposed to a wide range of temperatures and will be better preserved as a result.

Despite having a box-like freezer, the temperatures actually varied greatly from top to bottom. Perhaps taking its brand name a bit too seriously, the top of the Hotpoint was about 2 degrees warmer than the perfect freezing temperature, while the bottom was 9 degrees too warm. Everything is quite frozen, but the lack of shelves means you'll be moving frozen food around a fair amount depending on your shopping habits. Fortunately, there's very little shift over time at any point in the freezer; as long as you try to keep items at roughly the same height most of the time, you should be fairly safe from freezer burn.

{{photo_gallery "Science Section 1 Images"}}

Moisture Retention

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Even without a proper crisper drawer, this fridge retains moisture surprisingly well.

Without a proper crisper drawer, our hopes weren't high with regards to this test. That said, the rate of moisture retention in this “crisper” was surprisingly good. Despite its rather questionable appearance, our test materials lost an average rate of 0.17 grams of water per hour. Not only is this acceptable, it’s actually pretty darn good, and a better performance quality than some models that have drawers with adjustable humidity control.

{{photo_gallery "Science Section 2 Images"}}

Freezing & Thawing

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The time it takes to freeze your food is disappointingly slow.

We make sure to pack our freezer to simulate air circulation in a well-stocked appliance, and as such, it took the Hotpoint 1 hour and 49 minutes to freeze our room temperature test materials. For such a small freezer, this is quite poor. Ideally, food would be frozen instantaneously in order to preserve it at its highest point of freshness and nutritional value. The longer it takes, the worse your food will be when thawed. We’ve seen appliances of all sizes do much better than this; after this long, a piece of chicken or steak could have an altered, inferior texture when thawed.

Simulating a power outage by simply unplugging the appliance, we check to see how long food will remain frozen. As long as the freezer door isn’t opened, the Hotpoint will keep items thoroughly frozen for over 36 hours. If your power stays out longer than that, your concern may be less for the quality of your fridge and more for the effectiveness of your electric company.

{{photo_gallery "Science Section 3 Images"}}

Storage Capacity & Energy Efficiency

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Efficient but compact—good for small households on a budget

Using as few shelves as is practical, you’ll find yourself stacking a lot of goods on top of each other if you’re going to take full advantage of the available space. Filling to capacity, you can squeeze in a total of 8.65 cubic feet worth of assorted stuff in the fridge, with another 3.73 cubic feet in the freezer. The Hotpoint is definitely on the tinier end of the spectrum, but it should suffice for individual consumers or couples without children.

The Hotpoint HTR16ABSRWW may not be the most economical fridge we’ve tested, but with an annual cost of $29.35, it’s still on the cheaper end of things. As for how we got that figure, we use a base rate of $0.09 per kWh to determine how much you’ll have to pay to run a fridge for a full year. In terms of how it compares to other fridges, we found that it required just 0.07 kWh to power per cubic foot of available storage, making it both cheap and efficient.

{{photo_gallery "Science Section 4 Images"}}

Other Tests

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

{{photo_gallery "Other Tests Images"}}