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DEAL WATCH: Keurig K-Express | 22% off $69.99

Keurig has changed the face of coffee, and snagging one of these for less than $70 is a solid deal. Read Review

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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Performance & Features

  • The Final Word

  • The Cold Hard Facts

  • Temperature Performance

  • Moisture Retention

  • Freezing & Thawing

  • Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Performance & Features
  • The Final Word
  • The Cold Hard Facts
  • Temperature Performance
  • Moisture Retention
  • Freezing & Thawing
  • Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

Introduction

Design & Usability

Hi-Yo, Silver!

This is the first fridge to feature a shiny, silver interior to match the stainless on the outside. Where most fridges have white interior walls and trim, the KFIV29PCMS has gray. It doesn't make food easier or harder to find, nor does it have any impact on appliance performance, but it sure does look striking. It's otherwise identical to the KFIS29PBMS: LED lighting, adjustable shelves with stainless trim, a temperature control drawer, and a space-saving on-the-door icemaker. The MSRP is the only difference.

All in all, this definitely feels like a high-end fridge.

The freezer also sports the same layout, with three separate pull-out drawers dividing up the frozen food compartment. It also comes with the in-door pizza storage, a thin section just inside the door for storing wide, thin items. Everything slides smoothly, the ice bucket is easy to take out, and the touch controls are a breeze to use. All in all, this definitely feels like a high-end fridge.

{{photo_gallery "Front", "Handles", "Fingerprints", "Ice Water Dispenser", "Controls", "Ice Water Dispenser Controls", "Interior", "Fridge", "Water Filter", "Bottle Rack", "Crisper Drawer", "Fridge Door Left", "Ice Maker", "Fridge Door Right", "Freezer", "Side", "Back"}}

Performance & Features

A decent showing, even though you're only paying extra for looks.

Overall, the silver-interior KFIV29PCMS performed similarly to the white-interior KFIS29PBMS. The fresh food section was great, with even temperatures over time. The freezer, however, fluctuated more than we'd like to see, especially for a $3,400 model; even though we set the thermostat to the manufacturer-recommended setting, our sensors showed that it still dipped above and below 0ºF, sometimes rising as high as 4ºF. Over time, that's what leads to freezer burn.

The freezer, however, fluctuated more than we'd like to see.

That said, the KitchenAid was quite quick to freeze room temperature food, even without the fast-freeze option turned on. Moisture retention is about average in the crispers, energy efficiency was excellent, and storage space is par for the course compared to most other models this size.

As far as features are concerned, you've got your standard through-the-door ice and water, a fast freeze, fast ice, and a removable bottle rack that can be attached to the underside of one of the fridge shelves. KitchenAid also includes the Preserva system on this fridge, which comes with a removable air filter designed to absorb the gases that make fruits and vegetables spoil prematurely.

The Final Word

A high price for silver.

Even though we've seen better, we've got to admit that this KitchenAid is a good fridge. However, we'd certainly wait for a sale to bring the price tag down much lower than its $3,400 MSRP. Even the current $2,900 sale price is a lot of money, especially given the existence of other French door models that do as well for less money. If you're not sold on the silver, the nearly-identical KFIS29PBMS with standard white interior has dipped as low as $2,600. KitchenAid's unusual and attractive silver interior on the KFIV29PCMS is certainly worth a look, but consumers who are looking to make an investment should know that they're essentially spending $300 extra for aesthetics alone.

The Cold Hard Facts

It takes an objectively strong appliance overall to truly excel in our tests. With great fresh food storage, decent moisture retention, and exceptional energy efficiency, the KitchenAid KFIV29PCMS did well... with the exception of the freezer, which ran a little too warm on factory settings.

Temperature Performance

A friend to the fresh, less so to the frozen.

Temperature consistency over time was quite high, with an average recorded shift of just 0.2 degrees. That said, even though we had the control panel set to 37ºF, the internal temperature of our test materials averaged just 38.43ºF at the top, slowly warming to 38.59ºF in the middle and 40.53ºF at the bottom. We usually expect fridges to get warmer towards the bottom, and that's actually better for produce. As long as temperatures don't go above 41ºF, you shouldn't have any problems storing fresh foods.

{{photo_gallery "Fridge Temperature"}}

While we'd like to say the same of the freezer, it turned out that the frozen food section just wasn't all that great. With an average temperature of -1.55ºF at the top and 3.8ºF at the bottom, that's a pretty wide range for such a short compartment. Add in the average temperature fluctuation of 1.15 degrees—a fairly wide shift—and you'll likely encounter freezer burn over time. You'd have to drop the temperature by 4ºF to ensure proper food preservation.

{{photo_gallery "Freezer Temperature"}}

Moisture Retention

The acceptable standard.

Our test materials lost an average of 0.18 grams of moisture per hour, more or less the average rate for a standard crisper drawer. Produce should stay crisp for several days before you start to see noticeable deterioration.

Freezing & Thawing

At least the freezer did some things well...

The KitchenAid's freezer froze our room-temperature test materials in just one hour and 28 minutes. That's faster than normal, though not quite the fastest we've ever seen. Meat, fish, and other delicate items shouldn't suffer from noticeably reduced quality when thawed. If only the freezer's temperature output were this good, it might have been one of the best large freezers we've seen.

The insulation in the freezer also did an excellent job. After letting the KitchenAid sit for 36 hours without power, the internal temperature of our test materials had warmed to just 28.87ºF. That's still quite frozen, giving your electric company plenty of time to fix the cause of any outages.

Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

Fantastic energy efficiency, standard storage space.

Despite having the icemaker relegated to the door, the interior of the KitchenAid's fridge only offered up a relatively average amount of usable space. You've got four adjustable half shelves, a full-width shelf on the bottom, two crispers, and the wide temperature drawer on the bottom comprising the bulk of the usable space. There's a removable dividing bin for the wide drawer, as well as a four-bottle capacity rack, which we took out for measuring purposes. Throw in the two small shelves under the ice maker, plus the four shelves on the right-hand door—three of which are gallon sized—and you've got an acceptable 11.36 cubic feet of usable space.

{{photo_gallery "Fridge Storage", "Fridge Door Left Storage", "Fridge Door Right Storage"}}

The freezer, too, has a decent amount of room without being too spacious. There are two sliding drawers on top, as well as some deep bucket storage on the bottom with a central divider that slides left and right. Having two sliding drawers may limit your ability to store large or bulky items, but it does help separate your food a bit. Additionally, you've got the In-Door Pizza Storage, a compartment just on the inside of the door which allows you to stand wide, thin boxes upright for easy access. All together, it adds up to 4.96 cubic feet, neither impressive nor disappointing.

{{photo_gallery "Freezer Storage"}}

Undoubtedly, the most impressive thing about this KitchenAid was its energy efficiency. After calculating the data on our energy meters and inputing a rate of $0.09 per kWh, it was determined that this fridge would require $61.07 per year to run. Seems like a lot, but that's actually quite low for a fridge this size... and with the icemaker running, no less. Spread all that energy out, and you discover that only 0.11 kWh is required for every cubic foot of usable space, an exceptionally small amount.

{{photo_gallery "Power Data"}}

Meet the tester

Matthew Zahnzinger

Matthew Zahnzinger

Logistics Manager & Staff Writer

@ReviewedHome

Matthew is a native of Brockton, MA and a graduate of Northeastern, where he earned a degree in English and Theatre. He has also studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and spends most of his free time pursuing a performance career in the greater Boston area.

See all of Matthew Zahnzinger's reviews

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