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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

  • Front

  • Interior

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Running Cost

  • Power Use Per Cu Ft

  • Fridge Temperature

  • Freezer Temperature

  • Vegetable Drawer

  • Power Loss

  • Freezing Performance

  • Usable Space

  • Ease of Access

  • Controls

  • Water Dispenser

  • Ice Maker

  • Cleaning

  • Noise

  • Conclusion

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Interior
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Running Cost
  • Power Use Per Cu Ft
  • Fridge Temperature
  • Freezer Temperature
  • Vegetable Drawer
  • Power Loss
  • Freezing Performance
  • Usable Space
  • Ease of Access
  • Controls
  • Water Dispenser
  • Ice Maker
  • Cleaning
  • Noise
  • Conclusion

Introduction

Front

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The door to the freezer is on top, with the door to the refrigerator below. The {{product.name}} has a stainless finish with a vertical grain. This finish is markedly darker than what we've seen on other appliances; you'll want to make sure that it matches your kitchen before purchasing. The doors are not reversible.

The stainless steel finish looks great when clean, but smudges very easily.

There is a single temperature control unit for the entire appliance, located front and center at the top of the fridge compartment.

The handles are recessed into the compartment doors, giving the {{product.name}} a sleek, recessed look. There is still enough space in the handle cavity to allow for easy gripping.

Interior

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The inside of the {{product.name}} takes a standard design and adds some tweaks to generate some personality, primarily in the refrigerator compartment.

The interior of the CDWT980VSS.

The main fridge compartment houses the aforementioned water dispenser, as well as the water filter, located in the upper back corner.

The fridge door of the {{product.name}} has two wide shelves with impressive depth, two smaller shelves designed to perfectly fit gallon-sized containers, a standard dairy tray, and a "Tilt-N-Go" drawer that pulls out, providing an easy-to-access slot for chocolate chips or other baking goods, ginger roots, or other loose or items that can be awkward to store on more conventional shelves.

The freezer has a sturdy glass shelf bisects the main compartment into an upper and lower sections. Unlike many models with such a straight-forward design, the {{product.name}}'s freezer has its own light source.

Again sticking with a standard layout, the {{product.name}} has two nearly identical fixed shelves equipped with a deep spill guard running the width of the freezer door.

The ice maker found is found on the upper left, and is turned on and off using a wire handle. The {{product.name}} also has a loose tray designed to fit snugly under the ice maker which can be removed for more storage space if desired.

Back

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The back has a port for water input, as well as three cables: one for the ice maker, one for the water dispenser, and one connecting the dispenser to the water filter.

Sides

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The sides are gray and have a smooth matte finish, a style typically found on more expensive models. This means that in kitchens where the sides of the refrigerator are visible, or in smaller rooms where the {{product.name}} would stick out beyond your counter edge, the whole unit will still have a smooth, matching appearance on all three visible sides.

Olympus SZ-31MR iHS side views

Running Cost

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Using a fixed rate for electricity of 9.1 cents per kW-h, the {{product.name}} costs about $33.89 per year to operate.

Power Use Per Cu Ft

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For its size, this unit had a very low power use, needing only 0.07 kW-h per usable cubic foot.

Fridge Temperature

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The {{product.name}}'s fridge temperature wasn't completely consistent across the board, but not by a great deal. Over time, our tests revealed a variation of about two to three degrees with the temperature increasing the further away from the freezer one got. Items that are more readily perishable, such as soft cheeses or defrosted meats, should be stored on upper shelves if you want them to last longer.

Freezer Temperature

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The freezer also had a variation of about two degrees over time. More importantly, the freezer ran much warmer than the ideal temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature sensors used in our testing indicated that everything did freeze and was never in danger of thawing, but possibly as a result of the single temperature control, the freezer did run warmer than we like to see.

Vegetable Drawer

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The artificial food we placed in the {{product.name}}'s crisper drawer lost a just a little more moisture than is average. Over three days, it averaged a moisture loss of 0.24 grams per hour, just a little more than is average. Your produce should be fine, but you'll still want to keep an eye on it.

Power Loss

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Even if it wasn't as cold as we would have liked to see overall, after pulling the plug on the {{product.name}}, everything in the freezer was still thoroughly frozen after 36 hours.

Freezing Performance

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Sensors indicated that items in the freezer were frozen after about 1 hour and 41 minutes. For a unit this size, that's actually a little longer than is desirable.

Usable Space

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While not exactly cavernous, the {{product.name}} offers 9.87 cu. ft. of storage space in its refrigerator section. This is spread out over the three shelves, three drawers and all the compartments on the door.

While some space is lost due to all the extra plastic used to section off the door, the assorted compartments make finding food easier than it would normally be.

Using a straightforward approach, lots of open space mean the freezer can hold 4.52 cu. ft. worth of items, totaling the available space in the main section and on the door.

Below are the manufacturers own figures for capacity, and our own measurements for usable capacity. The manufacturers figures do not take account of the shelves, drawers and other removable features, but our measurements do account for the space these take up.

Ease of Access

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The simple layout and ample space mean getting to food in any portion of the {{product.name}} is quite easy, and a few other shelf slots allow for slight customization. The two adjustable refrigerator shelves are sturdy without being too heavy, but the slots they're placed into don't hold them in place as firmly as other designs. This means that when using the deli drawer, or adjusting the retractable portion, something that essentially pushes or pulls on the shelf, the whole thing can start to shift around. Thankfully, it was never to the degree that the shelf seemed in danger of falling out of its bracket; even so, it might be better to play with your food after you've taken it out of the fridge.

All three drawers move rather stiffly, and the humidity controls on the crisper drawers move hardly at all, almost to the point of being non-adjustable. When switching from the vegetable to fruit setting, the switch moves so little that, if you didn't know better, it may come across as being stuck.

Controls

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There is a single temperature control unit for the entire appliance, located front and center at the top of the fridge compartment.

The control unit is simple and eye-catching. More visually interesting than a simple rotating knob, the {{product.name}} uses a four point scale illustrated using glowing snowflakes which indicate that the temperature is getting colder the closer the snowflake it to the word "Coldest." Even though it looks nicer, however, it is still one control for the entire unit, meaning the temperature of one section is at the mercy of the other. The panel also offers an easy-to-read display that conveniently lets you know when the air and water filters need to be replaced.

Water Dispenser

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The water filter is about as simple to use as possible, short of giving you a shelf to place your glass on while filling. To activate it, simply press a glass against the clearly labeled panel. The unit shoots water at a downward angle from left to right, as opposed to the straight-down approach found on many through-the-door designs. It is placed far enough back that you shouldn't run the risk of pressing on it when you don't mean to and turning your fridge into a water fountain, but also not so far back that you might have trouble getting your glass under the spout if the shelves are full of food.

The water filter is easily changed, as long as you don't have too much food in front of it. The front panel flips forward and up, allowing the filter to slide in or out when replacing it.

Ice Maker

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The ice maker found is found on the upper left, and is turned on and off using a wire handle. The {{product.name}} also has a loose tray designed to fit snugly under the ice maker which can be removed for more storage space if desired.

Cleaning

Noise

Conclusion

Energy Efficiency

One of its strongest assets, the {{product.name}} runs at a fairly low operating cost compared to other top-freezer models.

Performance

The performance of the {{product.name}} could be summed up as "almost." The fridge's temperature was almost consistent, the crisper drawer almost retained the desired amount of moisture, the items in the freezer froze after an amount of time that was almost hitting the average. This {{product.brand.name}} almost hit a good mark across the board, but not quite.

Storage Space

The figures that we come up with take into account space filled by shelves, controls, light bulbs, anything that gets in the way of your food. Manufacturer specs do not, which is why ours are always smaller. In this case, the {{product.name}} had a reasonable amount of storage space in both the fridge and freezer, enough that most people should find it sufficient. Very large families, though, may want something a bit more expansive.

Usability

As long as you're not going to be moving the shelves around a lot, this fridge functions just fine. The small extra features not typically found on similarly priced fridges, such as the interior water dispenser, the retractable shelf, or the pull-out compartment on the door, work very well. However, if these are features you don't plan on using all that often, the basics, such as drawer smoothness, temperature control, and shelf stability, are all, at best, average.

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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