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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

  • Other Features

  • 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
  • Other Features
  • Conclusion

Introduction

Front

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The fact that this particular model isn't of gargantuan proportions is what saves it from looking too boxy. The smooth, stainless finish looks very sleek despite the prominent grain, which is only visible when hit by the light at certain angles.

The fact that the grain in the stainless finish is only sometimes visible doesn't really help the fridge with respect to smudging. In fact, this particular model seems particularly prone to picking up fingerprints, even more so than usual. Definitely not the product of choice for households with small children.

The controls are set on the left fridge door, just above the ice and water dispenser. It uses a panel that lights up when you're adjusting things like temperature setting. The settings themselves are controlled using solid buttons that flank the panel which are always visible. Luckily, the buttons have also been given a stainless finish, and the icons on them are small enough as to not be terribly garish.

The handles are squared off, and yet somehow don't look clunky. They're small and thin enough that the flat ends which stick out from the fridge and freezer doors don't seem jarringly out of place. They also have a steel finish, but lack the weakness to fingerprints that the doors fall victim to.

The water and ice dispenser is located in the usual place for a French door model: under the controls on the left-hand fridge door. The cavity is deep enough to comfortably fit an average drinking glass, and a light turns on whenever you go to dispense something. This light can also be turned on manually using the control panel, perfect for use a night light in the kitchen.

You may notice something unusual about the {{product.brand.name}}'s dispenser. It's odd compared to most other set ups we've seen in that it has no control paddle whatsoever. There are four buttons set above the dispenser cavity: one for water, one for crushed ice, another for cubed ice, and a control lock. You have to hold down one of these buttons in order to use the dispenser.

Interior

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The {{product.brand.name}}'s interior is very typical of a French door layout. There are very few surprises in either compartment, though the LED lighting is a nice touch. Again, you may notice that {{product.brand.name}} put the company name on at least one surface in every cavity, door, nook, and cranny on this fridge...you know, just in case you want to be reminded about whose product you bought.

The interior of the CDWT980VSS.

There's a fairly large ice maker squirreled away into the upper left corner of the fridge. As such, you've got a very thin shelf bridging the gap between it and a half-width shelf in the upper right corner. Under this are two more half-width adjustable shelves, with a full-width one on the bottom serving as the top to two identical crisper drawers. These are labeled Vita Fresh drawers, and are set above a full-width drawer found at the bottom of the fridge. This short, wide drawer would be good for deli items, defrosting meats so they don't drip on other food items, or really anything else you can think of; it doesn't have a separate temperature control, however.

The water filter has been recessed into the ceiling of the fridge. It's accessed using a pull-down flap which opens like the mouth of a small animal. While it's great for maximizing fridge space, you'll need to clear out the area directly under it in order to open the flap enough to actually get at the filter.

The left fridge door is victim to the spatial restrictions placed on it by the ice maker. As such, it has a shelf shaped like a dairy bin on top, a small cubic shelf to the left of the ice dispenser spout, and two larger shelves below that. All of them are fully self-contained and completely removable, but their placement cannot be adjusted.

The right-hand door is of a more typical design. The top houses a matching dairy bin, with three matching shelves below that. These three are adjustable, though the brackets that the shelves hook onto don't run the entire height of the door.

The door bins here are quite large, holding up to two gallons and four water bottles each.

The freezer is very basic, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's a full-width drawer located at the top (again with the reoccurring {{product.brand.name}} company logo), as well as a large pull-out bucket attached to the door underneath that. This drawer is bisected by a plastic divider into left and right halves; the unusual thing about the divider is that it has a built-in handle. You can actually lift this compartment up and out of the freezer, something that could come in handy for cleaning.

The ice maker, as mentioned above, is found in the upper left corner of the fridge interior. There's a long tray that you can pull out if you want to get at the ice without having to use the external dispenser. It ejects using a small button that's surprisingly difficult to depress.

Back

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Two cables on the back transport water to different areas in the fridge; other than that, there's not much of interest back here.

Sides

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The {{product.brand.name}}'s sides have been given a grey finish with a matte texture. It gives the product a uniform appearance that will prevent it from appearing out of place in your kitchen if the sides happen to be visible.

Olympus SZ-31MR iHS side views

Running Cost

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No large fridge with the type of capacity that you find in this {{product.brand.name}} is going to be cheap. In terms of an annual electric bill, this fridge is going to run you about $55.38. We calculate that figure using a standard rate of $0.09 per kW-h. It's not a small amount, but it's not bad compared to other fridges of its size and type.

Power Use Per Cu Ft

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In order to level the playing field in terms of energy efficiency, we take the amount of electricity used and break it up evenly over the amount of available storage space. For every cubic foot available in the {{product.brand.name}}, it turns out that you only need 0.10 kW-h. That's exceptionally efficient; while not the best we've seen, it's a rate that comes pretty darn close. While the fridge may run up your electric bill, you can at least be comforted by the fact that all of the energy is being put to good use.

Fridge Temperature

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Average temperatures in the fridge remained within a two degree range from top to bottom, which is common for most products. Unfortunately, only the middle shelf matched the 37 degrees shown on the thermostat. For refrigeration that's closer to the ideal setting, you may want to actually turn the controls down a notch. Fluctuation over time—one of the most important features in refrigeration—was excellent here, usually staying at half a degree or less. As long as you're not shifting items from one shelf to the next and exposing them to different average temperatures, food will be well preserved in this model.

Freezer Temperature

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The freezer proved to be a combination of excellent and very poor results. The lower storage bin proved to be even colder than our desired zero degrees, though the temperature deviation over time averaged to about a full degree. It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough to effectively freeze your food while minimizing freezer burn. The upper drawer, however, was noticeably warmer—it averaged about three degrees Fahrenheit. Ironically, it only fluctuated a quarter of a degree over time. It’s not as perfectly cold as we like, but the chance that your food will contract freezer burn and spoil was about as low as it can get.

Vegetable Drawer

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Vegetable drawer performance was mediocre at best. The {{product.brand.name}}’s average rate of moisture loss was about 0.20 grams per hour. This isn’t nearly as good as we like to see, but it’s also far from the worst. Produce stored here should be fine, as long as you don’t let it sit for too long; keeps your carrots in the {{product.brand.name}} for a week, and you may end up with long orange toothpicks.

Power Loss

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After 36 full hours without power, the {{product.brand.name}}'s internal freezer temperature had just cracked 28 degrees. Whether you live in an area that is frequently subject to power outages, or just have to endure the occasional freak storm, it's comforting to know that this fridge—should you have it—will keep your products safe and cold until the power company finishes their damage control. That said, we conduct this test without ever opening the door; keep that in mind if you’re ever actually stuck in a power outage: only open the door when absolutely necessary, otherwise the cold air will escape exponentially faster.

Freezing Performance

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The {{product.brand.name}} managed to freeze our room temperature items in one hour and 40 minutes. This is slower than average by about 10 or 15 minutes, a duration long enough that it may have a negative effect on the thawed texture of meats, fish, and other various items that are purchased fresh and then frozen. However, as long as you’re not freezing very expensive, delicate items, you should be okay.

Usable Space

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The fridge compartment has a very traditional layout. Unfortunately, the {{product.brand.name}} loses a lot of space to the ice maker, which is quite large. You get a little bit back due to the recessed water filter, but it's not a ton. All told, fridge storage is broken up for one very small shelf, three adjustable half shelves, and a full shelf below all of those; additionally, the {{product.brand.name}} includes two crisper drawers and a full-width drawer at the very bottom. In total, you can fit a respectable 11.05 cubic feet worth of groceries in this fridge; not too shabby at all, even with the big ice maker.

The left fridge door is forced to make spatial allowances for the dispenser portion of the ice maker. There's a shelf at the top (essentially a dairy bin), a tiny cubic storage space next to the ice maker spout, and two fairly shallow shelves below that. It's not much, but it does contribute to the overall storage total for the fridge.

The right fridge door is definitely more traditional, not to mention more versatile. From top to bottom, this door also starts out with a dairy bin, with three adjustable bucket shelves below that. Those three are all the same size in terms of depth and width—they can comfortably fit a gallon-sized container with plenty of room left over—but the brackets on which the shelves hang don't run the entire height of the door.

The freezer storage is pretty basic. There's a full-width drawer at the top and a large bucket under that. The lower storage portion is bisected by a plastic divider, which also happens to serve as a convenient handle if you ever need to remove it. (Normally the lower shelf is built into the tracks on the door, which gives the {{product.brand.name}} a slight, useful advantage to facilitate cleaning.) All told, these three sections offer 5.44 cubic feet worth of usable space. It's not a ton, but likely enough to suit most families.

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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Generally, every area in this fridge is quite easy to get to. Anything stored at the back of the fridge shouldn't be lost either, since the adjustable shelves can slide forward. In fact, other than the necessary stooping required to get at frozen goods in any model with a bottom freezer, you shouldn't have any trouble getting to your groceries no matter where you place them.

Controls

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The controls are set on the left fridge door, just above the ice and water dispenser. It uses a panel that lights up when you're adjusting things like temperature setting. The settings themselves are controlled using solid buttons that flank the panel which are always visible. Luckily, the buttons have also been given a stainless finish, and the icons on them are small enough as to not be terribly garish.

The controls seem simple enough: a few buttons set around a control panel operate the water and ice dispenser, manage the thermostats, and carry out any other extra functions the fridge offers. In fact, these buttons are a bit of a pain in the neck. For one thing, they're not real buttons in the sense that you push on them, they depress, and something happens. These buttons actually work like a touch panel: you tap them to make something happen. They're not laid out in a terribly efficient manner, either—you cannot make the temperature go up or down, but rather you cycle through a finite selection of temperatures two degrees at a time until you get the desired setting. It's an inefficient setup that's unnecessarily frustrating, especially since the controls don't have a huge array of functions. It's a simple fridge that could have been streamlined just a bit more to improve the user experience.

Water Dispenser

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The dispenser doesn't use a paddle, but rather relies on the aforementioned control set up to produce water or ice. There are three buttons—one for water, one for crushed ice, and another for cubed ice—that must be held down to release your moisture of choice. It's unusual, but not necessarily in a bad way. Other than our minor distaste for the choice of control design in general, this layout may actually prevent accidental spilling. There's no paddle to accidentally hit, and the dispenser only works if you hold down the buttons; nothing comes out if you just tap them.

Ice Maker

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The ice maker, as mentioned above, is found in the upper left corner of the fridge interior. There's a long tray that you can pull out if you want to get at the ice without having to use the external dispenser. It ejects using a small button that's surprisingly difficult to depress.

Cleaning

Noise

Other Features

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Conclusion

Energy Efficiency

This fridge performs very efficiently, but the fact that it's a large appliance means it's still not terribly cheap to operate.

Performance

Temperature consistency was solid, if unremarkable. This fridge is securely ensconced at the high end of average performance.

Storage Space

A very solid amount of space in the fridge, with plenty of open room in the freezer as well.

Usability

For a fridge which needs so few control buttons, the interface is inefficiently designed. The large ice maker is also a bit unwieldy, but luckily, shelf access is great all around.

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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