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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Features

  • Performance

  • Conclusion

  • Science Introduction

  • Temperature Performance

  • Moisture Retention

  • Freezing & Thawing

  • Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

  • Other Tests

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Features
  • Performance
  • Conclusion
  • Science Introduction
  • Temperature Performance
  • Moisture Retention
  • Freezing & Thawing
  • Storage Space & Energy Efficiency
  • Other Tests

Introduction

Design & Usability

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It possesses a sleek, clean exterior design, but the interior layout looks and feels inferior.

The front is a smooth, glossy white that looks and feels excellent; it’s not as high-end as stainless, but it certainly looks sharper than a more traditional matte finish, and is very easy to keep clean. The inside looks much like many of the other mid-range Kenmore fridges that we’ve tested, complete with traditional shelf and drawer setup.

It's not as high-end as stainless, but it certainly looks sharper than a more traditional matte finish.

Like its warmer neighbor, the main portion of the freezer is exactly what you’d expect. Unlike some budget models, this one comes equipped with an ice maker, complete with storage bin. It limits how you can adjust the wire shelf, but that shouldn't be much of an issue. Normally, door storage isn't worth discussing, but the top shelf on the freezer door is unusual enough that we thought we might break with form for a moment. Instead of a traditional fixed shelf, it's essentially a wire trap that can be tipped forward. This is great for storing loose frozen treats like popsicles or ice cream sandwiches, as you can stack them to take advantage of the vertical space, and the wire design means you'll always be able to see what's in it.

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Features

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Some small access problems keep this from being a perfect fridge.

There is a downside to the aforementioned wire shelf in the freezer. Its design makes for easy visual reference, but if you put different items in there and want something from the bottom, you'll likely have to take everything out to get to it. Other than that, everything else was quite accessible. Another unexpected surprise comes in the form of an internal water dispenser. Found inside the fridge, its location is a bit unusual and you may find yourself accidentally bumping it from time to time. Fortunately, that prominence also means it's easy to get to, and accidental spilling is easily corrected by utilizing the simple lock option on the control panel.

Another unexpected surprise comes in the form of an internal water dispenser.

Speaking of the controls, there are actually two sets of them, both of which are very low-tech. In the fridge, at the top of the compartment, is a little scale from 1 to 5 that controls the temperature. There’s one button to adjust it, with another controlling the water dispenser lock. In the freezer, a simple switch that can be pushed up or down to select a number from 1 to 5 handles the freezer temperature.

Performance

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Some really fantastic temperature performance is backed up by moderate moisture retention and freezing times.

This Kenmore exhibited near-perfect temperature consistency in its fridge. Over time, temperatures hardly shifted at all, resulting in even temperatures ideal for food preservation. The "near-perfect" is because the very bottom was a tad bit warmer than the rest. It's not a terrible thing, though; many produce items actually do better in a slightly warmer environment than other refrigerated items.

The freezer ran a little cooler than expected—not really a bad thing, just surprising.

The freezer ran a little cooler than expected—not really a bad thing, just surprising—with temperatures a bit below zero degrees Fahrenheit. The consistency over time is something to be praised—an important point given that minimal temperature change, like what we saw in the Kenmore, means your food will be safe from freezer burn.

Moisture retention was good, if not excellent. Produce should last about an average amount of time, staying crisp for a few days before they start to turn. While three out of three excellent performance points would have been nice, having adequate crisper drawers as your worst performing aspect is still pretty darn good.

Conclusion

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A high quality fridge that deserves consideration from buyers looking for a reliable top-freezer.

Kenmore has yet again produced an appliance that delivers praise-worthy performance without ripping your wallet apart. An excellent mid-range fridge, the Kenmore 79302 offers superior temperature control for refrigeration quality that will keep your goods fresher for longer, among a slew of other positive attributes. This appliance is manufactured by LG for Sears, so you may have to go through them in order to find one. Its MSRP isn’t the lowest that Kenmore offers—it’s listed as $1,289—and the specialized retail relationship means sale prices may be a bit difficult to find, but we found it listed for just under $1,000. It’s not a huge difference, but even a couple hundred dollars can sweeten the pot when purchasing a high-quality fridge like this one.

Science Introduction

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The numbers don't lie: This is one of the best top freezers we've seen, hands down. Take a look at our test results and see if you can figure out why.

Temperature Performance

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Remarkable consistency everywhere in this product

Temperatures at the top and middle of the fridge cavity were spot on, with a slight increase in warmth near the bottom. Usually this isn't an issue, since produce items can actually benefit from being stored slightly above the ideal fridge temperature of 37 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, this fridge exhibited a fluctuation range of less than a quarter of a degree. That's excellent, providing even, regular consistency for high-quality food preservation.

The freezer was actually under the target point of zero degrees, but that's fine. An overachieving appliance is perfectly acceptable, and we didn't find anything that suffered—such as energy efficiency—as a result of sub-zero temperatures. The top averaged about -2.5 degrees Fahrenheit, while the bottom of the compartment ran at -1.5 degrees; that's a very acceptable temperature shift that shouldn't harm any of your frozen goods. As far as fluctuation over time, every point in the freezer stayed within half a degree of its average temperature, meaning freezer burn shouldn't be an issue for you.

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Moisture Retention

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Adequate moisture retention means modestly fresh vegetables.

The Kenmore’s vegetable drawers performed adequately enough, but nothing quite so attention-worthy as its other performance points. On average, our test material lost 0.18 grams of water per hour. Your vegetables will remain fresh and crisp for a few days, but they won’t last an unusually long amount of time.

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Freezing & Thawing

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Freezing time is about average, although it's nothing to brag about.

Thawed food generally has a slightly inferior texture compared to its original quality, something more efficient appliances are able to fix by minimizing freezing time. This particular model took 1 hour and 34 minutes to bring our room temperature test materials down to freezing. This isn’t perfect—we’ve seen fridges do it in just about an hour flat—but it’s better than some other models we’ve seen. As far as what happens when the power goes, you can rest assured that you're in good hands. The insulation in the freezer kept everything quite chill far the entire 36 hours that we run our power loss test.

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Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

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This fridge is pretty large for a standard top-freezer, and it has some of the best efficiency we've come across.

With a very traditional layout, the fridge compartment can offer consumers up to 11.34 cubic feet of usable space. It’s not exactly expansive, but there’s more than enough space for a good number of consumers. The freezer holds a fair amount, too... at least, by top-freezer standards. Taking into account the space filled by the ice maker, this open cavity can store 4.71 cubic feet of frozen goodies.

This Kenmore is by far one of the most efficient fridges we’ve seen, both in its class and generally speaking. Using a $0.09 per kWh standard, we determined it would only cost $28.34 per year to operate. That's an exceptionally low amount, and is bound to save you money in the long run. Factoring in the available storage space, this Kenmore uses just 0.05 kWh per cubic foot of space. That kind of efficiency is almost unheard of; most other fridges can’t even come close.

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Other Tests

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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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