Customer Reviews

Sunpentown WC-20TL ThermoElectric with Touch Sensitive Controls 20-Bottle Wine Cooler

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this item for $150 (plus $50 shipping) when the list price was $320. It arrived on time and is made of high quality materials - no flimsy shelves, etc. Not exactly sure what thermoelectric is in a technical sense, but it's certainly quiet. I put a fridge thermometer inside and it stays within 2 degrees of the digital setting (digital setting is 62, thermometer is 60). The reflective glass and interior light make for a sleek look. I'd definitely buy this product again.

When I purchased this it had eight 5-star reviews, with everyone saying they love it. No 4-star or lower reviews at all with nothing bad to say. So I didn't hesitate to buy it, but I sure do regret it. It's going back or in the trash.

This unit looks nice in the pictures, but looks cheap in person, the racks are flimsy and generally just screams poor quality. My central air is set to 70 and the cooler was set to 54 and the fan, although not too loud, kept kicking on repeatedly. Thats ok, as long as it could serve its purpose it would be a 4-star, but I can't even use it.

The description says it holds 20 standard bottles, but by "standard" they mean thin Bordeaux bottles only. To me a standard bottle is a Burgundy as that is the size bottle most fine wines are sold in. I was able to cram a case of Pinot Noir in there if I only put 3 on a row and alternated bottles front to back and not use the center shelf at all because the flimsy shelves bowed down from the larger bottles. You certainly cannot fit a bottle of Syrah in here.

If you like good wine, this will not be able to suit you. Now I have a case of various Oregon Pinot's ranging from $80-$120/bottle that have torn labels from trying to fit them in here.

First the good - I've had it a month and seems well made, is compact and quiet, styling is minimalist, just a black cube, and the temperature control is easy to set. The interior LED light seems unnecessary (it is controlled by a button on the front, not by opening the door) but looks good if you have the cooler on display. As you can see from the published dimensions, it is compact so not very convenient on the floor; it really needs to be raised for ease of access and not having counter space I bought a $8 (yes, that's eight dollars, or $7.99 to be precise) coffee table from IKEA to put it on.
Then the not so good: yes, it is quiet but it does make a very soft moaning noise when cooling - not a problem for me but could be for some.
But things you really need to know about before you purchase:
1. It does not remember the set temperature if it loses power, but resets to 52 degrees. I don't want to keep wine that cold, just want to control temperature fluctuations, and I keep it set to 60 degrees so a bottle of red is (almost) drinkable straight out of the cooler. Something to be aware of if you have frequent power outages.
2. And the big one - only Bordeaux-style bottles (or smaller) fit. A few Burgundy-style bottles can be squeezed in one or two per shelf but the overall width is too narrow for a full shelf of four bottles, but some bottles are too big to fit at all without removing a shelf and reducing the number of bottes it can hold. I can live with that, storing mostly Bordeaux, but this would be a fatal flaw for many prospective purchasers and it does seem a pity when an extra inch in height and width would make such a difference.
So overall I am pleased and would buy it again - great value for money - but if you want to store many Burgundy-style bottles think again.

We purchased one of these a month ago and liked it so well we bought a second unit. It's quiet and the temperature control is accurate and consistent. Reviews of these coolers often complain that the capacity is overstated. However, if you insert a few of the bottles neck first, you can achieve the stated capacity.

Received a Sunpentown Wine Cooler which, when unpacked on a Friday, was found to be damaged. I called Sunpentown customer service on Monday morning. They arranged shipment of a replacement, and pick up of the damaged unit. The replacement and pick up were done before the week ended. Superior service! The new unit is installed and working OK.

We ordered this Sunpentown WC-20TL ThermoElectric 20-Bottle Wine Cooler thinking it would be just the cooler we were looking for. It arrived double boxed and although the outside box had a slight bit of damage to it the inside box also.....we didn't think anything of it until we opened the inside box (which wasn't easy)and found the product damaged. One of the plastic door hinges was broken; a good sized chunk laying in the box and the door was hanging loose at an odd angle; it couldn't be opened or closed properly.....The top of the cooler also had a dent in it.

This was a very disappointing thing to find.....overall the item looked pretty cheaply made and this may be why it broke either in the warehouse from where it was shipped or during shipping at one point.....The company did provide good customer service by accepting the return and immediately crediting our account, however we did not want to take a chance on the product after seeing the damage it has sustained and the cheap looking door hinges on it.....I wouldn't order anything of this nature again without seeing it in person first. Best to go to a store and inspect this type of product before purchasing, in our opinion....

Just bought this for my boyfriend and we love it. First off I was astonished at how quickly this item got here. I believe it only took 3 or so days. The item came in great condition with appropriate wrapping. Granted we have only had this wine fridge for a couple hours now, we absolutely love it. It looks great..when the blue led light is not on, it looks like a modern piece of equipment. My boyfriend was worried that it would be too loud and when we initially plugged it in, it was a bit loud, but as soon as the temperature hit its set amount, the fan turned off and it became extremely quiet. Now my bf is really picky and this would have been the main reason why we would have returned it, but he was quite happy. The size is perfect for us too...and we found that it fit our larger wine gbottles...another big requirement for my boyfriend. All in all we are happy with our purchase and would definitely recommend. My only concern when buying this item was that even though everyone gave it great reviews, the reviews did not go back that far. I am hoping that this machine doesn't cluck out on us too early.

I've had mine in use for over a year now, and am very happy with it. Mind you, I'm not a wine snob, and really did not want to spend much money on a wine fridge. I bought this precisely because, although I keep "better" wines around for special purposes, I normally look for gems in the bottom and middle shelves. Consequently, I have had some of my "better" wines go bad in the past because I did not properly store them and forgot to drink them. I had thought about a wine fridge in the past, done some research, and generally thought they were too costly to be worthwhile for me.... Until an immediate need developed : I dropped in at a local Vintner to buy a couple bottles of my favorite Zin, and was informed that he only had a few cases left.

The wire racks feel a bit flimsy, and the slots are a bit small. Fully filling the unit with twenty of the "normal" bottles I buy is not possible - my case of Zin pretty much had this thing at capacity. Having cleared some space over the last year, I have not yet come across a more or less normalish wine bottle I could not jam in there one way or another. The flex in the racks actually works in your favor for this. I even managed to get some chianti in without taking the silly straw off.

It took a day or so the first time, but once all of the wine was brought down to temp, the temperature stabilized, and the unit has been quiet. Even during the initial cool down period, the noise was tolerable. This is not because I have a high tolerance for fan noise - I'm one of those people who uses power tools to reduce computer noise. If I had to put up with the initial noise level on a constant basis, I may have eventually pulled the dremel out, but it has not bothered me since.

Set at 54F, the fridge thermometer I bought to verify the temperature reads from 56-58F, depending on exactly where I place it. I have checked for, but never noticed any variation at the same spot. Adding a few bottles will obviously unset this balance, raise the ambient temp slightly, and cause the unit to do some work - but after a few hours, it returns to normal.

All in all, there are limits on capacity, but the temperature control is good enough for my limited purposes, the unit has been reliable for a year, the noise level is tolerable, it looks good, and it cost about half as much as any other unit I looked at. That's a good deal in my book, and I'm happy I risked it with this model. There were barely any reviews when I picked it up, and I'm happy to see others are having the same good experience.

Two months so far and works well. Unfortunately it does not go below 54 degrees, but I knew that before I bought it. A little noisy but not annoying. Don't regret the purchase so far.

I bought this as a stop gap until we could put a proper wine cooler in our kitchen. I really like it. It keeps the wine at the right temperature and does not use a lot of energy to do it. A really good value. Keep in mind it is NOT a fridge. It does not chill past 60. But that is perfect for wine.