I previously had a Caple dual-zone wine cooler and, to be truthful, it was a bit of a pain over the years. The fan became very noisy and eventually had to be replaced. I ended up fitting a special low-noise fan. The control panel also suddenly failed to display all the temperature number digits properly and it eventually ran continuously without ever reaching the selected temperatures. It became so unreliable that we eventually stopped using it altogether and it sat switched off for the last few years.
The old Caple was using around 486 kWh per year, which at the time cost about £56 annually when electricity prices were roughly half what they are now. With electricity prices having risen so much, that was another good reason not to start using it again.
However, with the recent extremely hot weather in the UK, and our main refrigerator becoming too full of wine that I need to try, it was time for a separate wine cooler again.
The new CDA CFWC624SS cooler cost £564 and, like the old one, is dual-zone, so reds and whites can be kept at different temperatures. When first switched on it was surprisingly noisy, with quite a lot of gas-flow noise, but thankfully this settled down after about a day.
The user guide is one of those manuals that covers too many different models, which somehow manages to make something very simple quite difficult to understand. There is also a locked and unlocked control mode, which adds to the confusion. The display shows Celsius, which is fine for me, although the manual suggests Celsius and Fahrenheit options without making it clear how, or whether, they can actually be changed on this model. It also says the display can show either the actual or target temperature, but so far I have not managed to make it change between the two.
The energy rating is G, on an A-to-G scale, which initially looks rather alarming. The actual consumption is much more reassuring. It uses about 66W while the compressor is running, but of course it cycles on and off. During the current hot weather I am seeing an average consumption of around 0.020 kW, which is broadly in line with the quoted annual figure, in the specification, of 142 kWh per year. If it continues at around the current level, it will cost approximately £28 per year in electricity.
I’ve tested it, and it remembers the set temperatures if the power goes off and then comes back on. This is particularly useful if you expect power cuts, or if you want to switch it off when you’re not drinking or are away. As an aside, we have a friend whose wine cooler caused a serious house fire, so it’s something we’re particularly mindful of.
Capacity is quoted at up to 38 bottles, although that assumes they are packed in quite tightly and are stored sideways. Maximum capacity is not especially important to me, as I particularly want to be able to store opened bottles upright so I can re-assess and compare wine over time. I have therefore removed some of the lower shelves to provide more vertical space.
Most importantly, it is maintaining the temperatures well and, after the initial settling-in period, it is not noisy.
