There are times when you just don’t need a huge family-sized refrigerator. A mini refrigerator will suffice if you’re just a college student living in a dorm, or you want chilled drinks to be readily available in your office, garage or bedroom and don’t have room for a beverage cooler. You can set it up as a bar fridge too. You cut down on the space allocation, the power consumption, and of course on the cost.
So which mini fridge should you buy? You should get the DAR259BL, according to numerous people who already own one.
Specifications and Features
Here are the features you can expect when you get this Danby mini fridge:
It’s is 17 and 13/16 inches wide, 20 and 3/16 inches deep, and 27 and 15/16 inches tall. It weighs a little over 56 pounds and has a capacity of 2.5 cubic feet or 70.7 liters.
It comes with a mechanical thermostat and an automatic defrost system.
There’s also a (2nd generation) Canstor beverage dispensing system.
There are 2½ wire shelves for the utmost storage versatility, and it can accommodate large and tall soda bottles.
It has an integrated door handle, and the door swing is reversible so that it can easily be used by both right-handed and left-handed people.
The work top is scratch-resistant, which makes this area a convenient spot to put your accessories.
Click here for more information about the DAR259BL
Pros and Cons
First of all, just about everyone has lauded the great looks of the DAR259BL. It looks sleek and stylish, and it won’t look out of place in any modern kitchen or office. It makes your dorm room look classier too. The size and weight is also just right. You can put it just about anywhere. It can be placed on a counter or on a floor. One owner said that it fits great under his office desk. As for the weight, it’s also light enough to carry and you can put it in your RV with no problem.
Other things you may like include the following:
The layout is quite handy. The lower shelves are okay, but the top shelves are pretty deep. Half of the door is designed to hold about a dozen 12-ounce beer or soda cans. One customer reported that he was able to fit at least 65 cans, with still room enough for taller bottles on the door.
Another customer says that it can fit about 5 days’ worth of food inside. The soda compartments are ideal for fruits and cut up veggies. The condiments are placed in the door compartment. The bottom compartment is perfect for eggs placed horizontally.
It is very easy to set up. It is also very easy to maintain and clean. The automatic defrost system works well, and you just need to remove the shelves to clean the inside quickly.
It really chills your drink in no time. Put a drink inside, and it’s chilled in less than 4 hours. Other owners say that if you turn the control at its coldest, it can even freeze stuff inside. You also don’t need to open the unit to change the temperature settings, as the temperature control is on the outside.
The noise it makes is negligible, and with ambient sounds it’s barely noticeable. After a while even when everything’s quiet, you just get used to the humming.
So what’s wrong with it? There have been some several complaints about the packaging, and several have remarked that the unit they received had some dents in it. And some of these people have also reported that what they got was defective.
A few customers noted that it may not cool evenly. They have mentioned that their sodas freeze in the bottom shelf while at the top the drinks barely reach past the lukewarm stage.
Others also report that it may leak water to the floor. One noted this event happening after 2 weeks of use.
The damage may cause the compressor to make a noise that seems like a metal ball is rattling on the inside.
All these problems may be caused by delivery accidents or improper quality control. One important point you should remember is that turning the temperature control clockwise makes it colder, because it’s not indicated on the fridge unit itself. Finally, you also have to keep in mind that when you get it you have to put this Danby fridge in place unplugged for 24 hours, before you plug it in. This is very important so that the fluids settle in the system before running the motor and cooler.
Conclusion
The reviews for the Danby DAR259BL are mostly very good. On Amazon, it has garnered 54 five-star rating reviews (out of 108 total reviews) and 34 four-star reviews and only got 14 one-star reviews and a single two-star rating review. Among the most recent reviews in the last month, 8 lauded the Danby fridge while 2 gave it low marks.
So in the end, if you get a working unit then you have with you a wonderful mini fridge that will solve all your problems and won’t make new problems for you. It can store drinks and food, but you may want to think about how you can arrange things so that everything fits.
Using and cleaning it won’t cause any difficulties. Just read the manual first, and take note of the tips mentioned here. Just in case you forgot, remember that you should put it where you want it for 24 hours before you plug it in. And then when you set the temperature, turning the control clockwise makes it colder.
It won’t be noisy enough to bother your concentration or your sleep. Its size makes it ideal for even small rooms, and its light weight enables you to easily carry it or put it in an RV.
Click here for more information about the DAR259BL
Overall, we really like this fridge. It is a perfect size, does the job and looks really sharp. Most of the complaints we have seen seem to be from people who either got a unit that was banged around during delivery or didn’t let the unit sit before plugging it in. If you do order this fridge, make sure to check over the fridge carefully upon delivery to make sure there is no damage.