We have 3 of the Home Depot Vissani 52 bottle models between 2 homes and haven’t had a lick of trouble with them.
For a unit that size, it would be insane to spend $700. Find the $200 or so costco/home depot/lowes unit- whatever is on sale. If you have to replace it every 5 years you are way ahead of the game, and how long will you really need a unit that size?
Also, with the unit I had, it came with a small 12 bottle or so free standing rack for the bottom where the compressor bumped it out- I found that by removing the rack I could just use the space as a bin and stack somewhere between 20-30 bottles there thus increasing the capacity to 60+ bottles. Also, there is room to stuff a few 375s in the racking as needed in addition to a normal full load. I think I had close to 70 bottles in a 52 bottles rated unit at one time. They were mostly Bordeaux at that time fwiw, which is of course easier.
Why back in 2006, Lafite was only $120.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I see them at Lowes for $200 and they look fine. I have one, I use it for beer actually, from Costco (Avanti) that works fine too that was even less.
Don’t consider a used small cabinet. . .
I agree with Kris except that the cheap ones are expensive to repair too, insofar as the cost of repair plus purchase will end up not being any bargain compared to a new one.
The inexpensive ones at Home Depot are probably the way to go, but the people who have them working after 10 years are probably in the minority. Haier, for example, makes some cheap ones and I’ve purchased a few but the compressors crap out after a few years and you don’t know it unless you’re in and out of it every day. So one day you may find your wine nice and toasty and you’ll have no idea how long it was that way.
If you approach those as quasi-disposable items, you’ll be OK. I do the same w the AC unit I use to cool my cellar. Rather than buy a Whisperkool or something, I just buy a $100 AC and replace it every 3 years.
Deals can be had on Craigslist; I picked up a gently used 182-bottle Vinotemp (guy kept it in his garage, but wasn’t a big collector, so he often kept it off because it was empty) for my second cabinet for $400. I’ve had it for about a year now, and no problems so far.
And would people really run a scam selling a wine fridge? Seems like a random choice. I’ve bought tons of stuff on craigslist, including two wine-related products, and I’ve never had an issue.
Your people would know!
I guess I got lucky.
I live in Houston and after months of scouring Craigslist, I looked in other drivable cities. In Austin, I saw an add for a “Large wine fridge with space for more than 200 bottles.” The asking price was $500. I talked to the guy and he got it in a side deal from a remodeling project he worked on. The new owners of the house were Mormon and had no use for it.
I drove to Austin and took a look at it. It turns out it was a Vinotemp 600-E with all redwood racking. New the unit is over $3K. Some of the exterior wood had water damage from a ceiling leak but the cooling unit seemed to be working fine. This guy just wanted it gone since he had no bites for almost two months so I got it for $300. I took it home and refinished it and 14 months later it is working fine.
Monte
Just to add to the success side of the Craigslist argument.
I’ve purchased 2 eurocaves (220 bottles) that way for ~$800 each and both perform flawlessly.
I would not have indulged myself enough to buy them for anything near full price.
It helps to not be in a hurry to aquire something, and you want to see that it runs and cools.
Charles
+1 again. buy/sell frequently on CL. never a problem if you just practice some patience and common sense…
Add me to the successful wine cabinet purchases on CL. I bought a Le Cache model 1400 for $1200 (I had to rent a U-Haul to pick it up so all in $1300). This model retails for $3300 + tax & shipping. It was in fantastic condition. Owner was going thru a divorce. Bad for him, good for me. I year into ownership, cooling unit went belly up. Called Le Cache and they found the original purchase date by the serial #. Even though I wasn’t the original owner and had zero paperwork, they still replaced the colling unit under warranty cuz the original sales date was still under 5 years. A+++ customer service.
I’ve bought and sold plenty of stuff on CL, including high end camera equipment. You just have to use common sense and meet in person. I agree with the posts above. For a small cabinet, buy new. But if you have the space for a larger cabinet and time to wait for the right deal, you can probably get a gently used larger cabinet for a little bit more than a new smaller cabinet.
I just bought a 508 btl Vinotemp three door cellar with glass doors that have carved wood grape clusters on them. It was ten yrs old but three years ago they put in a wine mate 2500 cooling unit that is good for a 250 sq ft room/ 1000 btls.
He asked $1900, I paid $1400. After selling other two units it cost me $1000. I will almost have it half full.
Lots of good advice here to ponder. Thanks!
Got a Haier cooler from Craigslist which holds about 80 (or supposedly ~100) bottles for $300 cash on Craigslist about 2 years ago. Works great, but runs slightly louder than I like, which I believe is typical of the manufacturer. Caveat Emptor: If you tip your fridge during moving, be sure to let your new fridge stand upright for 24 hours just to make sure the coolant fully drains into the pan so you don’t burn out the motor; else you can go hunting for another wine fridge.
My first one was a Christmas gift that no doubt came from a big box store and held about 50 bottles. Worked well for many years. I would plan to spend about $200 and just replace if needed. Don’t invest in a better one until you are really ready to step up to a Euro Cave or a built in cellar.
Dave
ITB Calicaro Wine
www.calicaro.com
Sometimes you can get very lucky so keep checking, you just need some patience. 6 years ago I sent a link to a friend of mine, $350 for a 192 capacity Le Cache I found in Craigslist. It was old but it is still working until now. Temps are fine. When I finally decided to get my own, I went on Craigslist for about 2 months, checking everyday and finally found probably the best deal I had for that year. For $100 I got a 192-bottle wine ref (dunno who made it) with a Breezeaire motor. Owner did not use it and was renovating his kitchen so the ref had to go. He also said it had some “quirks” but it turned out that he was only using it incorrectly. These unit CANNOT be used in built in cabinets as they need a LOT of ventilation behind them. If not they will shutdown automatically to prevent motor damage (as it will get too hot). Lesson here is sometimes you can get a good deal if you are patient and diligent.
Just move to the Pacific Northwest and get a passive cellar!