Went through the same process, and changed my bar plans to incorporate a 'real' fridge instead. While you lose the nice display and under-counter form factor, you gain cold, plenty of space, a freezer, and ICE! And in real-life usage, the number of times the beverage center display would look nice is very, very low - half-empty it's not impressive!
Real fridge for around ~$600 with an ice maker wins... Look at counter-depth dimensions if you need it - also see if you can just recess a fridge area to help it blend in (and get a black model).
Jeff
Yeah. That would still end up costing quite a bit if we had more space I would for sure be going full fridge. I just think it would be an eyesore even if we got a counter depth one.
Yes, but at a price. Both Perlick and True make excellent beverage centers that are reliable, stay cool, and are well built. But they also run about $3000.
Yeah I wish. I didn't realize perlick made fridges. I did look at the True's but didn't see a price. I knew they would be spendy, but like you said. they work..
I really like my Marvel under counter unit. Of course, the beverages it keeps cool are two sixtel kegs with a line running out the top to my beer tower.
I guess if you skipped the beer lines, it would also be a good refrigerator. No ice maker, no freezer - but it is quiet and made for under counter use.
that marvel fridge looks really nice. Those were 1-2k right? how do you put the beer tower on it? did you drill it?
I have found a few other options today after doing some browsing. One is the dual zone magic chef unit and the other is a GE Profile via Home depot.
The GE unit retails for about $12-1300. the magic chef unit retails for $549. GE has a minimum temp of 41* yet nobody really complains about temps in the reviews. The GE Looks great and holds a lot. It is an undercounter design. overall it gets pretty good reviews. near 4 stars.
The magic chef has dual zone climate which I don't care about but I can work with it. It claims temps as low as 36*in the coldest zone. it's slightly smaller than the GE but a fraction of the price. It get's mid 3 stars with some complaints. Looks pretty good too.
at this point I'm planning to get an extended warranty through HD on the magic chef and give it a shot. I will try to remember to update this thread after I get some first hand use.
I'd love to hear any feedback or suggestions on other units?