CHiQ CSH380NW

Good freezer/fridge hybrid – Needed to replace an ageing 215L chest freezer and decided to switch to a vertical freezer after too many years of having to burrow down to the bottom to find frozen goods. Apart from being more expensive, soon discovered that to achieve similar storage space you need to up the storage space to over 300L (due to sliding drawers, shelving etc).… Read more

Unfortunately the time for replacement fell during COVID and appliances such as freezers were in short supply. After settling on a CHIQ 380L vertical freezer, the best delivery time I was able to source was just over a month. I was surprised though that after agreeing to this, one became available a few days later.

DESCRIPTION This unit measures around H1850mm (floor to uppermost extremity) x W710mm x D740mm (including door handle). There is a further protuberance at the back for a smallish panel that extends out a further 30mm beyond the mostly flat back. I bought a white version but black is also available and with the handle on the right (You can switch the door from left to right opening with hardware included). Door panels are smooth but the two side panels have a rougher texture like “orange peel” finish. For positioning there are two roller wheels at the back with two adjustable legs (for levelling) at the front. Inside there are five drawers (with carry handles) and two shelves on the top (with tilting covers). At the top of the front is a bright LED light which does a surprisingly good job (considering where it is positioned) at lighting all the drawers. On the front is a large digital readout showing the set temperature and whether the unit is in fridge or freezer mode. This only lights up when the door is opened and shuts off after it is closed. Disappointingly, the digital display only shows the set temperature rather than the actual temperature (like I have in my Samsung refrigerator), however, there is a visual and audible alarm if something goes wrong so you should be alerted. There is also an alarm if the door is left open for too long. Interestingly, the door handle has a leverage system employed that negates the issue with freezers needing to be reopened shortly after closing and the resultant vacuum that forms making this a very difficult operation. With CHIQ’s system, you can easily open the door at any time and this feature works really well. Also supplied with the unit is a separate twist ice tray container. I found this to be better than other freezers that had space being taken up by an inbuilt ice maker I didn’t need. CHIQ offers a three year parts and labour warranty on the fridge/freezer with a further seven parts only warranty on the compressor. Freezer has 3.5 stars energy rating while when used as a refrigerator has 5 stars.

FUNCTIONALITY The main claim for this particular unit is that it is a hybrid device meaning you can use it as a freezer or a refrigerator (but not part and part). This means you could buy two for a pigeon pair of fridge/freezer. Handy to be able to switch if the need arises although (at this point) I only intend to use it as a freezer. There is also a “Fast Freeze” button if you should encounter the need to use this. Found it useful when first starting up and it brought the temperature down fairly rapidly. Have had this freezer for over four months now and it has performed fully as expected. Have it set for -18°C and have checked at various times and in various parts of the freezer to see what the temperature has been like. While the top two shelves are at -18°C it is not uncommon to find -19°C in the lower drawers so certainly no complaints with uniformity of cooling. Having an inverter compressor (meaning it varies in how much it runs depending on load), I have found the unit is mostly very quiet. Only when having had the door open for a while and/or adding new goods do you hear hear it running. Perhaps a little louder than you might expect inside the house (mine is kept in the garage) but this is not common and overall I would rate the unit as very quiet.

ISSUES Frankly I’m very happy with this purchase, however, there are some niggly things that could have been done better. Apart from the digital display only showing set the set temperature there is another trap to be aware of. When you open either of the flaps on the top two shelves, the rigid blue tinted acrylic lines up almost directly with your eyeline. If, like me, you have come from fridges or freezers that didn’t have this, its easy to forget they are there. Closing the door with one of these open instantly results in the corner of the flap punching a hole through the inner door lining. I’ve seen others online also complaining of this and I myself fell victim to it less than a week after purchase. Somewhat fortunately, I was able to fill the hole with “spak-filla” which manages to mask it pretty well. Lesson learnt and I’m now very cautious of this issue. Perhaps CHIQ would like to investigate using a softer material for these flaps? Also, as the door can be switched from left to right opening, the four mounting holes for the handle are left “exposed” on the side not used (see photo below). I thought there would have been covers supplied for these but could find nothing that came with it. In the end, just purchased some white screw cap covers but shouldn’t have needed to do this. Additionally, after the freezer had been delivered, my wife noticed a dent on the lower left of the door. We watched the freezer being unpacked and knew from this and the substantial packaging around this that the only place this could have occurred was at the factory. While we should have requested it be replaced, this would have necessitated a wait of another month or two and as the unit is kept in the garage, it probably won’t be long before other dents arrive. However, I would have been annoyed if the unit was in my kitchen looking like that. Overall, I’m reasonable happy with this purchase (the issue with puncturing the interior of the door with the hard plastic flaps not withstanding) and I can’t fault its basic freezing capabilities (documentation says freezer is adjustable from 2° to 8° while the freezer can be set from -16° to -28°).

What I liked... * Fridge/freezer hybrid * Uniform freezing * Bright LED light that manages to light all drawers * Generally very quiet * Frost free * Reversible door

and what I disliked... * Digital display that only shows set temperature...not current temperature * Easy for “tilting flaps” to puncture interior door lining if you don’t remember to close them before closing the door * Dent in door