DCS RF195AUUX1 19.5 Cu. Ft. French Door Stainless Steel Review

Introduction

Front

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This is a French door fridge with a stainless steel finish, with a freezer that is accessed using a pull-out drawer located under the fridge compartment. The control panel and water dispenser is located on the right fridge door.

As with all stainless products, the {{product.brand.name}} is very susceptible to fingerprints and smearing. If you’ve got a large household or children that will be going in and out of the fridge a lot, make sure to stock up on stainless cleaner and paper towels.

The controls are all handled using a display found on the exterior of the right fridge door. It uses primarily symbols that light up when the panel is in use. It's worth nothing that without the instruction manual, the function of these symbols may not be perfectly clear.

The metal handles are disappointingly clunky. They’re rectangular, and run in straight lines that give the fridge a boxy look. The rear of the handles are slightly rounded to help improve gripping, but the angular edges on the front are the most comfortable things in the world. If you want a sturdy looking product, though, these handles will definitely make you happy.

The {{product.brand.name}} only has a through-the-door water dispenser; ice is handled internally. There's very little ledge here, so you won't be able to place a cup down when filling it.

There's a paddle to depress, similar in concept to virtually every other through-the-door water dispenser. It doesn't go in very far, but it's deep enough that water should go into a glass without any problem.

Interior

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The interior of the fridge uses glass shelves with stainless trim to provide a modern, elegant internal appearance. The fridge is located on the top with two matching doors, while the freezer is located underneath.

Inside the fridge, you'll find quite a few different places to store food. Two adjustable full-width shelves make up the top portion, with a third full-width shelf underneath that serving as the lid to the vegetable drawers. Speaking of which, there are two of those drawers, each with their own humidity controls. Ironically, they pull out together, so there's no way to get into one without accessing the other.

Underneath the vegetable drawers is another set of matching buckets that pull out on a full-width tray. There's no independent temperature control for these, though; it's essentially like having a deli drawer on the bottom of the fridge instead of in the middle.

The water filter is placed unobtrusively up in the right hand corner of the fridge. It's removed by using a small pull tab located at the front of the filter.

Three adjustable bucket shelves are located on the fridge door, with an enclosed dairy bin at the top.

The second door is identical to the first, aside from having the hinge on the other side. There are two detachable plastic dividers that can be hooked onto the wire bar if you want a divider placed between any of your items.

The freezer is broken up into two main sections. The lower portion is a large bucket shelf attached to the pull-out door. Above it is a pull-out tray that comes with three removable plastic buckets.

The ice maker is controlled using the external panel, but it's located inside the freezer. It's nigh impossible to get it, and not meant to be handled directly. Attached to the small plastic bucket located directly under the ice maker is a small ice scoop, which lets you get your cubes without having to directly handle them.

Back

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The back has several tubes coming out of it that transport water from one portion of the fridge to the other.

Sides

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The sides of the {{product.brand.name}} are actually rather unusual. They have a matte finish, but they're not colored using the traditional grey that's usually seen. Instead, they have an almost silvery, metallic sheen to them that complements the stainless front quite nicely.

Running Cost

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While it's not going to gouge out your bank account in electricity costs, the {{product.brand.name}} isn't the cheapest product on the market. Calculated using a standard rate of $0.09 per kW-h, we determined the {{product.brand.name}} would cost consumers about $54.53 per year to operate.

Power Use Per Cu Ft

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That said, this fridge uses all that energy very efficiently. For every cubic foot of usable storage space, the {{product.brand.name}} is only using 0.14 kW-h of energy. That's exceptional, and makes it clear as to why this model is Energy Star certified.

Fridge Temperature

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There was a slight temperature shift from the top of the {{product.brand.name}}'s fridge compartment to the bottom, but it was less of a degree gap than we usually see. Two degrees difference from top to bottom is quite acceptable; in fact, it may be beneficial given that produce isn't meant to be kept as cold as other refrigerated items. You may want to lower the thermostat a degree or two, though; the air may have gotten as cold as 37 degrees, but the inside of our test material averaged about 39.

Freezer Temperature

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This freezer got cold. With another two degree difference on average from top to bottom, this product hovered right around zero degrees, or below. The temperature consistency spatially is excellent, as it means food will always be thoroughly frozen. The different zones also average a temperature fluctuation of just under a quarter of a degree over time, as well, which indicates a reliable product that will minimize the development of freezer burn.

Vegetable Drawer

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This is the best vegetable drawer we've tested to date, no exceptions. It's almost absurd how well the {{product.brand.name}}'s crisper drawers managed to retain moisture. Trouncing everything we've seen that came before it, our test materials lost a mere 0.06 grams of moisture per hour—phenomenal results.

Power Loss

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At the end of our 36 hour power loss test, the internal temperature of our frozen test material hadn't even broken 28 degrees. After yet another day, everything was still truly frigid. You won't have anything to worry about with respect to power outages here.

Freezing Performance

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Despite all the other extraordinary performance ratings we've seen, freezing time proved to be a bit poorer than average. Taking one hour and 46 minutes to freeze a room temperature item, the {{product.brand.name}} is slow enough to potentially have a slightly negative impact on the texture of thawed meats and other items.

Usable Space

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Three shelves and four drawers make up the bulk for the fridge storage. Shelves are mounted to the back of the fridge wall using hooks, and the number of buckets and pull-out drawers means a lot of the viable space is taking up with the means of storing food as opposed to actual food. That said, you can fit a total of 9.32 cubic feet worth of groceries into the {{product.brand.name}}.

Three bucket shelves and a dairy bin add to the fridge's overall storage capacity. A small plastic divider allows you to split up your items; since it can be removed and placed on any of the six door shelves, we didn't subtract it from the overall usable capacity.

There's a matching set of shelves on the right door, too. Relegating the ice maker to the freezer means door storage is identical on both sides. The six main shelves can all be adjusted, so you can shift around as needed to make the most of the available space.

The freezer consists primarily of a large bucket on the bottom with a pull-out tray above that. Three small plastic buckets provide segregated food storage to suit your needs; the left-most and smaller one is designed specifically for ice cubes, and comes with an ice scoop that stores in a little side nook on the tray. We calculated the freezer's storage capacity with all the trays in place, and got a total of 2.71 cubic feet of usable space.

Below are the manufacturers own figures for capacity, and our own measurements for usable capacity. The manufacturers figures do not take account of the shelves, drawers and other removable features, but our measurements do account for the space these take up.

Ease of Access

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The wide shelves in the fridge are extremely easy to access, with plenty of open spaces to get to food stored at any spot. Since it's a counter-depth, you don't have to worry about losing items in the back as much as you would with a full-sized. The freezer doesn't extend out as far as on some other models, though, so there may be more bending and rooting around to get at frozen goods than you may be typically used to.

Controls

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The controls are all handled using a display found on the exterior of the right fridge door. It uses primarily symbols that light up when the panel is in use. It's worth nothing that without the instruction manual, the function of these symbols may not be perfectly clear.

The controls themselves are quite easy to use, once you get the hang of them. You'll want to peruse the user's manual a few times to acquaint yourself with the fridges different functions, at least until you can look at the symbols and know exactly what they mean.

Water Dispenser

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As with many other parts of the {{product.brand.name}}, folks used to more typical layouts may need some time to get used to it. The paddle on the water dispenser doesn't depress all that far and there's very little ledge, but the water itself comes out gently and at an good angle for catching your drink in a glass.

Ice Maker

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The ice maker is controlled using the external panel, but it's located inside the freezer. It's nigh impossible to get it, and not meant to be handled directly. Attached to the small plastic bucket located directly under the ice maker is a small ice scoop, which lets you get your cubes without having to directly handle them.

Cleaning

Noise

Other Features

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Conclusion

Energy Efficiency

It's a good sized product, so it's going to cost a fair amount to run. That said, the energy that's used is distributed throughout the appliance in a very efficiency way. No worries about wasted money here, that's for sure.

Performance

While freezing time failed to impress, everything else had us floored. Very strong temperature consistency is supported by literally the best moisture retention we've seen. This fridge is a God send to folks that love fresh produce.

Storage Space

While the nature of a counter-depth fridge means it's inherently smaller than a full-sized model, the fridge still managed to hold a fair amount. The freezer wasn't exactly tiny either, as long as you don't plan on cramming a jumbo box of elephantine steaks in here.

Usability

Probably the most frustrating element about the {{product.brand.name}}, the freezer proved a little annoying to access. The controls are also designed primarily using symbols, which will require some users to hang on to the manual if they plan to make the most out of this fridge.