With built-in style and clever 6th Sense Fresh Control technology, the Whirlpool ARG 18033 A++.1 monitors and adapts temperature and humidity to maintain freshness, so expect extra-crisp fruit and veggies. It has 314-litre capacity, a useful crisper drawer divider, super frugal A++ energy rating and an Antibacterial Filter that aims to reduce unpleasant smells lingering in the fridge.
The Whirlpool’s fabulous all-round LED lights work a treat, the interior is roomy and the furniture is nicely appointed. Throughout testing, this Whirlpool kept a consistent temperature for greater fresh food longevity and was super quiet. The control system can be tricky to read before any function is illuminated and the fixed door pockets could be more flexible, but great space, excellent cooling and its smart Antibacterial filter make the ARG 18033 A++.1 an excellent integrated option.
Whirlpool ARG 18033 A++.1 Integrated Fridge – What you need to know
- Fridge performance – consistent temperature throughout, the salad drawers kept fruit and vegetables crisp for days.
- Average temperature – spot on at the 4 degrees C that we set on the thermostat.
- Lighting – bright, white LED lamps placed around the entire compartment delivers outstanding compartment lighting.
- Storage capacity & flexibility – Huge capacity, plenty of shelves and smooth drawers, but fixed door pockets lack flexibility.
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Whirlpool ARG 18033 A++.1 Integrated Fridge Design – Impresses with its sumptuous interior and clever features
Standing tall at 180cm, the Whirlpool ARG 18033 A++.1 is a fully integrated refrigerator that builds seamlessly into the kitchen. Inside it offers a generous 314 litres capacity with plenty of flexibility thanks to the five, height-adjustable chrome-trimmed shelves and a wire 4-bottle rack.
You get two good-sized pull-out salad drawers that glide easily despite being on sliders rather than wheels, and both can be fully removed with the door at just 90 degrees. A divider in the larger upper drawer should help to keep your fruit and veg from merging.
There are also five full-width door pockets, perfect for sauces, jars and bottles. Only the lowest one is adjustable in height and only then in a choice of two positions. The higher position negates taller bottles anyway, so the door pockets are essentially fixed. The lower door pocket is a little snug for 4-pint milk cartons side on, but that does mean there is no danger of the bottle leaping out if you throw open the door.
A hero feature in the compartment is the LED lighting that wouldn’t look out of place at a small football stadium. Five crisp white LED lamps are placed two either side mid-way up and one larger overhead fitting. The result is almost 360-degree lighting that remains impressive even when the fridge is packed out to the door seals with produce. Say goodbye to unwanted shadows blocking your view.
On the upper shelf, the Whirlpool’s Air Filter fan outlet is quite a chunky pod. This system houses this fridge’s 6th sense tech and antibacterial filter system developed in conjunction with Microban. This prevents the proliferation of bacteria and helps remove unpleasant odours from the fridge. Stilton fans, this could be a for you! It’s a difficult feature to test, but we certainly didn’t notice any unpleasant whiffs through testing.
The very swish-looking control panel is finished in a stainless-steel look surface. It looks the part, but it is almost impossible to see the touch button indicators before they are illuminated. So you have to press them and see what indicator pops up in a game of “guess the function”. That said, when you have sussed what buttons do what, the controls, including degree by degree temperature setting, are responsive.
Whirlpool ARG 18033 A++.1 Integrated Fridge Performance – Amazingly stable temperatures
We fitted our Whirlpool ARG 18033 A++.1 sample into a full-size larder kitchen carcass and loaded it up with 1kg of produce per 10litres of claimed space. At over 31kg capacity at this loading level, we had to get out our freezer testing packs too. The machine was placed in our large environmental chamber to keep the air around it at a kitchen-typical 18-19 degrees C and we set the fridge temperature to 4 degrees C. Measuring the temperature on every shelf and drawer, every minute for over a week, we got a good idea how this Whirlpool performs – and it was very good indeed!
While most fridges, particularly taller models, will have a marked difference in average temperature from top to bottom (warmer high, cooler lower down) this Whirlpool’s fan circulated cooling keeps things remarkably consistent throughout. The mid shelves averaged spot on 4 degrees C, the upper shelves 4.5 degrees C and the drawers around 3.5 degrees C average. That is a spectacularly good result that suggests you could keep any food successfully on any shelf.
Not only was this tall integrated remarkable consistent from top to bottom the temperature swing through the compressor cycle every hour and a half or so is well controlled. The shelves and drawers only swung +/- 1 degree either side of the average temperature with the upper shelves showing a more typical +/- 1.5 degrees. Even that is better than most tall fridges where we would expect nearer +/- 2 degrees up top.
Arguably, having an even lower temperature in the lowest drawer would be more useful for meat and fish, but in its defence, this model doesn’t claim that as a feature. The salad drawers remain chilled, stable and well-controlled to keep your fruit and veg in tip-top condition.
Sound wise, this Whirlpool is a super-quiet performer. The ultra-quiet 34dB stated on the energy label proved to be a little ambitious in our testing but we only measured a still ridiculously low 37dB! That is one of the quietest fridge’s we have ever tested and required an overnight test on a still evening so that ambient noise didn’t skew the result.
Moreover, the 37dB running noise only happens for around 20minutes every hour and a half. The rest of the time, the Whirlpool is a few dB quieter or completely silent. An exceptionally good result.
Should you buy the Whirlpool ARG 18033 A++.1 Integrated Fridge?
Great cooling performance that will keep your fresh food in tip-top condition for longer, topped with super-quiet running and fabulous lighting, this Whirlpool is a first-class large capacity integrated fridge. The antibacterial system to reduce odours could well prove an advantage in the long run and the forced-air cooling gives a superbly consistent temperature from top to bottom. Yes the controls are a bit tricky to see when not illuminated and only one door pocket is height adjustable, but we can forgive the ARG 18033 A++.1 those minor quibbles for its top-tier capacity, usability and performance all round.
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