So, you’ve decided you like the idea of having a wine cooler, and who wouldn’t, they’re so cool! (pun intended!) Now you need to know, just how much does it cost to buy a wine cooler?
Like everything, there’s no simple answer as, again, it depends on what you are looking for. A small wine cooler (6-8 bottle capacity) would set you back anywhere from around $70 for a small, 6 bottle capacity up to around $140 for an 8 bottle capacity. Prices can fluctuate and vary depending on the brands, special sales events (hello Black Friday!) and where you plan to buy your wine cooler from. Personally, we recommend buying on amazon – you can’t beat it for convenience and value, plus their returns policy is hard to beat, so you can buy with confidence knowing you’re backed up by their full customer support.
If you’re the type who prefers to touch and feel before you make a purchase, there are plenty of local department stores and white goods stores where you can pick up a good wine cooler – just make sure you know your pricing before you head in to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal.
If you’re looking for a slightly bigger but still mid-range wine cooler, prices usually hover around the $150 to $200 mark – yes, you can buy an excellent wine cooler for under $200!
Meanwhile, at the upper end of the spectrum, where you’re looking at very large capacity wine coolers, you could, if you really wanted to, spend up to around $2500. For a wine cooler at this price, you’d expect at least a capacity of 120 – 150 bottles. This type of wine fridge will normally use a compressor-based refrigeration system, and will likely be designed to be built into your wine cellar or kitchen. If you’re looking at a wine cooler of this size, capacity and price, you are likely to be a serious wine enthusiast with a growing wine collection and a cellar or bar in which to store it.
At this upper price point, you would normally expect to find some other bells and whistles added to make it stand out from a regular wine cooler. For example, this wine fridge by Forno can fit up to 144 standard 750 ml sized wine bottles, or 200 cans (standard 12 ounces / 355 ml). The usual set-up is to place whites in the top chamber, reds in the bottom chamber, and cans in the drawer, ensuring a well-rounded variety. It’s equipped with three temperature zones (move over dual-zone!) giving it true multi-purpose use.
Wine Coolers Under $150
You can find our reviews of the best inexpensive wine coolers here but these had to be under $150 to make the list, so most of these are between $100 and $150.
For a wine cooler under $150, you can’t go past the Wine Enthusiast 6-Bottle Countertop Wine Cooler. It’s small, cheap and compact and is a great way to dip your toe into the waters of wine coolers and see if they suit your lifestyle – you can always upgrade on size and price in the future. At this price point, a wine cooler would also make a fantastic gift for your wine-loving friend or relative! Who wouldn’t love to receive a personal wine cooler for their birthday or Christmas?
Best Wine Coolers Under $200
For the best wine coolers under $200, we would again suggest taking a look at our reviews of the best inexpensive wine coolers. The criteria to make this list was a price of under $150 at the time of writing. If your budget extends up to $200, you’ve got even more options to choose from.
The Ivation 18 is one of our top options which also happens to fall in the under $200 category. You can read our review of it here, or check it out on Amazon here.
The Antarctic Star 17 Bottle is a great option in this price range.
The Koolatron WC20 Thermoelectric 20 Bottle Wine Cooler would also make our list of top picks for a wine cooler under $200. You can check it out on Amazon here.
Best Wine Coolers Under $500
For this price category, we’re looking at wine coolers between $300 and $500 – we figure those under $200 have already been covered in the above categories so we won’t go over any of those options again. As the price goes up so does the bottle capacity, most of these options have around 35-38 bottle capacity. If you’re looking to spend between $300 and $500 on a wine cooler but want to keep it under the $500 mark, here are our suggestions:
- The Phiestina Dual Zone
- The Smad 35 bottle wine cooler
- The Smeta 35 bottle wine cooler
- The Danby 36 bottle wine cooler
These are all good options in this price bracket. Alternatively, if you have a brand you know you like but the capacity is smaller than you think you’ll need it could be worth checking with the manufacturer as most manufacturers make their wine coolers in different sizes, capacities and price brackets.
So, there you have it, everything we know about wine cooler prices. Now you should be fully equipped to decide how much you would expect to pay for the type of wine cooler you are after – now go out and find yourself a great deal!
