Kenmore 79009 19.7 Cu. Ft. Bottom Freezer Black Review

Conclusion

Energy Efficiency

The Kenmore is going to hit your electric bill hard, but it will do it in a very good way. This model is incredibly efficient, costing you noticeably less than the average mid-level fridge as far as operating costs. Given the amount of storage space it has, it also distributes that energy very effectively throughout the appliance.

Performance

For a mid-priced fridge, the Kenmore actually did incredibly well. Temperatures remained consistent over time throughout all of the two compartments, food was frozen at a rate that would result in thawed products of a decent quality, and the moisture retention in the vegetable drawers was better than even some of the more expensive models that we've tested.

Storage Space

The amount of storage space in this fridge won't turn many heads, but it's actually got more than you may think. The fridge may not look terribly large, but it offers enough space for an average consumer's amount of groceries, enough for all but the largest families. There's a proportionally substantial amount of room in the freezer as well, making this a good fridge for folks who intend to use both compartments with some regularity.

Usability

The Kenmore isn't the friendliest fridge in the world, unfortunately. The cramped fridge can make it hard to reach food stored in the back, and the low freezer means a lot of stooping for frozen goods or to access the ice maker. The half-width shelves are light enough to move around pretty easily, but any fridge that uses rear mounts is a bit harder to adjust than models with slits on the sides. The temperature control, at least, is very easy to use, but you'll have no idea what degree you're actually storing your food at as it uses an arbitrary scale with no actual degree correlation.