BANGSON 2.1 Cu.ft Upright Mini Freezer for Dorm Office Silver

I’ve been testing this freezer for six months and it is very well engineered and constructed. You never know what the failure rates are on these types of products but I believe it’s clearly a five-star mini freezer. It has 1.1 cu-ft of space with 2” thick walls and a -7° to 8°F freezer thermostat. Mini dorm fridges are generally the same size but they have 1.6 cu-ft of space with only 1.2” thick walls and a refrigerator thermostat. The L35C5L is a fairly common, good quality compressor that runs at a lower power than the other mini freezers and fridges I looked at. The compressors in other small freezers are slightly over-powered for such small appliances and overshoot when bringing the temperature down. The thermostat on this model like most of course doesn’t have a frost-free cycle, so it will build up frost or ice every few weeks. I purchased both silver and black units over several months. They were packed extremely well and arrived in excellent condition without a scratch. The evaporator coils are well-placed throughout the walls, ceiling, and floor. It is more energy efficient and has a slightly quieter hum than other dorm fridges I’ve used, although the relay does produce a very very light “click” sound two or three times an hour when it powers on and off. At 77°F ambient, it cools down faster than 2° per minute from room temperature which is excellent. It draws 7A on start-up and 0.7A while running the compressor for generally 5-15 minutes per hour. I would buy it again (and I did). —-------------------------------- MORE THAN YOU PROBABLY WANT TO KNOW I bought mine to convert them from freezers to refrigerators (because of the thick insulation). These appliances come with a capillary tube type of thermostat that can be replaced fairly easily with one that has a refrigerator range. The replacement (such as a WPF-18) however will not provide a reliably consistent temperature or range, (not better than 8-10°F). This was quite an undertaking requiring modification and a lot of testing. I did not anticipate that changing one setting in such a small appliance would produce a dramatically different temperature result. I was lucky to have found sweet spots for a stable temperature, reasonable temperature range for its size, and long cycle time. All of the mini freezers have a similar design with different compressors, thermostat, and/or slightly different sized panels. I liked this one the best for its well-matched compressor, solid construction, and even distribution of evaporator coils. Customer service was also very friendly and wrote me back immediately about specs. After the modifications below, I was able to achieve my desired average temperature of 32F (empty) even though the air temperature does fluctuate some, with a range of about 27.5-34.5F, turning on for about 3 minutes during each 33 minute cycle. Adding contents and/or additional ballast(s) will increase stability and narrow the temperature range more. Its long cycles will reduce the number of starts -which is responsible for most of the wear on a compressor. I plugged the appliance into a Johnson Controls A421-ABC temperature controller instead of using the built-in capillary thermostat. It is set to turn on/off at 33/30F. Many of the 1.1 cu-ft freezers sold on Amazon use a 95W compressor but the Bangson’s (L35C5L) is only 65W, which is actually still slightly overpowered for this small appliance. After the compressor shuts off, the evaporator coils are so cold that the fridge temperature continues to fall an amount equal to what it dropped when the compressor was running, (known as “overshoot”). Dry, at the on/off setting of 33/30F, it has a 21 minute cycle. Open the door for 15 minutes letting the probe slightly ice and it permanently changes to 33 minutes with a similar temperature consistency, (but slightly wider range). Other temperature settings have much shorter cycles due to water’s behavior around 32°. The temperature probe for the A421 is mounted midway between the ceiling and floor, directly against the right wall almost against an evaporator coil. (Dual-lock 3M Velcro-like tape). An optional baffle can shield it from direct airflow except with an opening facing toward the door. The appliance itself is really just one big ballast so the probe basically follows the wall temperature. A 40 mm, 12V bearing fan powered with 5V is mounted at a 45° angle a few inches above the probe on the right side wall near the ceiling. It blows air at the ceiling towards the center, drawing air from the Johnson’s probe area below. This lightly circulates, improves temperature stability, and reduces overshoot. 5V was determined optimal for stability (and also lower noise) after trying 5, 6, 7, and 9V. (Aside from the door), the back wall and front of the compressor hump are the two places that don’t have evaporator coils. Ice packs offer slight improvement here as ballasts. Four thin 4.3" x 6.5 ice packs (or different-sized ones that fit each space in pairs) are placed horizontally. They generally come filled with low freezing point liquid (unfortunately designed for lower temperatures) and can either be topped off (sometimes 20% or more) or refilled completely with pure distilled water. The ballasts provide only incremental benefit compared to the other items in the system, but contents added to the appliance will improve the “ballast effect”. A 2” thick, 13.5” x 13.75” piece of Formular XPS insulation with ½” routed out (leaving the edges) will form-fit on the square protrusion of the inside of the door. Adding this additional 1.5-2” of insulation will further insulate and seal the door, improving efficiency by 10-15% or more. A Govee H5108 temperature probe is mounted in the center of the appliance on the front of the compressor hump midway between the floor and ceiling. It sends an internet alert (via Bluetooth) through its Govee H5151 bridge) to its phone app if the fridge’s temperature goes out of range. It retains logs that are easily viewed as graphs. An Ambient Weather WS-16, Supco DVT4, and Winland TC-2HL are other possible measurement tools. Bon Appetite.

So far, so good. It works, and it’s very quiet. Just be aware that it is very small and, like most mini fridge/freezers, doesn’t have auto defrost, so you’re going to have to defrost it pretty regularly. I’ve only had it for 3 weeks, and ice is already starting to build up. We only use it to store ice packs for injuries or migraines (so they don’t pick up odors), so I can’t say if it’s good at freezing ice or anything. It did come with a cute little ice cube tray, though. I also liked that it was fully assembled, and I didn’t have to put the door on. It ships in the manufacturer’s box, in case you plan to surprise anyone.

Freezer is slightly noisy. Shipping box was in rough shape. Lots of holes, had no bottom, only styrafoam and bands taped all the way around holding the box together. Poor patch job on the back of the freezer. Due to the patch i was unable to reverse the door. So far the freezer is working fine. Seller was excellent! They gave me a 100% refund.

Perhaps I should wait a bit, but if need be I'll amend this review in the future. First off, it's very well packaged with styrofoam padding and entirely covered with a plastic film over the paint and I was surprised it even had metal protectors for the corners inside the box. Also, the entire freezer is covered with a plastic film. But when I took the metal corners off one of the back corners was dented! So, it must have been dented in the factory before they put on the protectors. In the owner's manual it says to have it standing for at least 24 hours, but on an insert they say to have it vertical for 6 to 12 hours before using. I had it vertical for 15 hours. It seems to get cold enough, but I've got a freezer thermometer coming tomorrow. I've got two, but can't find them right now. I'll add to this when I check the temps. I've got a freezer in my large refrigerator and a 3.1 cu. ft. Kenmore chest freezer, but still needed a little bit more.

It’s been quiet awhile now, still functioning just fine. Had a moving situation & downstairs which led to needing a freezer. I sat down with it today, after taking out some cat food I put in there only 10min ago. It came out completely frozen, so I had to check what it’s set at. It’s only on 1, unbelievable, working better than intended actually. I don’t see it being a negative but I turned it down some more between 1-0. I can see why it’s so energy efficient, cause this things a beast on low. Used for microwavable quick meals when I don’t feel like cooking mostly. There was some water pouring into the garage this year aswell from melting snow. Only the carpet got ruined, freezer stands tall. I think I used the bottom of the packaging as a set space. Tip, but ya I was thinking this deserves a review, reliable machine. Knock on wood.

I’ve had this for about 48 hours. It froze ice cubes in 45 min, and I’ve put some breastmilk in it to freeze overnight. The 1.1 cubic ft is smaller than I anticipated - it’s like a dorm fridge size, but it should hold about 200 oz of breastmilk, which is why I bought it. You can hear it running slightly - and make sure you give it room on all sides, as it does get warm. But it’s quieter than my window AC and I can’t hear an audible start/stop as the compressor works, so that’s a plus. It arrived in good condition, no dents or scrapes.

Very loud motor. Sounds like a diesel truck engine. Can be heard through out the entire house. In the kitchen, it is like being next to a running lawn mower.

Small but good my short term rental stays. Will fit a few frozen dinners, ice trays and ice cream!

Llego muy bien empacado, funciona excelente.

K puede ser muy recomendable para los pequeños negocios.

Tardan mucho en la entrega y llegó averiado, hubo derrame de aceite y un tubo estaba roto. No me hicieron efectiva la garantía, es una desventaja comprar estos tipos de productos.