Video Transcript:

Hello everyone, this is Anthony Rocco with Appliance Buyer’s Guide; and today we are going to talk a little bit about the Sub-Zero BI-48. This refrigerator I had to bust out my Go-pro for because it’s in our little hallway here and it is very tight, it’s hard for me to get the refrigerator into one frame; so we are going use the extra wide angled lens today.

Sub-Zero BI-48 Review

Sub-Zero BI-48SID/S/TH

This refrigerator retails right now right around $11,000. This is the Sub-Zero BI-48SID, this is the internal ice and water dispenser model. Probably one of the best selling models of refrigerators on the market right now and probably one of the most popular built-in models for the home period.

This model is really a flagship model for them; it’s the one that you will find in most homes, even older models have been in there for twenty, some twenty five years, some even make it to thirty before having to be replaced. This is the one the longest lasting appliances on the market today.

Two Sealed Systems

It features two totally sealed systems: you’ve got your refrigeration system which is completely sealed and it has its own compressors and evaporators, same this thing with the freezer side.

The freezer size works exactly the same; there is a separate compressor evaporator, they have magnetic seals that go all the way around these on units that seal the doors so no air creeps in.

Basically allowing for the most efficient use of your energy in your house, that’s why these have a crazy low rating. Right now it is $97 a year rating, 803 kilowatt hours, it’s crazy.

These things do very, very, very well for long term and that is why we like them a lot. This model; your ice and waters dispense right out here on a little dispenser that you press for ice and for water. You put your cup right here; there is a little base that you put your cup on and dispense the ice and water.

That is the only way to get a couple of ice cubes  on this unit, is by pressing the dispenser.

Otherwise, if you want to get a ton of ice for anything you can actually pull out this whole thing, you can actually pull it out but it’s really not something that you are going to want to do every time you want to get ice, because of the way that it is situated.

Sealed Systems are the Key to Food Preservation

Ice and Water Dispenser

They do make this model with an external ice and water dispenser and they also make this model without an ice and water dispenser, and on that model you will have actually have an ice bin drawer that you can pull out your ice normally.

On the inside, let’s close the freezer for a second. We’ll talk just about the refrigerator. Your controls for everything are on your refrigeration side; so you have got your controls for your freezer here, your temperature controls for your refrigerator here, very simply you literally just touch, it is all touch capacitive, deadly simple.

You’ve got your ice maker control; you can basically turn off your ice maker by pressing that, or you can turn on your ice maker, or if you are having a party and you just emptied out your ice and you need ice fast you  press max ice and for the next 24 hours it is going to make ice basically in the fastest way that it can.

Advanced Air Purification

Internal Filtered Ice and Water Dispenser

You’ve got the pure air toggle right here for turning on the air purification system. When you turn this button on and you see the air purification symbol come on, you will hear a little fan start to fire up; that is going to fire up your air filtration system which is housed back here, and what that does is over the course of the next hour it’s going to basically scrub all the air within your unit; removing any ethylene gases, bacteria, viruses, Co², you name it.

It is basically just going to scrub everything into pure oxygen. And it basically helps get rid of all the ethylene gases that your fruits and vegetables give off, which can harm some of the other fruits and vegetables or cause them to ripen early. Then you have got your alarm and your power toggles here. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

The water filtration system is also really high-tec; it’s located up here. Changing your water filter is really simple as well; it’s just a half turn of this water filter and it pops right out. Look at the size of that, that thing is one of the best filters on the market for a water filtration. It is the same size as some of the Everpure and real high-tec and on top demand filtered water.

It will filter out bacteria, viruses, you name it, particulates, they have a whole listing on their website that you can see  bit you can basically install this in your house, hook it up to water and then just use this as your filtered water and you are good to go. In fact, a lot of my clients do just that, they no longer need – when they redesign their kitchen – a whole separate water filtration system on tap. It will last about a year if you use it at regular intervals. the same thing on the air filtration system.

Heavy Duty Shelves

The shelves are all heavy duty lexon which is what Sub-Zero has always chosen to use, probably because of it is a very durable material, it lasts a long time. As do these refrigerators, that’s why they have looked for a material that will last a long time. These are spill-proof shelves; they have a beveled ridge all the way around  so if something spills on here it is not going to leak down all over the rest of your groceries.

A flagship model for the brand for over 35 years

You’ve got your 3-drawer bins down here; which is going to be the coldest place in your refrigerator. And they have included these cards, which are really cool. These not only tell you how the refrigerator operates and give you all that information but they will also tell you where to put your fruits and vegetables, what fruits and vegetables to keep together and to keep apart. How long you can expect the different fruits and vegetables to last in your refrigerator, if you have been using them properly. It is a really cool system, these cards are really something that no other manufacturer thought of or has done.

Sub-Zero has been doing this for about 8 years and nobody has copied them, I have no idea why. On these cards is your serial numbers as well, it makes it really easy to retrieve information about your unit, so another Sub-Zero first and still nobody else has been copying it. It is a great system that fits right in there in the little slot.

Your shelves are all adjustable by the inch, you have got your increments right here on the side. Same thing with your door shelves, door shelves are extremely easy to move around; the literally just slide right in, it’s awesome.

The freezer, let’s talk about it for a second. All the freezer drawers have open bottoms and sides so the dry air can circulate very easily throughout the unit. And they are also on heavy duty. The shelves are adjustable, you have got your ice maker here.