I've had this appliance for several years now, and it turned out to be a great little freezer - perfect dimensions for a bachelor in a small apartment. It really helped take the pressure off of my storage requirements. This thing fit perfectly between my refrigerator and my kitchen table and left room to spare! I was a little hesitant to buy any appliance like this that did not have automatic defrost, but surprisingly excessive frosting has not been a problem. I've only defrosted once in four years, and I only did that because I was doing major inventory of my stocks and had them all out to begin with.The unit came with a handy dandy insert cage, so you can pile stuff in the cage while rearranging your stores in the compartment. This unit did not even make a blip on my over all electric bill, so no matter what the energy star rating is on this unit it still saves a lot on power. I hardly ever hear it kick on, and it is so quiet, I probably don't notice most of the time!It has a spring loaded lid that helps hold it up once you go over top dead center, so that can make it easy to open up while digging around in your food storage. I just couldn't believe they made such a good unit that is exactly the right size for my needs. I sure hope they never discontinue such a design, but mine will probably never wear out.As you can see in the present photo of the appliance - the vents are on the right, so that is where I keep the most distance from adjacent objects/furniture, although I have the left side almost 1" from the refrigerator. I made sure and didn't put the back side totally up against the wall so there would be enough air movement to keep the cooling system going without a hitch. The manual is clear on how much standoff is needed, but in my crowded little corner it didn't need much room, believe me. It also has adjustable legs to level the box, but I had such a huge difference between the height of my kitchen rug and the linoleum of the cook area, that I ended up using an old telephone book to level the box properly. Your mileage may vary. This was more a negative for the construction of my apartment than a ding on the Avanti design. The unit keeps on ticking without a hiccup - a very reliable appliance! I can't say enough good things about this badly needed device!!
Ian 
