With a recent innovation, when you open the fridge door, it will snap a picture of what’s inside. That way, the next time you’re at the store, you can get a look at your current inventory from your phone. Hopefully this will keep you from buying a thirteenth container of yogurt.
That’s the deal with fridges with cameras inside, and it’s an innovation Dacor put in its Heritage Column Refrigeration Collection, which the company debuted at KBIS 2017, a kitchen and bath show held in Orlando, Florida this week.
The Heritage fridge — which works with Dacor iQ Kitchen app and comes in 18, 24, 30, and 36-inch sizes — can be paired with a column freezer, which has two ice makers: one for regular cubes and another for cocktail ice (think the big, clear cubes you find in drinks made by a dude wearing suspenders). It comes either panel-ready or in stainless steel.
Dacor is a luxury appliance maker, so the fridge has some features beyond the two in-door cameras. It has a stainless steel interior, LED controls that disappear until you press down on the panel, and doors that pop open when you push on the handle. The idea there is that pressing on the handle — which releases the seal — is meant to be easier to open for those who find it difficult to tug open heavy fridge doors.
It’s also Energy Star rated and uses a more eco-friendly refrigerant, R600a. Pricing isn’t yet available, but expect to pay a premium for the cutting edge tech when they hit the market in February.
It’s not entirely new to have cameras in fridges. Bosch did it for a while, and Samsung also has cameras in its Family Hub and Family Hub 2.0 models. Since Samsung bought Dacor in August 2016, it’s not exactly shocking to see cameras in the luxury manufacturer’s fridges at KBIS 2017.
Even so, this isn’t Dacor’s first attempt at a smart appliance. It makes a voice-activated range, after all.
