The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW is a budget-friendly 30" standard-depth refrigerator with a top-freezer design. It's a narrower variant of the 33" Whirlpool WRT311FZDW, and shares a similar layout, with full-width glass shelves and a pair of produce drawers. Its cooling system is fairly rudimentary, with a fixed-speed compressor and a single evaporator in the freezer. There's also an optional ejector-style ice maker that you can install separately.
We've recently started testing refrigerators. We purchase each unit independently from major retailers, just like you, to keep our reviews free of manufacturer influence. Each refrigerator undergoes the same tests to measure objective metrics such as temperature uniformity, produce preservation, and actual storage capacity, so you can easily compare results.
Want to learn more about how we operate? Check out our About Us page.
Our Verdict
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW is decent for everyday use. It isn't the best choice for bigger families due to its somewhat narrow fridge and freezer cabinets, but it does make the most of its footprint. While fridge and freezer temperatures are pretty uniform overall, except for the somewhat warm upper shelves and door bins, they tend to sit higher than the desired setpoint. As a result, you'll want to lower the temperature in each cabinet for optimal food preservation. Produce preservation performance is mediocre due to its single-evaporator design.
Decent fridge capacity.
Freezer has a good amount of space.
Temperatures are mostly consistent across fridge shelves.
Higher-than-desired average temperatures across fridge and freezer cabinets.
Limited door bin space.
No split shelving.
Ice maker can occupy a fair amount of freezer space.
Single evaporator design results in a dry fridge environment.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW's produce preservation performance is mediocre. This is a single-evaporator refrigerator, which, in real-world terms, means that cold, dry air is shared across the freezer and fridge compartments, promoting premature wilting in items with a high water content, like celery, lettuce, or cucumbers. The produce drawers don't seal in moisture very effectively either, and they do little to help keep fresh fruit or veggies crisp.
Single evaporator design results in a dry fridge environment.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW has decent capacity in its fridge cabinet. The cabinet is narrow but deep and unadorned, so there's little to get in the way when stacking items or placing them side by side. The shelves are full-width, so the cabinet isn't as reconfigurable as a unit with split shelving, but the glass shelves can at least be moved up and down. There's also its adjustable deli drawer, which can keep cheese, meat, or any other small packages out of the way. On the downside, the door bins are a little small, with only the middle and lower sections of the door being suitable for bigger cartons or jugs.
Decent fridge capacity.
Limited door bin space.
No split shelving.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW's freezer capacity is good. The space is small but simple, with nothing to get in the way if you don't install the optional ice maker. You won't have the room to fit larger boxes upright, but there's just enough room to lay things like pizza boxes or family-sized lasagna trays flat.
Freezer has a good amount of space.
Ice maker can occupy a fair amount of freezer space.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW's overall temperature uniformity performance is impressive, but with a few caveats. Freezer temperatures are effectively identical in every section of the cabinet, but this unit's simple cooling system results in poor temperature control, with frequent temperature oscillations that can have a negative impact on long-term food storage. Fridge temperatures are very consistent across the middle and bottom shelves, but are noticeably higher along the top shelf and door bins. Temperatures in both cabinets also trend higher than the desired setpoint, even at their coldest, so you should lower the temperature if you notice premature spoilage.
Temperatures remain very consistent across every point in the freezer.
Temperatures are mostly consistent across fridge shelves.
Higher-than-desired average temperatures across fridge and freezer cabinets.
Frequent freezer temperature oscillations due to simple cooling system
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW is alright for making ice. Its ice production rate is too slow for anything but smaller gatherings, but its ice tray can hold enough ice for drinks at a five- or six-person gathering. Any more than that, you should consider either filling a separate container with ice or buying bags of ice.
Ice tray capacity is sufficient for medium-sized gatherings.
Slow ice production rate.
Performance Usages
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
There are three variants of this refrigerator, which vary only in surface finish and color. We tested the white model; here's the product label.
| Model | Surface Finish / Color |
|---|---|
| WRT318FZDW | White |
| WRT318FZDB | Black |
| WRT318FZDM | Monochromatic Stainless Steel |
If you come across another variant, please let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Popular Refrigerator Comparisons
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW is a basic 30" standard-depth refrigerator. It offers a good amount of overall room for a unit in this size class, outclassing alternatives like the LG LTCS20020S and getting close to the refrigeration capacity of the larger 33" Whirlpool WRT311FZDW. Its well-established design and extensive network of authorized service providers also make it fairly painless to fix if something goes wrong. That said, overall refrigeration performance falls somewhat short in many areas. Its basic mechanical thermostat results in poor temperature control, and it does a mediocre job of keeping fresh produce crisp versus the Frigidaire FFTR1835VW.
If you're shopping for alternatives, see our recommendations for the best refrigerator brands and the best refrigerators overall, or, if you don't mind switching styles, the best French door refrigerators.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW and Whirlpool WRT311FZDW are almost identical fridges in different sizes. In exchange for the extra 3" of width, the 33" WRT311FZDW offers only a modest 5% jump in usable fridge capacity but a far more noticeable 18% jump in freezer space, making it the better option for bulk shopping if you've got the room for it. The WRT311FZDW also uses a slightly different ice maker with a faster production rate and a higher-capacity tray. However, the smaller WRT318FZDW does run a little more quietly.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW and LG LTCS20020S each have their own advantages. The Whirlpool has a little more freezer space with its ice maker installed, and it has a more dependable supply of spare parts, along with a farther-reaching service network. However, the LG's inverter-style compressor gives it an edge in some performance parameters: while temperatures aren't quite as uniform across every point in the freezer as they are in the Whirlpool, the LG does a much better job of keeping temperatures closer to the setpoint, all the while running more quietly. Fresh produce will also stay crisper for considerably longer in the LG. Lastly, the LG's ice maker produces ice much faster, and it has a higher-capacity tray.
The Frigidaire FFTR1835VW is a better performer than the Whirlpool WRT318FZDW. The Frigidaire provides more consistent fridge temperatures that are closer to the desired setpoint, along with less severe temperature oscillations in the freezer. Its crisper drawer also seals tighter, helping to lock in moisture and extend the lifespan of any produce stored inside. The Frigidaire's ice maker also produces ice faster and has a higher max capacity. That being said, the Whirlpool ice maker does use a more robust ejector-style design. It's also noticeably quieter than the Frigidaire.
Test Results
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW has a decently spacious fridge cabinet, especially for a 30" width unit. It might be a little too narrow to accommodate frequent visits to warehouse club grocery stores, but it should work fine if you don't tend to stock up in bulk. The space isn't the most flexible, as the shelves extend the full width of the cabinet, but they do at least have a variety of mounting positions to accommodate taller items. There's also a Flexi-Slide bin, which can be used to keep cheese or deli meat packages out of the way, and as the name implies, can be slid from side to side. The main downside here is the door bins, which, except for the middle and inner edges of the lower bin, are a little too small to accommodate larger juice jugs or milk cartons.
Freezer storage is good. The space has a clean layout, with no space-hogging bump-outs or protrusions, making it easy to place items back-to-back or side-by-side. It's worth mentioning that the optional ice maker and ice tray take up a fair amount of space, and if you decide to go without these, you can have a usable freezer volume of 5.05 cu ft (143.0 L).
One thing to be wary of is that, like the Whirlpool WRT311FZDW, the door bin brackets sit low, so opening the door quickly may cause taller top-heavy items to tip or even fall out.
This refrigerator's cooling system is very basic, with an evaporator in the freezer section and a single fixed-speed compressor.
This fixed-speed compressor has only two operating states: on and off. It cycles between these states to maintain the temperature setpoint, unlike inverter-powered compressors, which can vary their speed based on cooling load. This means it consumes more power and can't control temperature as well as an inverter-powered compressor. The flip side of this is a simpler design with fewer potential failure points and a lower replacement cost for the compressor if it were to fail.
A single-evaporator fridge shares cool air across the freezer and fridge. Again, that minimizes complexity and potential failure points, but can have a detrimental impact on performance. Cool air from the freezer is low in moisture, which helps inhibit frost buildup, but it can also cause a dry fridge cabinet, leading to premature wilting of produce with a high water content, like celery or lettuce.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW comes without an ice maker. That said, you can purchase one directly from the manufacturer (part W11729596) and install it yourself, which is what we did when testing this fridge.
It's an ejector-style ice maker, which is generally more dependable than a twist-style ice maker, the other variety of ice maker you'll encounter in household fridges. Ejector ice makers feature a robust metal mold and use a heating element and a set of plastic arms to harvest fully formed cubes, rather than a plastic tray that can crack or break over time.
Like the Whirlpool WRT311FZDW, the Whirlpool WRT318FZDW has a well-established design. As a result, there's a mature supply of spare parts, both for components, which see a lot of wear and tear and are expected to need periodic replacement, and for critical components that are vital to the fridge's function.
Whirlpool's network of authorized service providers reaches the vast majority of the US population, even if coverage thins slightly in more rural states.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW exhibits good temperature uniformity in its fridge cabinet, but there are some caveats. The lower and middle fridge shelves remain very close in temperature, but the upper shelf and door bins tend to be a few degrees warmer, so you should avoid placing highly perishable items like milk or yogurt in these areas.
Note: even the coldest recorded temperatures inside our fridge cabinet trended higher than the desired setpoint of 37 °F (2.8 °C). If you have the same fridge, we'd recommend lowering the desired setpoint to help extend the lifespan of your produce.
This refrigerator has excellent temperature uniformity throughout the freezer section, though that doesn't tell the whole story. Temperatures at various locations in the freezer are effectively the same, but this fridge's simple cooling system and rudimentary mechanical thermostat display poor temperature control, leading to large swings in temperature as the compressor cycles on and off. On the upside, these temperature cycles are rapid enough not to have a drastic impact on food preservation, at least in the short term, as food won't have enough time to thaw completely.
As with the fridge cabinet, freezer temperatures trended higher than the desired baseline, so we'd recommend setting your freezer temperature lower than you'd typically expect.
Produce preservation performance is mediocre. The WRT318FZDW's single evaporator design results in a dry fridge cabinet, as low-moisture air is shared with the freezer. This type of environment rapidly wilts produce with a high water content, like celery and lettuce. The produce drawers aren't very effective at keeping produce crisp because they don't seal shut very tightly.
The Whirlpool W11729596 ice maker kit's production rate is mediocre. At under two pounds of ice, it'll just about suffice for iced drinks for a small group of three or possibly four people, but for anything more than that, you'll want to plan ahead and refill the tray well before you need it.
The ice tray's max capacity is good. There's enough ice for a small to medium-sized family gathering, but for larger events, you'll want to buy a bag of ice or two.
The Whirlpool WRT318FZDW is alright in terms of noise output. Compressor noise during normal operation is on the higher end of the scale, but certainly not enough to present a major household distraction. It's also noticeably quieter than the otherwise similar Whirlpool WRT311FZDW, likely partially as a result of its slightly different compressor.