Avalon Top Loading Water Cooler Dispenser - Hot & Cold Water, Child Safety Lock, Innovative Slim Design, Holds 3 or 5 Gallon Bottles - UL Listed

This unit replaced an old GE unit that "appeared" to have begun leaking on us. In retrospect, it may have been more a cracked bottle cap issue that was letting air into the bottle allowing water to leak out. When we first got this unit, water "appeared" to leak from the unit as well. So I ordered some replacement bottle caps through eBay (what? Amazon doesn't carry any?), and that resolved the leakage issue. The unit works great though we don't use the cooling section, only the hot water section. It produces great hot water, sufficient for beverages and "Cup Noodles". I prefer the top loading feature over the bottom loading as water flow isn't dependent on electricity in case of a power outage, nor are we tied to the pump flow rate or pump noise, a common complaint with bottom loading units. Since we don't have kids that we are concerned about getting burned with the hot water, I put clear packing tape over the "safety" button on the hot water control to hold it down and now have one handed operation. I couldn't do that with the GE unit’s twist safety feature. The unit is good for filling thinner containers with hot water (it’s hard to add water to medium to larger pans from the unit due to the proximity of the cool dispenser control). We have a very good under sink filter with a dedicated filtered water faucet and use that for cold drinking water and refilling the 5-gallon bottle for instant hot water. We opted not for an undersink instant hot water generator due to the higher cost, limited undersink space, installation process and higher risk of an accidental undersink leak (we had a very expensive house flood due to an accidental disconnect under that sink in the past). This unit fit the bill. From an esthetic perspective, it would be nice if they offered it also in a “stainless steel” paint version which would fit better in with our kitchen décor.

At first I was going to go all out and buy a bottom loading, high dollar water cooler, but some of the bad reviews and problems people experienced scared me. So I chose to go with a basic and functional design. I didn't want digital touch buttons that could fail or a pump system that might leak.I chose this basic design, top loading water cooler, and I couldn't be happier. If I experience any issues, I will update this review.The noise is seriously almost non-existent. It looks great and appears to be well made. The hot water is actually hot although I did not measure the temp. The cold water is very cold too.It was a good buy.

Update: I’ll leave the original review down below. It’s back up to 5 stars because I was able to repair it and all features are still going strong a few years after purchase, despite a prolonged storage period. My memory is a bit fuzzy now but a sort of perfect storm had happened. The gasket had slipped which support helped me to correct but I actually tested if it was fixed with a bad bottle which just so happened to be my last bottle with any water. I’ve since recycled the bad bottle and haven’t had issues since minus one other bottle developing a visible crack and experiencing the exact same issue.This thing was spectacular while it lasted and the price was more affordable than other coolers of the same specifications. But a bit over a week ago I woke to nearly 5 gallons of water dumped on the dining room floor.Hot and cold water on demand. Easy enough to flush clean which I did every 3 months as suggested. It was a little noisy when it was heating or cooling water but I have an air purifier in the same room and I’d say it was only slightly louder than that boosted by the fact it did not run 24/7.Customer service was spectacular for me and that’s why I give 2 stars. They did seemingly try to help me self-repair and when the determination was made it might not be doable on my end only then did they inquire about an invoice to determine warranty status. Sadly I’m just outside of the warranty window. I purchased it in late January last year and it failed in the second week of February. They did offer me a 25% off coupon and their apologies when it became clear they could not replace it. But it feels a little silly to reward them with another purchase for a cooler that failed so quickly so I will likely pass on this brand in the future. At least at this price range.The issue is the reservoir up top where the water first feeds in overflows and the water slowly spills out. Something must be keeping the pressure from equalizing and stopping the bottle from flowing so I’d like to believe this is something that can be repaired on my end and I’d hate for it to end up in a landfill for a minor issue. Especially since the internal plumbing seems good.

Bought this in May of 2023 for use at a small office. It's now April of 2024 and the unit leaked out all over the carpet at work and now we have water stains and an unusable water cooler. I checked it to make sure it wasn't a faulty tank of water, and it is not. When it was working it did a great job of keeping the water cold or hot, but to have it less than a year and to have it leaking is unacceptable to me.My office only has 5 people using this unit and we're not all big water drinkers so it was surprising to see this have an issue so quickly. Unfortunately this item only carries a 30 day warranty so it seems I'm out of luck. It's a shame because the build quality seemed sturdy, but if it can't do it's one job of containing water until ready to drink, there's no reason to purchase from this company again.