French-door NR-CY54AGSAU leads Pana's new fridge range

Five new models spread across three sizes and three finishes, and with prices ranging from $1399 to $2599: that’s Panasonic’s new range of refrigerators.

The top of the line is 547 litre NR-CY54AGSAU. This model features French doors – that is, half-doors that open to the left and right, demanding less swinging room and reducing temperature variations. This unit has a stainless steel finish, fronted with a glass panel for a particularly rich presentation. The freezer section is at the bottom, fitted with a drawer able to be pulled fully out for best access to frozen goods.

The top fridge section has two special drawers. The Vitaminsafe Vegetable Case has blue and green LED lamps which are said to produce light like that of the sun to ensure “the nutrients of fruit and vegetables are protected, so they stay fresher for longer.” Underneath that is another drawer called Chill Case which has its temperature set to zero degrees – as cold as can be managed without quite freezing the produce. This has the nice additional effect of reducing odours from such food types as fish.

Panasonic NR-CY54AGSAU with French Doors

Control over its operation is easily exercised using the Electrostatic Touch Control Panel.

This model shares with the others Panasonic’s Ag Clean antibacterial technology. As air is circulated through the refrigerator, it passes through a silver (thus the Ag) coated mesh filter, which Panasonic says inactivates 99% of bacteria and mould in the air, thus keeping food fresher for longer.

It also shares Panasonic’s energy saving technologies: Inverter and ECONAVI. Inverter compression technology means that the compressor which drives the cooling does not switch between being completely off and operating at full blast – the standard mode for decades – but can run at precisely the right strength to supply the cooling needs of the moment. That allows considerably more efficient operation, and reduces the range of interior temperature fluctuations, better preserving food.

ECONAVI combines several sensors – including a temperature sensor outside the fridge – with an intelligent processor to determine patterns of use, allowing the refrigerator to tailor its operations to work most efficiently according to how you and your family are using it.

The other four models are from the BX Series and are variations on a theme: two are stainless steel and two are white; two offer a 407 litre capacity and two offer 450 litres. Their special features include the Chilled Case and the bottom mounted freezer second with drawers. Only the stainless steel models get the Electrostatic Touch Control Panel and a Prime Fresh drawer. Prime Fresh lightly freezes its contents to -3 C, maintaining food texture and allowing for food preparation with minimal delay.