Avalon Limited Edition Self Cleaning Water Cooler Water Dispenser - 3 Temperature Settings - Hot, Cold & Room Water, Durable Stainless Steel Construction, Bottom Loading - UL Listed

I researched a lot of these water dispensers that ranged from Primo, Whirlpool and Avalon. Unfortunately, none of them had 5 star ratings. They were all the same in the sense that the reviews had enough positive reviews to make you think ok, it should not be that bad. However, they all had a similar sampling of bad reviews that ranged from the unit leaks, the unit stops making cold water or not cold enough or my problem which is the water pump does not pump water out of the water jug. I really wanted to have a water dispenser so that I drink more water instead of constantly buying 16oz water bottles. In particular my chiropractor told me to drink more water, so I bought a 48oz water jug that I wanted to fill up daily using the water dispenser. Unfortunately, this water dispenser will not pump water out of the 5 gallon jug. I insert the water pump lid to the water jug as stated in the instructions and close the door. I then proceed to plug in the unit. I hear noise, but no water movement. The manual says it will take 12 minutes to fill the hot and cold tanks. So, I wait and after 10 minutes I still hear no water movement and then the unit stops making noise. The indicator for the water jug starts blinking red which means a water jug is empty. I open the bottom door and see the jug is still full. I looked online and there were youTube videos that said you should check the hoses and make sure they are not loose. So I push on both hoses on the lid end and the pump side and both were tight and not loose. I twist the lid a little to make sure it is tight and then I close the door to try again. To my delight I now start to hear "some" water slushing. After 8 minutes the noise stops and the red light starts blinking again. Since I heard water slushing, I decided to do a test and click on all three buttons to try to dispense water. The hot water button had a very slow stream that eventually trickled out. The room temperature had no water and the cold water button had a pretty steady stream but not that powerful. I open the bottom door again and see that the water jug is no longer full. I do the same thing and look at the hoses where they are still tight and check the lid. I close the door and the unit makes noise, but there is no more water slushing sounds. So, it seems I have a lemon where the water pump is broken. I am not very upset because this came in a large box and it is heavy. I live in a garden style condo on the top floor and there is no elevator. I also have a small sedan, so I have no idea how I would even return this. I would say, buyer beware where I am upset that I cannot get this unit to work. I sent an email to Avalon support and I will see what happens next. Will update based on what assistance I get from Avalon. As of now, I have alot of buyer's remorse. UPDATE 6/28/2019: Here is an update as I promised after I received a response to my email to Avalon customer service. Tyler from Avalon was amazing in helping me get a replacement unit since the one that I received directly from Amazon did not pump water as I noted above. The replacement unit worked and pumped water from the Primo 5 gallon jug that I bought. So I was very happy that I finally had a unit that was pumping water. On this unit, as an extra check, which Tyler suggested to me was to make sure the pump and the water line are tight. On my first unit from Amazon, they were tight but the water still did not pump. On this replacement unit, it was actually loose where the water line and the water pump connected where when I pushed on it, it actually pushed in closer to the pump. So, it was clearly loose here, so if I did not do this, I am sure it would have not pumped water. Tyler emailed me every day to check on the status to see if the unit was working for me. I told him I was happy the unit was pumping, but I was not entirely happy that when the unit was heating/cooling water that the unit was louder than I would prefer since it actually louder than my refrigerator. Tyler asked me additional questions to see if the sound was a loud hum or vibration. He said the unit should have a hum sound like a refrigerator. I replied to him saying there was no vibration, but a loud hum. I told him I was ok with the unit since it pumped water, but I reiterated I would have preferred the unit were quieter. Tyler spoke with his supervisor who agreed to send me another replacement unit since he said repeatedly in all of our email correspondence that Avalon focuses on customer satisfaction and they want their customers to be happy. I told him I would accept this offer for another replacement unit which I received within two days. I now have the new replacement #2 (received on 6/26/209) and it is quieter than my first replacement. The hum when it is cooling and heating is still a little loud, but it is quieter than replacement #1. The pump sound that occurs briefly when you dispense water is also quieter than replacement #1. I was pleasantly surprised by the Avalon customer service where Tyler was amazing. Tyler and another rep from Avalon customer service even called me to check to see if everything was ok and if I was happy with my unit when I was unable to respond to their emails while I was in training all week. Having a company with this level of customer service is very refreshing where the focus is on customer happiness. I have changed my rating from 1 star to 5 star based on this customer service to get it right when it was not right in the beginning. I do see there are some recent comments where individuals are saying the product stopped working for them after 2 years which is outside of the warranty. So, I will keep my fingers crossed.

The dispenser looks and works as described so far. It was easy to set up and runs relatively quietly. I am using a 4 gallon bottle and had no trouble fitting it to the machine. With one exception, the manual describes setup and operation clearly and accurately. The one informational exception is the self-cleaning function, for which a simple direction is given for activating the cleaning cycle, but nothing about what to expect after you do so. I found nothing in the manual to indicate how long the self-cleaning cycle lasts, whether or not you can use the dispenser while the cycle is running, or what, if anything, the user has to do once it ends. Given the dearth of info about this feature, I feel that I might as well have bought a machine without it and saved some money. Update: I e-mailed a copy of this review to Avalon on a Sunday night and asked for a comment from them. I received the following response the next morning: "Our manuals do need a lot of updating and we are actually in the process of doing that now. We apologize for the lack of information but I would be more than happy to provide you with more information about the self cleaning feature. I have included some steps about the self clean feature below. Once the cleaning is complete there is nothing required of the user, it will begin functioning as normal on its own. Activating Self-Cleaning Function It is recommended that the self-cleaning feature be used once a week to sanitize the tanks and water lines. To activate, press the stand alone self-cleaning switch and hold in the on position for 5 seconds and release. The switch will immediately go back into the off position. The first green indicator light, also the power light, will begin to blink. This indicates the self-cleaning cycle is underway. Ozone will be produced and injected into the water system, it will kill bacteria and bio-films typically found in water dispensers. By the end of the cleaning cycle the ozone will convert into harmless oxygen and will be emitted into the air. When the self-cleaning cycle is complete the first indicator light will stop blinking and will be steady on as it is also the power light. Caution: This self-cleaning cycle will take 90 minutes to complete. During this time do not dispense and drink the water. We recommend you do this during a period of time when the unit will not be in use for example overnight. During the cycle you may smell some of the ozone, this is normal. I hope this helps answer your questions but if there is anything else that you have questions about please don't hesitate to ask, we are more than happy to help." I was very impressed with the speed and thoroughness of Avalon Support and I now have no second thoughts about the purchase. [The above response has been posted here with Avalon's knowledge and approval.]

Worked okay for about a month. The water started coming out the cold spout at a painfully slow pace within 2 weeks of using, so I moved on to the cool spout, same happened to that spout. I finally got around to cleaning it (which is quite the chore), I followed the instructions to the T and I was happy to see the cold and cool water spouts were working properly again. 24 hours later I found a slow leak and a puddle at the bottom of the cooler and I cannot find out where it is leaking for the life of me. I’ve taken it apart and looked everywhere. I think the bottom load water coolers are nice but there is so much that can go wrong on these. I really like the ozone cleaning function but to be honest, I’m not sure if it does anything. When I cleaned it, there was still biofilm in the main water tank. I’m looking for the perfect water cooler, unfortunately this is not it! Funny, right before I cleaned this I saw the same make and model in my apartment complex near the dumpster with a note on it saying the water cooler doesn’t work, it looked brand new too. You may as well just buy a new water cooler if it’s leaking, not worth the price of getting them to repair it.

The Avalon unit was delivered in good shape and well packaged. It was easy to unpack and set up. After unpacking, and moving to its location, we let it sit for at least an hour to make sure that all refrigerant and lubrication settled in case the unit was mishandled in shipping. Everything has been working well since installation. We have not noticed any noise issues with the unit. The one reason we gave this a unit a four instead of a five is that the previous cooler we had (a gravity fed model from the water distributor) provided colder water than this one. Cold water into a cup is satisfactory, but cold water into a 16 oz bottle with 3 or 4 ounces existing water is not as cold as with the previous unit. One thing to note. When we unpacked the cooler we did not find the drip tray. We contacted Avalon and received immediate and great support from Jill. She got a new drip tray out to us immediately and we had it in a couple of days. She then followed up to make sure we had received the tray and if it was working properly. Embarrassingly, a day or two later we found the original drip tray in packaging we were about to discard. We let Jill know this and our willingness to return it. We were told that they did not need the tray back and to keep it as a spare. We appreciate great customer service as much as we appreciate a good working project. Avalon's and Jill's service was beyond our expectations.

We live somewhat rural and have a well. The well water is not always good. There are times it is great but depending on the water levels and time of the year it can have a problem with hydrogen sulfide. If you aren't sure, that is the stuff that smells like rotten eggs that goes into propane so you can smell a leak. Blech. I'm so not drinking that. We've been doing bottled water and more than a little bit of soda. I decided to kick the soda habit so started drinking more water. I feel really bad burning through so many bottles, even with recycling, plus the costs. I decided to get a water cooler. Going into it I knew I wanted instant hot water and a bottom loader. I did a good bit of research that led to this unit. Most the brands have as many 1 star as 5 star reviews, often worse. The big review articles all pointed to this brand (though a different model). I opted to step up a bit to get the self cleaning feature because I know I'm not going to take it apart to clean as often as I should and am not interested in drinking nasty water. As usual it arrived quickly (thanks Amazon). I set it up without any trouble and got the first bottle hooked up. Even though setup was simple to the point that I didn't really need directions, I took time to look at the directions. I'm glad I did because it suggests running out at least 1 quart of water before turning on the hot and cold. I did 16oz from each of the dispensers then turned everything on. The instant hot water is great. I love being able to make a cup of tea right away. I wish I could adjust the temp because I often make green or white tea, which should be steeped at a cooler temp. My solution is to add some room temp water to bring the water temp in my mug down. Problem solved. The cold water is too cold for me. I tend to drink room temp water. My family likes ice water though, so the cold water works great for them. The room temp water is much colder than room temp. I think it is because there is a reservoir with the water in it that is next to the cold water reservoir. This results in colder than room temp but not so cold it hurts my teeth water. I actually find it to be the perfect temperature so I really enjoy it. The self cleaning feature is nice but I thought it might be on a timer. Sadly you have to activate it manually once a week. I think I can manage to remember that and activating it is easy enough. You flip and hold a switch till it turn on (about 3 seconds). The switch is away from the hot, cold, light switch so you won't accidentally turn off those features. It fits the 5 gallon bottles available at our grocery store. We picked up 2 bottles and the first emptied quickly (partly from throwing out 1.5 quarts, partly from filling the reservoirs, and partly from the novelty of it in a house with 4 children). My wife picked up a third bottle when she exchanged the empty at the store. I think we might get a fourth just to make sure we've got water on hand in case we don't go to the store for a bit (sometimes we get snowed in for days). I'm drinking about a gallon a day at this point by myself plus 5 others in the family so we can still finish a bottle off every 3 days or so. I do have a couple minor complaints, though not enough to reduce a star rating over. 1) The light switch is in the back, right next to the hot/cold switch. I don't leave it on all the time but like to use it at night instead of turning on the light in the dining room. I worry that I'll flip the wrong switch since they are all together and the only way to tell is by position (they are color coded but you can't see that without moving the unit away from the wall much less in the dark. 2) You lose some water in the bottle with the bottom load type. It's by necessity. The shape of the bottle and fact that it needs to suck up the water through a straw means you will never get 100% of the water out of the bottle. This is going to happen with any dispenser like this and TBH it's not a lot of water but it does feel like a waste. I've been pouring it into a glass but it's not the easiest thing. Still less likely to spill than loading a top loaded bottle. 3) Did I mention I really don't love the position of the light switch? None of these reduce the star rating so I'm very satisfied with this product.

For more than 8 years we have owned a top loading water dispenser and have been satisfied with its performance. Prior to that we rented a top loading dispenser. Both had spigots for hot and cold water. However, when our most recent water dispenser leaked all over the floor over night last week, we decided a bottom-loading model was more in keeping with our current ages (70). What a great decision. I cannot tell you how easy it was to set up this unit and install the water bottle. HOORAH! We went from 5 minutes to less than a minute. Carrying the top loading bottle to the old unit, turn it over without splashing the wall, settling it in place -- no more. I put the dispensing tube in the bottle and slid it into the unit. Shut the door and that was it. HOT is very hot; cold is ice cold and cool is cold but without the bite. I have a huge tea mug that holds 20 oz and I filled it with hot water without a problem. Other people have complained but it worked perfectly for me. I noted in the manual that the HOT tank holds a liter of water; that is equivalent to 33 ounces or an ounce more than a quart. Now, for the first install I did take the time to follow the instructions and clean the unit by running a half gallon plus of water through the newly setup unit. It was at this point that I ran into my only problems. First, removing the screws so I could lift off the top of the unit was easy enough. The top stuck but I did not force it; jiggling proved to be enough to get it off. It hangs down the back and no wires need be removed. I don't have a bucket to catch the water from the rear drain so I used a giant bowl. I was not prepared for the fact that the water shoots straight out at first and I missed a few ounces but not a big deal. The second part of the cleaning routine is to remove the white top over the inner tank. This is not well described in the manual and mine would not come off. Again, I did not want to use too much force and damage the unit. There is a number to call but our Avalon was delivered on Sunday so I was going to have to wait. But no, YOUTUBE! Of course, there was a video on YouTube and it demonstrated how to pull off the top. I had to use a bit more force but it was fine. No tubes or wires need to be disconnected. The half gallon+ of water is poured into the tank and the lid was easily replaced; the top is screwed in again and the unit is drained. Really, once I went though the process, I realized that the next time will be much quicker. I think the whole cleaning process can be accomplished in about 10-15 minutes at most. This cleaning process has nothing whatever to do with the "self-cleaning" -- that is electronic and is handled by pushing the self-clean button in the rear of the machine. I have not owned this unit long enough to use self-cleaning. The manual recommends that the cleaning process I described above be done about every 6 months. The manual also recommends using citric acid crystals in the water to remove any mineral deposits which may have built up in the tanks. I am sure I can find these online as well. In summary, I think this unit is easy to set up and the water bottles are very easily installed in the unit. I had no problem whatsoever. The water tastes great (we use Crystal Spring water) and there is no aftertaste. Most of the time there is no noise at all except when the condenser goes on. This was true of my old top loading water dispenser as well but the Avalon is quieter than that unit. Any noise is periodic and related to cooling or heating the water. It is like an air conditioning unit turning on; if you want cool air you put up with it. Well if you want hot and cold water, you need to put up with the condenser working from time to time. The manual lists phone numbers, email support address and the website. The unit itself has a troubleshooting number to call on the bottom inside behind the door where the water bottle sits, Finally, I appreciate the storage hanger on the inside of the door on which to hang the water tube when replacing water bottles; the tube is ALWAYS above the floor of the unit and away from any dirt or debris. Assuming there are no significant problems that develop in the next months, I heartily recommend this water dispenser.

I purchased this July 13, 2022. Its life was only 3.5yrs and officially broke down 12/08/2025. It was moderately used; we only had to switch out the 5G bottle every 1 to 2 weeks. Originally, only the coldest button stopped working. After two days, all three buttons stopped working altogether. I do not recommend buying this without buying the 4-yr insurance, which I unfortunately did not do. Even with the insurance, it's risky because its lifespan runs so close to the coverage dates. I do not think the price is worth it for this model. I bought mine for $250, and having it break down so quickly is extremely disappointing considering I had a cheaper Whirlpool model (that had COLDER water) that lasted 5 years.

We have owned several water coolers over the years and this is hands down the best