At Cool Wine Cellar, we want to make your experience of building a temperature-controlled wine cellar both smooth and enjoyable. This is why careful planning and research on cooling systems upfront can spare you time, cost, and frustration down the line.

Here’s how to avoid five common wine cooling mistakes when choosing a cooling unit for your wine cellar.

Starting with the Basics: Selecting Your Unit

The first step in choosing the right cooling unit is determining your wine cellar’s thermal load—this is the amount of energy (measured in BTUH) needed to cool your space to the target temperature within an hour. The thermal load calculation will help you choose a unit with the correct capacity for your cellar’s needs.

Common Mistake #1: Basing Selection Solely on Cellar Volume

The size of your cellar doesn’t always correlate directly with thermal load. For example, a 96-cubic-foot cellar (6’w x 2’d x 8’h) with a 75°F ambient temperature and a target cellar temperature of 55°F would have a thermal load of 681 BTUH if it’s well-insulated (R19). However, if two walls are uninsulated concrete, the load increases to 969 BTUH, and if three walls are glass, the load may skyrocket to 2957 BTUH for single-pane glass or 1540 BTUH for double-pane.

Common Mistake #2: Choosing a Cooling Unit with Insufficient Capacity

To avoid overworking your cooling unit and reducing its lifespan, always select a unit with slightly more capacity than your calculated thermal load. This will prevent the unit from running continuously and maintain the proper humidity levels in your cellar.

Exhaust and Intake Considerations

Once you’ve determined the size of the cooling unit, you’ll need to decide where it will exhaust warm air and pull in fresh air. Since the rear of the unit is typically noisier, consider placing it on a wall adjacent to a low-traffic area, or use a split or ducted system that allows the noisier components to be located remotely.

Common Mistake #3: Mixing Exhaust and Intake Air

For the cooling system to function efficiently, keep the exhaust and intake air separate. If the unit recycles its own hot air, it won’t be able to maintain the cellar’s temperature.

Common Mistake #4: Pulling Fresh Air from Inside the Cellar

The cooling unit’s fresh air intake should come from outside the cellar, not from within it. This ensures the unit has an adequate air supply to maintain temperature control.

Adapting to External Temperatures

The temperature around your cellar also affects the type and size of the cooling unit needed. Warmer surroundings require a more powerful unit to handle the higher thermal load. Most cooling units can handle a temperature difference of about 30°F between the outside and inside of the cellar, so a unit may struggle to maintain 55°F in your cellar if the ambient temperature exceeds 85°F.

Common Mistake #5: Ignoring a Unit’s External Temperature Limit

Before buying, confirm whether your chosen unit can handle the external temperature differential. Units with a 30°F differential, for example, would only maintain a cellar temperature of 65°F if the outside temperature hits 95°F, while units with a higher differential capacity offer more flexibility.

In Summary

Choosing the right cooling unit is a blend of science and careful planning. With basic information about your cellar, you can find a cooling unit well-suited to your specific needs. Remember, the range of cooling systems available means you can find a solution to keep any wine cellar at its optimal temperature and humidity.