Home » Custom Wine Cellar Cooling – About
Wine Cellar Cooling - Why You Need It, System Types, Brands & Infrastructure
Custom Wine Cellar Cooling – About
Wine Cellars by Coastal, as master wine cellar builders, specialize in designing and constructing custom wine cellar rooms that are built to last, run efficiently, and provide the best possible environment for storing your wine collection.
There are four main things to think about when designing the optimum wine cellar cooling system for your wine cellar. These are:
- 1. Wine Cellar Cooling Systems, Do You Need One?
- 2. The Different Types of Wine Cellar Cooling Systems
- 3. The Make or Brand of the Wine Cellar Cooling System
- 4. The Supporting Infrastructure for Your Wine Cellar Cooling System
Wine Cellar Cooling Systems, Do You Need One?
Aging and storing wine over long periods is the core purpose of most wine cellars and why wine cellar cooling units are installed. It’s not about, for example, storing the wine at ‘whatever’ temperature and then simply chilling it before you drink it. This can be especially important when we are dealing with either expensive or large quantities of fine wines. Over long periods of many months or even years, wine can be negatively affected or even ruined by being stored in an environment that is too hot, too cold, or worse, one that regularly fluctuates.
Most homes and commercial premises vary much more in temperature than most people realize. This is true even in a custom wine cellar constructed in most basements. We’ve talked to many clients who told us, “My basement is cool all the time.” However, when we checked, the temperature over time often varied dramatically and regularly.
Day-night cycles can vary by 10 or even 20 degrees in the average home. In commercial premises, these swings can be even more dramatic. Add to that seasonal variations due to heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer and the temperatures can vary wildly depending on the time of the year.
Custom Wine Cellar Cooling Guide for Beginners!
The humidity can also be a significant variable, successive changes in humidity as the temperature changes can play havoc with wine corks when they are subjected to these variations over an extended period.
It is often, therefore, suggested that wine cellar cooling systems are the heart of a serious wine collector’s wine cellar. Originally, wine was stored in underground caves for a reason, it was discovered that wine aged significantly better when it was stored in the very stable environment found underground.
Generally speaking, the temperature found deep underground stays at a constant 50 – 55 degrees, regardless of location and the temperature at the surface. When we create a custom wine cellar we are effectively attempting to artificially recreate that environment. Other factors include no UV from the sun and no vibration from outside sources. This is an ancient and time-tested wine storage practice for successfully aging wines.
An effective wine cellar climate control system will reliably cool and stabilize the wine cellar temperature and humidity with minimum intervention and power consumption. The standard for optimal wine storage and aging agreed by wine experts is 57 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity levels that vary no more than between 50% – 60%.
A wine cellar climate control system is therefore a combination of factors such as a wine cellar cooling unit, the mechanical component of the system, and the insulation and vapor barrier in the surrounding walls and ceiling. Also often overlooked is the wine cellar door. If the wine cellar door does not completely seal the room, it can be caused by excessive running of the cooling units as well as fluctuations in temperature. Lastly, lighting can be a factor, if the wine cellar lighting is of the wrong type, it can throw out heat, especially if inadvertently left on.
Your wine cellar cooling unit/climate control system, therefore, really is an integrated system. Getting any one of these factors wrong can lead to; mold, excessive running costs, excessive noise, or failure of the mechanical components in the wine cellar refrigeration units themselves. Worst of all it can lead to a priceless collection of wine, collected over years, to be a disappointment or even completely spoiled. Over the last ten years, we have seen all these problems arise, all due to poorly built wine cellars.
The Different Types of Wine Cellar Cooling Systems
There are three main types of wine cellar cooling units to choose from, Self-Contained, Ductless-Split, and Ducted-Split Systems. This should be the first thing to consider when designing your wine cellar. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages and the physical location of the wine cellar is often one of the primary factors in making this decision.
The Make or Brand of the Wine Cellar Cooling System
While there are a number of brands to choose from when selecting a wine cellar cooling system, CellarPro, WhisperKool, and US Cellar Systems are our favorites. We recommend products from these manufacturers as in our experience their cooling units are very reliable, competitively priced, and efficient. Below you will see that we feature some specific products from each brand. These are based upon our experience of their being the ‘best in class’ for each type of unit.
Wine Guardian Cellar Cooling Units
With multiple types of through-the-wall, ducted and ducted-split systems, Wine Guardian offers a great range of models, options, capacities and in wine-cellar refrigeration units compared to most manufacturers. For great environmental control, see why in our wine cellar designs, we often specify Wine Guardian based solutions.
Learn more about Wine Guardian Refrigeration Solutions
CellarPro Wine Cellar Cooling Units
CellarPro has a range of wine cooling systems ideal for small, purpose-built, custom wine cabinets around 200 cubic feet, and larger wine cellar rooms up to 2,500 cubic feet. CellarPro also manufactures some of the quietest wine-cooling units in the industry and is often selected by wine cabinet manufacturers for that reason. CellarPro has a range of storage refrigeration systems, including self-contained and split system units. They also offer solutions that include humidity control.
WhisperKool Wine Cellar Cooling Units
WhisperKool also has a full range of cooling units and is known for their power or cooling rate. These are ideal for environments where temperatures regularly go into the high extremes either in commercial situations or locations such as Memphis Tennessee and Tucson Arizona. WhisperKool also has humidity management systems that sense liquid temperature and then cool the air based on that input.
US Cellars Wine Cellar Refrigeration Units
US Cellars has an extremely versatile, innovative range of cooling units. They offer a particularly customizable range of systems ideal for unusual environments that other units cannot adapt to so well. Commercial wine cellars and wine displays in restaurants often have particularly challenging design constraints. We have often selected products from the US Cellar Systems range of wine cooling systems for these tricky projects. In instances where we need to fit a wine cooling unit into an odd space, such as a ceiling soffit, or pump cooling power into a wine display cabinet, US Cellar’s refrigeration equipment is hard to beat.
The Supporting Infrastructure for Your Wine Cellar Cooling System
If a wine cellar cooling system is installed but the supporting infrastructure has not been set up and constructed just right, many problems can arise. The tragedy of this is that the problems can be significant and typically they do not become apparent at first, taking time to fully manifest by which time they can be difficult and costly to remedy.
Residential refrigeration systems designed for home wine cellars require expertise and experience to achieve trouble-free results. At Coastal Custom Wine Cellars, we have over 20 years of experience installing systems in the Orange County area in California. We collaborate with many of the top-notch suppliers of high-grade residential and commercial cooling systems. Our select suppliers have been providing reliable wine-cooling solutions and services for decades.
Completed Wine Cellar Refrigeration Projects – Solid Track Record / Solid Technicians
Our Home Wine Cellar Cooling Experts Have Completed Many Impressive Projects
Home wine cellar cooling requires the help of more than a standard professional HVAC technician. At Coastal Custom Wine Cellars, our expert designers and refrigeration specialists are dedicated to creating safe storage facilities specifically for wine cellars.
Select the Right Cooling Systems for Your Wine Cellar
We have completed many installation projects in locations such as Irvine, Anaheim, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Lake Forest, Santa Ana, and many other locations.
All with the goal of preserving our client’s wine quality for many years to come. We partner with premier manufacturers of wine cellar cooling systems like WhisperKOOL, CellarPro, Wine Guardian, and US Cellar Systems to build functional and reliable refrigerated wine cellars. We regularly utilize many of their products in our wine cellar builds.
Our refrigeration technicians are hands-on specialists, not just HVAC engineers. With many years of experience in servicing climate-control systems, they can build one of the best wine cellar cooling systems for you and fix most problems with your equipment. Challenging or tricky installations will not hinder them from helping homeowners have high-quality wine-cooling units.
The following are the factors that we consider when choosing and installing wine cellar cooling systems:
- Location and size of the home wine cellar
- Availability of an exhaust room
- Amount of glass to be installed
- Heat resources near the wine cellar
- Aesthetic and technical requirements
- Budget
Wine Cellar Cooling for Wine Cabinets in a California Home
Home Wine Cellar Cooling Project in Laguna Beach Custom Wine Cabinets
In this home wine cellar cooling project, we had to install a refrigeration system in four sophisticated custom wine cabinets in a high-end, oceanfront home in Three Arch Bay in Laguna Beach, California. Floor-to-ceiling wine racks were installed, and the area was too small for the venting of air.
Our cooling systems technician had to find a refrigeration unit that would allow them to use extra thin ducting. They discussed the home wine cellar cooling options with the client, and they agreed to use a ducted split system. They placed the refrigeration unit outside the wine room and installed ductwork to duct the cold air from the unit into the wine cabinets and the warm air out.
Coastal had to install a Unico High Static Pressure Forced Air Unit, a piece of equipment that utilizes high static pressure to allow the technicians to use thin ducting that could fit tight spaces. This type of unit was the perfect choice for this home wine cellar cooling project because it allowed them to use 2-inch ducting. The system itself has a built-in high static fan that could increase the supply of pressure.
The ducts are made of aluminum flex, known as a reliable material for this type of installation. It does not tear or leak easily. The client was very pleased with the outcome!
Custom Wine Cellar Cooling Project for Home Wine Cellar in Orange County, California
Orange County Home Wine Cellar Cooling and Construction Project by Coastal
Another wine cooling system installed by Coastal was in a home wine cellar we built for a client in Coto de Caza, Orange County, California. They installed a ductless split wine refrigeration system.
The evaporator was placed inside the wine room while the condenser was located outdoors on the rooftop. No ducting is required since the two components are connected by a copper line set consisting of tubing and electrical wiring.
To prevent any equipment from being visible in the wine cellar, Coastal concealed the evaporator in a lattice-style grill box and cover made from Mahogany, the same wood used for the wine racks.
Residential Wine Cellar Cooling in Yorba Linda, California
Home Wine Cellar Cooling Completed by Coastal Custom Wine Cellarsa
A client in Yorba Linda, California, contacted us because he needed help with his wine cellar conversion project. We had to transform a small, arched space at the end of a hallway in their home. We had to deal with the room, which measures 8’ wide x 8’ long x 30” deep.
We worked with our specialist refrigeration systems suppliers in cooling the home wine cellar. We installed a split wine cellar cooling system. The evaporator was mounted inside a lattice grill box located above the arched display area.
The noisier component, which is the condenser, was placed remotely. To hide the equipment, we hid the unit in an operable grill cover, which allows for accessing the unit conveniently during maintenance or repair service.
Apart from through-the-wall evaporators or grill covers, we also install grill covers on the ceiling if your cooling system is ducted or ceiling-mounted. Check out this modern home wine cellar to see an example of a ceiling register.
Custom Wine Cellar Cooling for an Elegant Home in Newport Beach, California
In 2013, we completed designing and building a residential wine storage and display area for an elegant home. The large room is located adjacent to the dining area. We installed a custom refrigeration system again in this impressive home wine cellar cooling project in Newport Beach, California.
Since the client wanted a noise-free wine cellar environment, they installed one of their quietest split-type refrigeration systems, which was the ductless Arctic Aire System. The evaporator was installed within the racking and was concealed in a wood louvered grill cover, with an operable panel for ease of access.
Work with Experts in Home Wine Cellar Cooling
Avoid mistakes and regrets by working with home wine cellar cooling experts like Coastal Custom Wine Cellars and Arctic MetalWorks. We collaborate to create safe and functional wine storage facilities equipped with a reliable wine refrigeration system.
Do you need help with your project? Please do not hesitate to contact us at +1 (949) 200-8134.
