Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Aug 07, 2012 12:03 pm I am about to have my builder construct a 8-10m3 wine cellar in my house – should hold around 750-1,000 bottles. I have never done this before. I have bought wine racks, am organising the vapour lining and insulation. I have extensively researched cooling and have the following questions: - it seems all the retailers (online) in Australia want to sell a $4-6,000 system to control the temparature and humidity - US sells some systems significantly cheaper – around $2k all in for a decent one (but this has issues IMM re warranty claims etc) - but I can just buy a wall mounted air conditioning unit for a few hundred bucks – would I buy a reverse cycle unit and/or is a cooling unit sufficient (Brisbane) – presumably for winter it needs a cooling and heating option. The problem seems to be one of maintaining the humidity? - I don't know if it is purely sales speak for the more expensive systems, but interested to know how much of an issue the low humidity level caused by a normal air conditioning unit would be? Some people say just keep a bucket of water in the room to keep it higher (to stop the corks drying out) - are normal air conditioning units able to run at a constant 18 degrees (or even less) without causing any issues? - is there an alternative to one combined wine cellar specific unit and that being an air conditioning unit and a dehumidifer??? They would be less than $1k in total...and no warranty issues (in buying from USA) Hope to get some useful feedback please? Thanks in advance. Re: Wine cellar - air conditioning unit sufficient??? 2Aug 07, 2012 8:47 pm Have put a few AC systems in wine cellars now... I'm no wine expert but... some thoughts... Don't get a reverse cycle system... the consequences of someone accidentally hitting the mode button and changing from cool to heat is horrible to think about... Many cooling only AC systems only go to 18C, some to 16C, none that I know of go lower... A properly designed refrigeration system will hold temperature to within half a degree with similar control over humidity. Our experience has been that it's all down to personal preference. There's the couple who converted one of their bedrooms into a temperature and humidity controlled room and spent plenty on a proper refrigeration system. And there's also the owner of a well known wine brand who just had a cooling only split system put in. If it was me I'd think spending ~$6k to protect around 1,000 bottles of wine to be a sound investment...! Re: Wine cellar - air conditioning unit sufficient??? 3Aug 07, 2012 9:45 pm Thanks for info! I don't understand why you would go cooling only if the room itself can get down below 10 degrees, do you not need to be able to heat also?? I'm not worried about someone hitting wrong button - there will be a lock on the door! Re cost, agree $6 a bottle makes sense....but this is only part of the total cost (racks, insulation, sealing, door, construction/builder, etc). Hence the aim to keep each cost down if possible. Also you mention split system - I was aiming to use a simple wall mount system, as the room is less than 10m3, so can't see why would need a split system? Thanks for help!! Re: Wine cellar - air conditioning unit sufficient??? 4Aug 07, 2012 10:23 pm We've only ever put in cooling only systems... Don't deal with window rattlers so wouldn't be something I'd think about... not sure how good they are at holding a set temperature... Re: Wine cellar - air conditioning unit sufficient??? 5Aug 08, 2012 3:52 pm Something else to think about is the warranty. All the Hi-wall split brands we sell specifically say - Warranty is void unless the system is used for human comfort. In other words wine cellars, server rooms etc are not covered by warranty. Just a thought. It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 15550 Anybody know any good and reasonably priced Air conditioning contractors/companies that could install a ducted air conditioning system in the Central Coast NSW for a small… 0 3243 I had an old shower unit that broke on me and when I took it off, there were only 2 water pipes, instead of the normal 2 water pipes and a shower head pipe. S o I… 0 34212 |