Keeping a wine cellar cool is one of the most important things you can do if you expect the wine stored in it to turn out well. Most people usually think that the only thing you need to focus on is getting some kind of cooling device in the cellar in order to achieve this. However, the truth is that there are many other factors that contribute to the temperature within the facility, and it’s important that all these be taken into account when making a decision regarding this. Focusing on proper cooling of the cellar will not only maintain the quality of the wine, but will also ensure that you don’t spend a lot of money on cooling as well. Some of the important ways of achieving this include:
Choose a cooling unit that is commensurate with the size of the cellar
The easy way to buy a cooler is to simply walk into a store, and buy whatever you think is right. However, the problem with doing this is that you are likely to end up with a cooling unit that is not suitable for your cellar. You might buy one only to find out that it’s too powerful for the area, or find that it’s not powerful enough.
The key to getting the best cooling unit is finding out what your needs are before going out shopping. You should ask a professional to do a survey for you to find out how much power the cooling unit should have. This is the only way to make sure that the one you get is perfect.
Take into account other heat sources
In addition to getting a cooler, you also need to find out if there are any other sources of heat within the cellar. For instance, there are many people who usually convert their basements into cellars. In a few of such cases, you may find that there is a water heater, a boiler or heat exchanger in the cellar as well. The presence of such a device will raise the ambient temperatures within the cellar, and this will then result in spoilage of the wine even if you have a decent cooler.
To avoid this, you should make a point of taking into account these types of heat sources, and also try to find a way to cater for them. If possible, you could try to move them out of the basement to another part of the house. If this is not feasible, you might need to use more ingenious ways of handling the problem such as having a thermal barrier between the heat source and the rest of the cellar. You might also want to install a more powerful cooling unit.
The local climate should be a factor in choosing the right cooler
When choosing a cooler, you also need to take into account the ambient temperature in addition to the size of the cellar. If you live in the tropical regions, for instance, you might want to get a cooler that is more powerful. Remember, the device would need to reduce the temperature of the room a lot more than if the temperature was only mild.
The arrangement of the cellar
The way in which you use the cellar can also have an influence on how easy it is to cool. The most important thing to remember is that the fuller the cellar, the less energy it will need to keep cool. The reason for this is that as the temperature drops, the wine in the bottles becomes cool as well. If the cellar is cool, the collective effect of all the cool bottles of wine means that even if the central cooling system is switched off for a bit, it will still take a lot more heat to raise the temperature of the room marginally. This basically means that you should always make a point of having the cellar full as much as possible. This can help you keep the costs of cooling down.
Consider insulation
Sometimes, insulation can help in keeping the cellar cool. This is usually done if the differential between the inside and outside of the cellar is very large, such as when you live in tropical areas. In such cases, insulating the room makes it easier to reduce the transference of heat from the environment into the cellar, thus maintaining a frosty temperature.
In summary, temperature is one of the most important variables in any cellar. The above are some of the things you might need to address in order to ensure that you end up making it as cool as you want it to be. The key is to focus on more than one aspect of cooling the cellar so that the effect is additive, which will in turn reduce the cost of cooling.
