Keeping a Glass Dining Room Wine Cellar Cool in a Hot Manhattan Beach Home Manhattan Beach is one of the high-end cities in California known for its beautiful homes, incredible weather, and comfortable neighborhoods. Thanks to its desirable beachfront that lets you escape from the busy urbanized neighborhoods of the state, the location is popular for anyone who wants to enjoy life at their own pace.

You can find almost any extracurricular activity suited to your liking but, many homeowners in this area have decided to incorporate a custom home wine cellar into their residence. One example is this glass dining room wine cellar that we built with Los Angeles Custom Wine Cellars.

You may be wondering how a wine glass cabinet can prevent molds and degradation of the labels and glue in a high-humidity place, such as Manhattan Beach. Due to the higher humidity in the coast area, it’s a challenge for anyone to store and display a wine collection without sacrificing quality. With the right professional assistance, you can add your own dream wine cellar, display, or storage.

US Cellar Systems assisted in this project with a custom-made wine cellar cooling system, created by our team of highly skilled and experienced experts, known for making the best refrigeration systems on the market. With that in mind, let us share with you how this wine wall in a dining room turned out to be one of our best projects to date.

What cooling system should be used for a refrigerated glass wine cellar?

Living on the coast of California means dealing with the tropical climate. You’re looking at around 80°F humidity, which is not suited for wine display and storage. In fact, the ideal humidity level for wine bottles is between 45-70°F — enough to keep the corks from drying out and to prevent molds from happening.

In a dining room such as this, in which the wine wall occupies a limited area of space, we went with a custom split-system cooling unit for two reasons: First is to ensure that the cooling unit would fit in a small ceiling space, second is to hide it from plain sight to make the glass display as attractive as possible.

What Makes the LPQ 12000 TE Split Cooling System a Great Choice for Glass Wine Cellars?

For this refrigerated glass wine cellar, we used the LPQ 12000 TE Split Cooling System from US Cellar Systems. The “LPQ” in the name stands for Low Profile Quiet. This kind of cooling unit is made to do two things – operate silently and dependably. It’s a great option for residential areas like Manhattan Beach, as it’ll keep any room quiet.

In this case, the wine cellar is located in the dining room, so silent operation is important, letting you enjoy the sound of beach waves and pleasant conversation with friends and family. On top of that, the slim form factor of the cooling system makes it easy to hide and install on ceilings. But, that’s not all. Here’s what the LPQ 12000 TE offers in the spec sheet:

• Up to 10 years of lifespan, with little maintenance beyond a yearly checkup needed;
• up to an incredible 12,000 BTU/h;
• stainless-steel cabinet against high-corrosive environments;

• And a large fan board with low RPM for quiet yet effective cooling action.

For a glass dining room wine cellar like this one, the LPQ 12000 TE is one of the best (and quietest) cooling systems you can have.

What’s the best insulation system for a wine wall in a dining room in a Manhattan Beach Home?

You can have the best cooling system in the world, but if you don’t have the right insulation system, you can bid your wine collection goodbye.

At US Cellar Systems, we make sure that the temperature and humidity are consistent even with the changing seasons. While California is well-known for its humid weather, from December until April, the temperature averages a low of 50°F and a high of 64°F. The warm season, on the other end, averages a high of 74°F and a low of 65°F. That fluctuating weather means that it leaves a refrigerated glass wine cellar prone to premature aging and spoiling of wines.

In this kind of situation, the right insulation system is the key to preserving your wines. With that in mind, we used spray foam insulation with a vapor barrier, applied within the U-channels and ceiling of the glass dining room wine cellar. It leaves no gaps for air to escape, as the Polyurethane expands and fills cracks and crevices even with pass-through wires and pipes.

This leaves no chance for vapor to penetrate, allowing for a wine display to withstand the ever-changing seasons of a year.

How Investing in an Insulation System Keeps the Long-Term Cost of a Wine Cellar Lower?

As a client, you always have the choice to forego an insulation system for a wine cellar. However, we strongly don’t recommend doing so as this may affect you in the long run. At US Cellar Systems, we always want the best for our clients, and that includes protecting their investment.

A wine cellar without an insulation system requires a more powerful cooling unit that also draws higher wattage from the wall plug. As a result, you have to pay a higher electricity bill every month. But with a proper insulation system, we can choose a less powerful yet effective cooling unit, with little effect on your monthly bills.

Why Is a Cooling Unit Leaking Even if There’s Proper Insulation and Cooling Systems?

Although you can have the perfect cooling unit and insulation setup, there are times when a human error can lead to unintended condensation. As a general rule, condensation is always bad for a wine cellar.

If you happen to come home from a vacation with a leaking cooling unit, well, that cooling unit is probably not the culprit. In a humid area like Manhattan Beach, a home is most likely operating in an air-conditioned space. When an air conditioner is left turned off for an extended period, condensation on the outside of the glass wine cellar occurs. It happens because the temperature inside and outside the wine cellar is taken into account.

The challenges & problems of building a wine display in an area like Manhattan Beach, California

Believe it or not, this lovely home along the coast is a challenging project for many builders, despite the skinny form factor of the glass wine display. Wine cellars are typically large, spacious, and occupy a room solely for storing wine bottles. But with limited available space, the measurements need to be precise, especially when there are pre-built walls to work with.

In fact, the dining room already featured a wine bar, a beam, and a countertop where the glass dining room wine cellar is situated. The project required demolishing them as well as the flooring. But as seen from the photos and videos, there’s no sign of any destructive force used to build a high-end wine display.

US Cellar Systems takes every project with unmatched dedication in order to build its clients the wine cellar that they can be proud of. And, you can expect the same when you work with us.

Protect and preserve your wine collection with US Cellar Systems!

Wine collection or wine storage is an expensive investment or hobby. If you’re looking to build a wine glass cellar such as this one, ensure that you’re guided every step of the way so that your investment goes a long way. One small mistake can lead to a huge unplanned expense that’ll also take more of your precious time and effort.

That said, you’d want a partner that has credibility, integrity, and reliability. US Cellar Systems provides you with that and more! No matter what kind of wine cellar you want to build, we leave no room for errors. Everything is calculated and well-prepared to get things correct right from the get-go.

So, what are you waiting for? Call us TODAY at +1 (562) 513-3017 to get started. Our best experts in the wine cooling business are waiting for you. They will provide you with the best value cooling system that can last for a long time.

You can also visit our website at www.winecellarrefrigerationsystems.com to see our product offerings and successful projects with previous and existing clients.

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A Custom Wine Cellar Cooling Unit for a Glass Wine Cellar

The US Cellar Systems team has a long history of collaborating with designers and builders all over the country, and we take pride in our wine cellar cooling units. This project was recently completed by Steve Pantalemon and his team at Custom Wine Cellars Los Angeles.

Take a look at the photos of this stunning glass wine cellar, and check back as we share more information on how this project was done!