Wine is a beverage that needs to be stored properly if you want to enjoy it at its best. Wine needs to be stored in ideal conditions with minimal fluctuations so that it can age tastefully. Besides a well-built custom wine cellar, you need a quality wine cellar cooling unit in order to achieve these ideal conditions. By making sure that your wine storage conditions are well-controlled, you can be sure that your wines will age properly so that you and your family and friends can enjoy them at their best.
There are lots of wine cellar cooling units available on the market. The challenge is finding the right one for you. In this post, you will learn a few of the qualities to look for when purchasing a wine cellar cooling unit.
Capacity To Cool Your Wine Room
When choosing a wine cellar unit that can effectively cool your wine cellar, it is important to consider the size of your wine storage room. The size of your cellar cooling unit is dependent on many factors including the size of the wine room. If you have a large room for instance, you will need a unit with a larger compressor and more BTUs. A cooling unit needs to be more powerful in order to properly cool a large room. Remember the ideal temperature for wine storage is 55 to 58 degrees Fahrenheit.
No matter how capable the wine cellar cooling unit is in cooling your wine storage room, there are other factors that can affect the temperature in the room. Other factors include such things as the way the room was insulated. If the storage room is not properly insulated, the temperature will never be kept within the ideal range all the time. Therefore the custom wine cellar should be properly insulated and ideally have a good vapor barrier in order to keep excess heat or cold out of the room.
Capacity To Control Humidity Effectively
Temperature is only one of the many variables that need to be controlled effectively in order for wine to be stored properly. Another variable that a good wine cellar refrigeration unit should be able to regulate is the humidity. The ideal humidity for proper wine storage is between 60% to 70%.
If the humidity is too high in the wine cellar room, wine corks will have the tendency to mold and this can lead to contamination of the wine inside the bottle. On the other hand, too little humidity can lead to wine cork shrinkage. If the wine cork shrinks, air can get into the bottle and spoil the wine inside.
Other Features Are A Bonus
Even if you live in California, once your wine cellar cooling unit is installed, you will want to be able to check the temperature and humidity inside the room. It’s not a good idea to constantly open the wine cellar room because this can cause fluctuations in the temperature and humidity levels. It would be a bonus if the cooling unit you buy has an accessory wherein you can check the temperature and humidity levels from outside the wine cellar room.
Another good feature would be something that would allow you to change or adjust the temperature and humidity settings from outside the custom wine cellar.