Many people dream of having their own wine cellar. Not only because it can increase the value of your home but for the pleasure of sharing wine aged in your own cellar with family and friends.
A few things to consider are:
How am I going to use the cellar?
Will the cellar be purely for storing wine, or will it also be used for entertaining and displaying your wine collection?
What are the most important components of a wine cellar?
Insulation – it is recommended to have a minimum of R12 or if possible R19. To the extent the cellar shares an exterior wall, R30 insulation is preferable for that wall.
Moisture barrier – it is imperative to use a vapor barrier when constructing a wine cellar. The most common vapor barrier is 6 mil poly sheeting, which should be wrapped around the entire wine cellar on the outside of the insulation.
Airtight seal – when the door is closed it is crucial that the wine cellar has an airtight seal. The door should have weather-stripping and a door-sweep to prevent air from entering the cellar when the door is closed.
How do I select a wine cooling unit?
Through-the-wall or self-contained cooling systems are the easiest to install and the most affordable. The downside of through-the-wall cooling units is that they take up space inside the cellar, and noise from the cooling unit can be heard inside and outside the wine cellar.
A great self-contained unit for smaller cellars up to 300 cubic feet is the WhisperKOOL 1600.If you are building a larger wine cellar, say up to 1,000 cubic feet then you will need the WhisperKOOL 4200 self-contained cooling unit to properly cool the room.
Split-system cooling units are designed so the evaporator is located inside the wine cellar ad the condenser outsidie. The advantage of split systems is that the condensing unit can be located in a remote location, which mitigates noise from the compressor, and split systems don’t require having a big hole in the wall. However split-systems require professional installation, which is expensive.
There are four different WhisperKOOL split systems available depending on your requirements.
How do I select wine racks?
Individual bottle storage: each bottle is cradled in its own cell, either single or double deep. Difference size cells are designed to accommodate various types of bottles, such as Bordeaux, Burgundy/Champagne, Magnums and splits.
Diamond Bin Storage: The advantage of Diamond Bins is that they can accomodate any size bottles however because the bottles rest on each other they are best reserved for long-term storage.
Tabletops: With individual bottle or bin storage below, tabletops provide excellent spaces for opening bottles and pouring wine.
These are a few of the factors that you should consider when building your own wine cellar.