Having noticed the number of posts on the title subject in recent months, I recently approached the folks at Galt Wine Cellars, occasional contributors to this group, about a possible FAQ entry on this subject. They graciously offered up the text in the URL below:
I'm interested in getting feedback on the general topic, and suggested modifications to Galt's text. I'm all ears.
Mark Lipton FAQ feeder
I would be inclined to just include a link to the page you quote. This would allow including any other possible discussions of the subject, such as how to construct a passive wine cellar as described in a book published on this subject, etc .Also there are links to several other pages of the site, so if you including all of this information, the section in the FAQ would become huge. It might be in order for you or someone to include a discussion of the information, as well as the link, if anyone sees fit. Unfortunately the html code for the page quoted is horrible with 59 errors found at the W3C validator. It also is very out of date. I absolutely would not include such poor code on the FAQ site. However I will be glad to include information on the subject that you may write up as a text version. The company should not be blamed for the poor code - their business is cooling wine cellars. Unfortunately many commercial sites have many more code errors than this one.
The problem with just linking to the page is that there's some stuff in there that refers to the rest of the site and I don't want to include that necessarily. I've got no problem with converting to straight text (with proper attribution, of course) and letting you HTMLize it.
Mark Lipton
I think that it is a good one. Personal experience in AZ, I added to my cellar, after a rather bad experience with my 3rd WhisperKool 8000. I now have a split system (recommend for efficiency and db level, if possible), but retained the rebuilt WhisperKool as a backup unit, set to 65F, just in case.
You are correct, about this being a constant question, and with good reason. The more that the NG can provide to the subscribers, in the way of real and useful info is a plus. Now, it will require a reading of the FAQ, and maybe a search of this NG, but if the info is there, then a link can work wonders.
As an aside, I used to recommend the WhisperKool, but with the last round with them, I think of it as my backup, only.
Hunt
A split system is the best way to go for many, although it can be costly. Right now my wine room,an outside facing room, is having to heat a bit rather than cool some nights as we are having a few single digit nights. Also, because of the extremely low humidity, the humidifier kicks in now and then. I built the controls myself with an outside thermostat to switch from cooling to heating when it is very cold. I use a 12000 BTU window unit, modified to be controlled by an external hot house thermostat positioned in about the center of the room. I also use a booster fan to greatly increase the velocity of air when on. The AC is way over capacity, so it only has to turn on for fairly short periods. This and the greatly increased air flow prevents freeze-ups and removing much water from the air that must be replaced by the humidifier. In case of failure, another unit is in the garage on a cart. I only have to push it into the wine room, slide out the old unit, which is chassis mounted in a case, and slide in the new unit. Since condensed moisture is drained outside on cooling, a humidifier is necessary. Many through-the-wall units recirculate condensed moisture, but this will not control humidity well in some extremely dry, hot climates or when you must switch to heating for brief periods in the winter.
Of course those with a severe cooling problem and the funds should hire a good industrial commercial refrigeration contractor who hopefully will make service calls. There is nothing special about cooling a wine room. Industrial refrigeration experts can build a system to control a room in Death Valley or Alaska at any temperature between far below zero to near the boiling point of water with any relative humidity desired. Of course in such extreme conditions, the cost can also be extreme. One common thing they do is construct meat aging rooms where the temperature must be kept near freezing and the humidity must be controlled.
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