[jhudson56]

Hello everyone.
I am new to this hobby, but I am looking forward to getting started. I do have a concern regarding room temperature. We live in South Carolina, and do not use air conditioning during the summertime (just oscillating fans in the rooms and an attic fan at night). Our house is a very old 2 story frame house with 10 foot ceilings, so cooling with the central air is just too costly to justify. Our downstairs rooms are usually around 80 degrees during the daytime. Is it possible to make wine if the house is this warm, and if not, does anyone have any ideas on how to correct for this situation? I could put a window unit in the room that the wine will ferment in, but I would prefer to find a cheaper solution to the problem. Thanks for the help.
Jim Hudson

[rodo]

Greetings Jim and welcome to the forum.

At 80 degrees the yeast will ferment fine, but the flavor of the wine will usually suffer.
This is because of the increased production of unwanted enzymes
by the yeast and the possible growth of micro-organisms that
thrive in warmer temperatures. If you can lower the temp to about 72 it should be much better.

My wife and I enjoy going to yard sales and usually see old window AC units going pretty cheep.

If the room is too big perhaps you could get creative with 2" foamboard insulation.

[djrockinsteve]

I concur with Rod. Can you possible make one room or area cooler with an air conditioner or a dehumidifier? You would only need an area big enough for a few carboys and your bottled wine.

Maybe even a wine cooler converted to hold your carboys. Occasional temp. swings are tolerable but consistant high temps. will not work well.

[jhudson56]

Hello Rod
Thanks for the welcome and for the reply. You confirmed what I was afraid of, the excess heat will cause potential problems with the wine. I have a small window unit that I could put in a spare bedroom downstairs. If the temperature only needs to be around 72, that would take care of it. I appreciate the help.
Jim

[jhudson56]

Thanks, Steve. Good ideas as well.

[Runningwolf]

Jim welocme aboad. Glad you found us and keep asking quesions. Plenty of people here have already experienced what ever question you may have.

[Green Mountains]

See, now you've gained a wine room. Good for you.

[Wade E]

72* would be a decent temp to keep it at. 80* would be to warm considering that when its vigorously fermenting its possible that that act in itself can raise the temp of your must sometimes about 3*-4* or even more depending on the size of the batch.

[jhudson56]

Thanks to everyone who commented with advice. This looks like a great forum for folks who are just getting started in the hobby.

[hughkin]

Hello Jim, a wet towel wrapped around your demijohn will lower the temp. If you can find a way to keep the towel wet (some form of drip action) this would solve your problem cheaply.I live in the uk so I struggle to keep the temp high enough. Hughkin