Winery room AC gone bad, help

[FTC Wines]

OK, Maybe I'm annal, BUT!!! I bought a LG Portable AC unit 7,000 btu to cool my 10X14 winery room, spent 5 weeks "talking" with LG & their service co. Well they told me I had a defective unit, I said it is a design flaw, so they sent me a new 9K btu unit( they, the factory were out of 7 k units) WELL it's as bad as the other unit. Both AC units exhaust air conditioned air 24/7 !!!! Try cooling Fla. at 91* outside. I told them this BUT they didn't believe me. When the compressor is running the exhaust air, did I mention I blew a 6" hole thru my CBS wall for the exhaust, exhausts air at 106.6*, when the compressor is NOT running the unit blows air out the exhaust at 76.6* measured outside the block wall. Room temp is 75.4. This means the unit exhausts air conditioned air 24/7!!!! OK I'm ranting BUT any one have some ways to AC their wine room, with a unit that cycles on & off. Local C&R's will NOT allow me to put a window AC unit in, that's why I blew a 6" hole thru the wall & used the stand up LG unit. Thinking about a Mitusbitusi unit, or a thru the wall unit into my garage/shop that cycles, ( it will make my shop more unbearable) suggestions?? Roy

 

[Rampage4all]

Build a recess in the wall for the window unit so it doesn't stick out and put a vented cover over the outside here's a rough side diagram .

 

[Sammyk]

Look for the Frigidaire at Lowes. I can find the model number if you need it. $129.00 and it is keeping our wine cellar at 60! It dropped from 62 a couple of days ago. Energy efficient. It is 90 here in NC and it is purring along just fine. We had to cut a hole in the steel door and mount it on the door near the top. You most likely saw our cellar thread. It does cycle off and on.

 

[FTC Wines]

Thanks guys, thought about putting a window unit inside & doing a thru wall vent. Sammy goes that Frig unit cycle on & off, I.e. does the blower stop blowing when the compressors off? Roy ps just re read your post saw it cycles on & off.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

OK, Maybe I'm annal, BUT!!! I bought a LG Portable AC unit 7,000 btu to cool my 10X14 winery room, spent 5 weeks "talking" with LG & their service co. Well they told me I had a defective unit, I said it is a design flaw, so they sent me a new 9K btu unit( they, the factory were out of 7 k units) WELL it's as bad as the other unit. Both AC units exhaust air conditioned air 24/7 !!!! Try cooling Fla. at 91* outside. I told them this BUT they didn't believe me. When the compressor is running the exhaust air, did I mention I blew a 6" hole thru my CBS wall for the exhaust, exhausts air at 106.6*, when the compressor is NOT running the unit blows air out the exhaust at 76.6* measured outside the block wall. Room temp is 75.4. This means the unit exhausts air conditioned air 24/7!!!! OK I'm ranting BUT any one have some ways to AC their wine room, with a unit that cycles on & off. Local C&R's will NOT allow me to put a window AC unit in, that's why I blew a 6" hole thru the wall & used the stand up LG unit. Thinking about a Mitusbitusi unit, or a thru the wall unit into my garage/shop that cycles, ( it will make my shop more unbearable) suggestions?? Roy

Definitely talk to Sammyk
I also realized that the portable AC need to have a separate intake and exhaust in order to be efficient. Because you will take air from the inside of the room and it will draw in from other areas to help compensate for that air loss.
The portable AC unit that Sammyk has seem to be the best bet if you can make it work for you

 

[ibglowin]

I picked up a GE window unit from Samsclub 3 years ago. This unit was only 5000 BTU and my winery/cellar is only ~200 ft2. It keeps the room ~68 during the heat of the Summer AND the compressor and fan shut off when the temp is reached. Could not be happier with this unit!

 

[pjd]

You will not go wrong with a Mitsubishi unit. every thing else mentioned will just prolong your misery. Do it right the second time, put in a Mitsubishi and you will be fine.

 

[FTC Wines]

I researched the Frig 5k btu unit on line & it looks like I can make it work, but I will also research the Mitisbutshi (spelling?) unit as PJD mentioned. With two poorly design LG units Ill take my time looking. I should say I heard from LG & they are going to send me UPS pick up sheets for both to be returnd at no cost, and refund my original purchase price, their customer service came thru!! Roy PS, Thanks for all the quick responses, wines 77*

 

[Sammyk]

We are very pleased with the Frigidaire. Yes it shuts off when the temperature is reached.
I posted the photos here for you. We were between a rock and a hard place, or should I say between a rock and railroad ties. There was no other place as you can see by the photos to put an air conditioner. Maybe 8 inches at the top because of the railroad ties.

We knew once the hole was drilled in the steel door that we would have to replace the steel door if the air conditioner did not work. Don't recall for sure now but it was 75 degrees in there and I am thinking it only took 24 hours to get it cooled down to 62. There is about 600 to 800 bottles in there right now.
Once the bottles all cooled down it was shutting off so that is a good thing. It shut off when we were in there today.

It is weird because it has stayed consistantly at 62 degrees and we check it every day. But this afternoon it was 60 degrees in the cellar. Not complaining it is just curious that it dropped to 60 this afternoon. It was in the upper 80's, close to 90 today.

For what it is worth. the front of the cellar faces south so it gets sun almost all day long.

 

[Sammyk]

The air conditioner is straight, the camera was not when the photo was taken. LOL

 

[Sammyk]

One other thought we had planned to take it back to Lowe's if it did not work. The first one did not and we had to drill through cement blocks that are core filled with cement. When the first one did not work. we had to patch the hole that took 2 men many hours to make! Chipping away little by little to make the first hole.

 

[FTC Wines]

SammyK, Really appreciate all the info. Lowes is my favorite store, just there yesterday AM. Will be back today to check the Frig AC unit. Could not find the amp draw on their web site. Besides super cooling our wine room, this AC will be running off my Honda 2000i generator for hurricane aftermath survival. YES sleeping cooly with 600 bottles of wine at your fingertips!!! Now I just have decide where to put the discharge exhaust. We live in a gated sub with strict C & Rs No window or wall mount ACs allowed. So I can have the unit inside & disguise the exhaust with some kind of vent cover, this would have to be mounted low to floor so vent is behind the landscaping, not the best location. Or mount it high to the ceiling & exhaust into garage/shop or attic. Again thanks for all the input. Roy

 

[Sammyk]

Glad to help Roy. It was such a struggle to get the ill designed cellar. We were at the point of having it bull dozed over. Really we were!
This was our last attempt to make it work and then the cellar would have been history.

If we had known about the air conditioning unit, we would have just put it in a guest room upstairs which was our first option. Would have saved us a bunch of money. But the contractor convinced us it would work better underground. What a huge joke, it is not fully underground. Even if we had to put 2 air conditioners up there it would have still been way cheaper.

 

[jswordy]

The air conditioner is straight, the camera person was not when the photo was taken. LOL

Fixed it for you!

 

[Sammyk]

jswordy That it did and we were lucky! Sometime in late October we think we will be able to shut off the air conditioner. We are pretty sure it will be fine here during the winter since our winters are not that cold and the dirt that is there should be able to hold it at a decent temperature.

 

[FTC Wines]

SammyK, I remember my winery & basement in N. Ga. Too well. Miss that 63* winter & 68* summer temps. But I can't have a basement in N. Ft Myers. So super AC ing our extra bedroom is the logical answer. Going on a 3-4 day boat trip, but after that I ll be headed to Lowes for that 5K btu unit, thanks again, Roy. PS hope the wine doesn't blow while we are gone LOL!!!

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Sammyk
I know what you all went thru when you were trying to keep your cellar cool.
I am glad that you are able to share your experience with others in order to help others out.
That is what I feel this whole forum is about - helping others.

 

[Sammyk]

vacuumpumpman Thank you for your support and to the MANY others who were in our progress from the very start. Many made very helpful suggestions right from the start. AND many had suggestions when things went "south" on the cellar. This is a great place to be! So much help and caring folks on the forum.

 

[Arne]

Roy,
you mite try talking to one of your local A.C. contractors. A mini split air conditioner will run quiet, can be very economical to operate, and needs only a small hole thru the wall to get the lines thru. Downside, it will be more expensive and there is a small condensing unit that sits outside, but bet it will conform to your sub division rules. Just a thought, Arne.

 

[Sammyk]

Arne we did just that and it was $3000 for a Lennox unit. Even if we could have afforded it, the rep would not guarantee on any kind of temp we could expect. And it meant a lot of digging to wire for 220 which the unit required. We only have 110 in the cellar. We also talked to refrigeration people thinking we could turn our cellar into a refrigerator but it would have broke the bank also.