Need Help Deciding on Wine Storage Options

[DCTWinemaker]

I currently make and store my wine in the basement. It is a walkout basement so the walls on the back of the house are above grade. I live in the Northeast USA and the temperature in my basement during winter is 61 degrees and 72-75 in the summer (max out at 78-80 degrees). My wife got me a 72-bottle shelving unit for Xmas which is fine for now. I'm concerned about the summer months when the temp can reach 80 degrees.

Would I be better off buying a large capacity wine cooler or framing out a small closet in my basement? I have the typical small basement windows (example below) and was thinking about putting one of my portable air conditioners in the closet and running the exhaust hose to the basement window. Not sure which makes more sense...the cost of building and cooling a closet or spending the money upfront for a high capacity wine cooler.

 

[salcoco]

the only thing that is for sure is that you will make more wine each year and eventually exceed the wine cooler capacity. go for a small room and adjust you size by two. good luck

 

[1d10t]

There are AC units made with exhaust that are integral to the design. Make sure you know where the air comes into the condenser and where it exits if you do your own exhaust and keep it as short as possible.

 

[Rocky]

In your walkout basement, you probably have up to three walls that are backed by soil. Could you build yourself a wine room in the corner where two walls meet and both are under ground level, frame it out with 2x6 and insulate well, including the ceiling and door? You should get mostly cooling from the exterior walls and the floor and the insulation would hold that in the room.

 

[Johnd]

My first wine storage unit was freestanding and held 200 bottles, then I bought another, then it got full and I eventually built a full fledged wine room. If you're serious about the hobby, you'll quickly outgrow refrigerated free standing units. Lots of folks build small wine rooms with an inexpensive A/C unit to help them through the warm summer months and are very satisfied with them, and the capacity is a lot more than a refrigerated unit. Once you figure out the venting issue for the A/C, it'll open up your options........

 

[ibglowin]

Go for the vented AC unit of some sort. Frame out a "wine storage room" 2X larger than what you think you could ever fill up in your life time.

 

[Rice_Guy]

@Rocky makes sense, use an interior corner, insulate the ceiling as well.
I would not use fiberglass. 2” expanded polystyrene insulation is water resistant, rigid, easy to work with (can be reconfigured/ expanded), available as 4*8 sheets, has excellent R value.

 

[pillswoj]

I agree on the below grade corner room, leave the bottom 4 ft of the exterior walls and the floor uninsulated and heavily insulate every everything else. This is what I did and in Southern Ontario I maintain 66 in the summer and have a slow drop to 51 in the winter.