Glad it worked for you Dennis.
Any ideas or suggestions on efficiently storing half bottles and the taller Riesling bottles in la cache or Eurocave with sliding shelves? I’ve been storing on bottom shelves or standing them.
Julie…In my Le Cache, I store half bottles on the bottom, but also in the crevice between each rack…provides storage for 16 more bottles on the bottom row. It does require that I sometimes need to remove a couple bottles to get one in the crevice in the back, but worth it.
Thanks Adam for the good tip! Time to make space for the halves. Guess it’s a good time as any to reorganize, vacuum and clean the filters too.
I have a Le Cache and I have a Schrader box that held 6 bottles in my bulk storage area on top and I put all of my 1/2 bottles in the box.
Curious about your model choice. Is it style or dimensions? That model holds a little under 300 bottles. For close to the same price you can get a lot more storage.
I’m close to purchasing the 5200 but I’m hoping they go on sale
Steve…I purchased a 5200 three years ago…love it. What I didn’t think about ahead of time was the sheer size and weight. The delivery guys had to get really creative…turn on its side, then lay flat and slide up the wall to get to where I wanted it. No way I would consider buying if it will require navigating stairs or any tight turn. Also, fully loaded, it weighs ~3,000lbs…we put some additional support below it in the crawl space and made sure it sat on a joist.
Thanks Adam, good to know. Planning on putting in basement/garage
Question for all Eurocave or La Cache owners - given these units are 3,000+ lbs, anyone put them on regular hardwood floors (ie. dining, living, family rooms); if so, any issues with the units damaging the floors? Thanks.
Julie,
I’ve found that I can only fit 10 of the German GG bottles in each Eurocave sliding rack. However, I can also fit a half bottle as well. I’m putting the rest of them in the bottom racking area. It works well, until you need to pull out one bottle…but for the long-aging bottles it’s a good place to store them.
I think about this two ways. I’ve owned a full 5200 for about 4 years.
-
wood finish - there are plenty of large feet underneath so I’m not very concerned about compression spots but perhaps I’m wrong. My fully loaded eurocaves don’t make a mark unless you slide them while full (ask my painter how I know). I assume there may be some damage underneath but there are no plans to move it. There is a persistent mineral deposit spot from falling condensation directly under the center of the doors. I wipe it up every once in awhile but it has made a minor blemish in the wood already.
-
warping floors due to weight - asked foundation and wood floor guy about this before installation and they both said the office location it’s in receives relatively good support due to nearby load bearing walls. I haven’t noticed any warping or uneven floors but YMMV depending on location in your home. If it’s slab foundation, there’s less of a concern obviously. To add extra joists in crawl space it would be a couple hundred bucks from what foundation guy said.
Yes. So far so good. Mine is only ~200 btls tho so not as heavy as the big kind.
Thanks Kirk, I will try that! Juyuan, I’ll let some of the others answer the larger fridges. I’ve been okay, but mine is definitely not as heavy. I suspect it is slightly heavier than my fridge. I do keep them on different circuits. I’ve put the Le Cache on sliders and the Eurocave has padded mat underneath to protect the floors. You can look at the specs online and both companies can give guidance on the specs and conditions for placing the fridges. Like Adam, I was more concerned about the dimensions of moving into the space/clearance, width etc. along with vent clearance above the fridge. Keep in mind that the Le Cache is pretty noisy, even the lowest strength. And for the larger fridges it will louder, not an issue in the garage or basement.
I’m looking at some Le Cache as well. For those who have one, did anyone get that LED upgrade? Like can you not see well in it without one? Looking at 2400 as that’s all I can fit in the space I’m allowed.
Also anyone get the Chocolate Cherry? Is it really dark or just kinda dark? Some photos look almost black and others have some color to it.
Several years ago I had a LeCache 2400 on 1920’s vintage framing and hardwood floors. The 2400 is about half the weight of a 5200 but also only spread across half the floor area. I had done some calculations ahead of time to calculate loads (which far exceed typical code requirements for residential construction) and convinced myself that I would give it a try. I placed the unit in a corner to minimize distance to a load bearing cross member in either direction and I put some wide feet under the standard feet to try to avoid any depressions in the hardwood. In the end I had no problems. That said, I wouldn’t feel comfortable loading up a 5200 on anything but a concrete slab without an engineer involved.
For those that are considering both Le Cache and Eurocave, I had several problems with my Le Cache over a fairly short (3 yr) period of ownership and my older Eurocave (purchased used) has been bulletproof for the past 10 years. Issues with the Le Cache were extremely poor circulation (I had to leave empty columns the whole length of the cooler to get any reasonable cooling at the bottom) and warped doors resulting in a poor seal (which might have contributed to the uneven cooling). I also had a compressor failure about a month after the warranty expired. All things considered, I would only consider a Eurocave if I were in the market again.
I have a 3800 unit in the chocolate cherry and it is really dark. It looks closer to black. You can see the cherry only when the sun hits it a certain way which is rare where I have it located. However, I have it built into a closet that I converted so all I see are the front doors, not the entire cabinet.
I have it on a hardwood floor on my 1st floor but luckily there is a support beam directly underneath the unit.
However, I am moving in 30 days and taking the unit with me. I plan on putting it against a dining room wall. The floors are tile. Does anyone know if tile can hold the weight of this unit without cracking?
I plan on calling IWA Wine tomorrow to ask for some guidance. If it can’t go on tile then I will have to put it in my home office, which isn’t ideal but I can make it work.
Thanks! That helps, I just couldn’t tell from the pics they had online and most of the others I saw were the lighter two colors.
You may want to take a look at Wine Cellar Impressions Inc. It’s a wine cabinet maker based in San Jose, CA.
I ordered a ~300 bottle custom credenza early last year and have been pleased. They offer far more options in regard to size, wood, finish, etc. than La Cache offered.
Their website is kind of a joke but the quality / craftsmanship of the final product is solid.
I picked up a new Eurocave Premiere L recently and have noticed that the temp fluctuates all throughout the day. The highest i’ve seen it go is 58 degrees and as low as 54.4 degrees. Is this type of fluctuation normal with new eurocaves?
Is it full?