Wine Cellar Question? BreezeAire or WhisperKool?

WINE TALK
1

Hi All,

I was asked by my cousin, about which one of these units to put into a 150 cubic feet wine cellar? Based upon price, I am assuming the WhisperKool is the better product but is it worth the extra $500 in price.

Also, the reason why he is installing a cellar, the basement where he was storing his wine was cool however it was very dry (very low humidity level), so when he was uncorking his wines alot of them were crumbling.

Will these units solve this issue or will he also need to add some type of humidification unit in the cellar also…

Thanks for your help in advance.

2

I have an 8 year old low end cooling unit. It is not a BreezeAire, but it is similar, and I think it might be made by the same company. A friend of mine has a WhisperKool that is a couple years younger.

Both units have reliably kept our cellars cold. But I have had a number of problems with my “cheapo” cooling unit:

  1. The internal tube that drains excess moisture clogged, causing water to come out of the unit and run onto the floor and wall. I cleaned the tube once, meant taking the unit out of the wall, a major pain. It quickly clogged again. I found a work around to avoid the problem but it is not pretty.
  2. The humidity control on my unit is not good. It can get way too low in the winter (under 50%). My work around is to put a cold mist humidifier in the cellar. This works fine, but it is a hassle to have to fill every week or so.

Meanwhile, my friend’s WhisperKool has worked without issue and the humidity control is much better. We also both like the idea of the external temp probe that the WhisperKool has.

So my thought is that the BreezeAire will probably work ok for you, but if I had to do it over I would have spent the extra money for the WhisperKool.

Michael

3

I use a Kenmore so what do I know. neener

My problem is too much humidity in the Summer. A tray or water in the Winter (Kenmore off) keeps enough moisture. If the wines are stored on their sides why would the corks crumble?

4

150 cubic feet is about the size of a broom closet (4’ x 5’ x 7.5’). [wink.gif]

I agree with Bob, that when a wine is stored on its side, the cork will not dry out.

Cooling units do not add humidity to a room unless they have a special humidification feature, that requires a water supply line be connected to the unit.

Also may need a drain and/or pump to prevent a flood if the humidity control system goes haywire!

If the cellar is already cool enough, and your friend insists on more humidity, then just adding a simple humidifier would be much less expensive.

5

Also agree with Bob on using a Kenmore, especially for smaller space.

6

Thanks for your responses so far, and I will suggest he look into the Kenmore. I think my cousin’s discussion with a particular vendor BreezeAire and WhisperKool were the lines they carry so that is why the original question.

As for storage, I know his wines are stored on their side, but some early to mid 90’s bottles corks in the middle basically disintegrate when opening. So his first thought was maybe the cellar is too dry… and maybe a pan of water will suffice if the cellar is cool enough.

Peter, it is almost a broom closet, he’s looking to put this underneath the staircase coming from the first to the basement.

Thanks again for the info…

7

Chris:

A couple points based upon my experience:

  1. Having enough insulation is important of course, but also important is having a good vapor barrier. Without it the cellar is too dry in winter and too wet in summer. You also have a higher risk of mold issues.

  2. Corks will not dry out if the bottles are on the side, but high vapor pressure between the inside of the bottle and the outside air can cause some bottles to leak a very small amount of wine. When my cellar gets below 50% humidity I can smell a stale wine smell from leaking bottles. This is not a big deal for short term wine storage, but if you are keeping a wine for 5 years or more it can make a difference.

Good luck,

Michael

8

I have an 8x12 and the $150 Kenmore cools it to about 60 deg F in Summer. My humidity runs from 55-70. My Winter temp runs 50-52 deg F. Vapor barrier faces the warm side, so your cellar is opposite your home insulation (not really but from your cellar’s perspective it would be).