Temperature/humidity control in cellar

[csano]

Long story, short, I just moved into a new house. It's a huge house, but it has substantially less storage space than my previous one.

When looking at the house, while my wife was worrying about where she was going to put her clothes/shoes, I was thinking, 'Where the **** am I going to put my beers?'. Our realtor must have read my mind because the next thing out of her mouth was, "This house has a separate garage that has been converted into a studio."

'Aha," I thought.

Fast forward a month later. We close on the house, move in, and while the wife is thinking about new furniture for the house, I'm thinking about how many 2x4s I need.

So, yes, I built a beer room in the garage. It's about 12 feet wide, 5 feet deep, and 7 1/2 feet in height. Fully insulated, shelves and wine/lambic rack built from scratch. Definitely more functional than aesthetic, but I'll tell you that all that wood gives me wood.

Before I got started on the project, I decided I would worry about temperature control later since it's not something I have to be too concerned with until at least May. I was thinking about a portable air conditioner, but I've been reading that they're terrible. So, it looks like I'm going to have to have some kind of wall-based AC system installed, likely professionally.

For that, I turn to you cellar nerds. For those of you that have built cellars, what are you using to keep your beers cool? Humidity is likely not an issue out here in Seattle, but I'm not going to make any assumptions, and would like to err on the side of caution, especially with all the lambics I have. I'm thinking an AC unit and some sort of humidifier, but am struggling with trying to decide how much is enough, and what is too much. Given the size of the space, what would be recommended?

Thanks, guys! Cheers.

 

[stupac2]

What's wrong with a window AC unit? Even a tiny one could handle that volume, and it'll work great if you can vent it outside (or don't care about the temp in the rest of the space). I assume you know about temperature regulators, one of those units from amazon would do fine with a window unit. I think someone else has even done something similar for their cellar on here, window AC unit on an insulated closet-type area. I forget who it was but you can probably find it on here.

I wouldn't worry much about humidity unless you're in it for the very long haul, but if you're storing horizontally you'd have direct liquid contact helping, and if you're storing vertically vapor pressure should be pretty good.

 

[kungfoojedi]

I agree. If that garage has a window (and I assume that it does), throw a window unit in that *****. They make some pretty economical ones that should do the job. Dunno the size of your cache, but a fridge is too cumbersome for me, esp when your bottle count has grown past it's size. Much cheaper just to frame out another wall.

 

[MordorMongo]

I would get something to monitor humidity but I would not be worried about it until you see some significant fluctuations or something.

Being in humid Midwest I use a simple damp rid system in my temp controlled unit and it works like a charm.

 

[csano]

There is one window in the garage, aside from some glass panels in front of the garage. The unit is in the back of the garage, and does not enclose the window. Ideally, I'll only have to keep that area cool, as anything otherwise would be a waste of energy.

 

[stupac2]

There is one window in the garage, aside from some glass panels in front of the garage. The unit is in the back of the garage, and does not enclose the window. Ideally, I'll only have to keep that area cool, as anything otherwise would be a waste of energy.

I was thinking you could punch a hole in either the interior or exterior wall (whichever is easier, really, though exterior would be better) and vent the heat there. If it's easier to do in an interior wall, add plenty of ventilation so that the temperature in the non-cooled part of the garage doesn't get too much higher than outdoors ambient (if it does you'll be less efficient at cooling with the AC unit).

Anyway, it should be fairly simple: hole in wall + window AC unit + temperature controller = awesome cellar.

 

[ForkAndSpoonOperator]

I can't in good conscience recommend putting a window air conditioner in an interior wall. All of the heat and humidity you're pulling out of the cellar space will be deposited in the other room.

 

[jedwards]

I'd highly, highly recommend buying or checking out Gold's "How and Why to Build a Wine Cellar". Lots of great advice and data re passive control of both temp and humidity. You may not be able to go full passive (though unless the exterior wall of the cellar space is sun-facing, it's quite possible in Seattle), but it's a great place to start.

 

[stupac2]

I can't in good conscience recommend putting a window air conditioner in an interior wall. All of the heat and humidity you're pulling out of the cellar space will be deposited in the other room.

The entire point is that it's venting into a garage that he doesn't give a **** about, temperature-wise. I think it would be a good idea to vent the space so that it's basically at outside ambient temperatures, but having your garage be somewhat hot isn't usually an issue for people.

 

[ForkAndSpoonOperator]

The entire point is that it's venting into a garage that he doesn't give a **** about, temperature-wise. I think it would be a good idea to vent the space so that it's basically at outside ambient temperatures, but having your garage be somewhat hot isn't usually an issue for people.

I read it as the garage was set up as a living space/rumpus room sort of thing. If it's unfinished/unheated, and no one intends to use it regularly, go nuts.