Passive Wine Cellar Ventilation

Naturally cooled wine cellars are a practical option for basements.

Passive wine cellar ventilation.

The north and east. Passive wine cellars or an underground wine cellar use ground temperature to moderate the temperature swings and make the temperature swings seasonal instead of daily whereas refrigerated wine cellars can go anywhere in your house a passive wine cellar must be located in a subterranean basement. I am building a passive wine cellar in a basement cold room in a zone 4a northern region winters 34 4 c 30 f summers 35 c 95 f. Wine cellar a is small with a cave area of nearly 10 m 2 and a height of 2 4 m.

Annual temperature can fluctuate. Check out tips for passive cellar planning. The importance of a wine cellar. The main reason to build a wine collection is to take full advantage of a wine s ageing capacity.

As far as ventilation if you are concerned with air quality then i would recommend installing an energy recovery ventilator. All walls are concrete. For instance if you lay your hands on a nice bordeaux blend that critics say will be drinkable for 30 years you may want to stow it away for a few years so that the wine s characteristics deepen and become even more dynamic. If you re not building a passive wine cellar you will need to buy a cooling unit for your space.

The cold room is 9 long by 5 wide with 8 walls. These are wine walls rooms or other storage areas that use ambient temperature rather than conditioned air. Passive cellars are often found in basements closets and other out of direct light heat places. This simply means the room s conditions are not changed to benefit the wine.

This holds up to 12 or more bottles but is not large scale. We are now ready for the finishing touches. Small collections of wine or rather just storage for a few bottles can use a wine cooler refrigerator. Larger refrigerators are available and can be installed in ranks if you need more storage.

The graph above charts ground temperature variation over a. The first thing you should splurge on in your wine cellar is the cooling unit. The ceiling is at a mean depth of 2 3 m. This can save the expense and bother of building a proper wine cellar.

We like to use french glass doors so you can see into the racks and your. Cooling units keep your wine cellars at the correct storage temperature and humidity 55 f and 50 70 humidity. It is located in the middle of the north wall of the basement. It has a ventilation.