Wine Protection: Most wine coolers, also known as wine refrigerators or wine chillers, are designed to operate in a typical household environment with room temperatures between 68 degrees to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius). Operating a wine cooler in areas subject to fluctuating or extreme temperatures (for example, outside an insulated house in garages or storage sheds) could cause large temperature fluctuations within the wine cooler, or the wine cooler could fail. The basic enemies, from a preservation standpoint, of a bottle of wine are temperature, humidity, and light. A wine cooler offers a great defense against these elements and enables a wine enthusiast to store, preserve and maintain wine.
Temperature Cooling Range: The primary functions of a wine cooler are shorter term storage and protection of wine from temperature, humidity and light and for chilling wine to proper serving temperatures. A good wine cooler should have a temperature range of 45 degrees - 65 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees - 18 degrees Celsius to allow for the chilling of different types of wine.
Single Zone Versus Dual Zone Wine Coolers: A single zone wine cooler is self explanatory. A single zone wine cooler has a single temperature sensor and temperature setting for the entire wine cooler. If you are storing or chilling one type of wine, then a single zone wine cooler is adequate. However, the temperature in a single zone wine cooler can vary from its top shelf to its bottom shelf making the storing of different types of wine more problematic. Further, the larger the wine cooler’s storage capacity, the greater this temperature difference will be between the shelves. Given that different types of wine have different optimal storage and serving temperatures, a single zone wine cooler can be used to store white or sparkling wines on the bottom shelves, where it will be colder, and red wine to be stored on the top shelves, where it will be warmer. However, it is unlikely that a single zone wine cooler will have a twenty degree differential from top to bottom shelf (to allow chilling between 45 degrees - 65 degrees Fahrenheit). In contrast, a dual zone wine cooler has two independent chilling compartments each with temperature sensors, settings and displays for each zone. A good dual zone wine cooler will allow, within each zone, a full optimal temperature chilling range between 45 degrees - 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cooling System: Refrigeration can be defined as lowering the temperature of an enclosed space by removing heat from that space and transferring it elsewhere. Wine coolers’ refrigeration systems are usually conventional compressor units or thermoelectric units. A conventional cooling system contains four fundamental parts - the compressor, condenser, throttle valve and evaporator. In simple terms, these parts work together to circulate and heat up a refrigerant which is then condensed and cooled, with the heat rejected and evaporated and the now cold refrigerant mixture lowering the temperature of the enclosed space it is in. Thermoelectric coolers are solid state semiconductor devices without moving parts, fluids, chlorofluorocarbons or other chemicals or gases. Electrons moving through the semiconductor material absorb heat and move it to the hot, expelling end of the unit cooling the air in the enclosed unit. Thermoelectric coolers have several advantages over conventional compressor units including no moving parts, which results in less vibrations and a more silent operation. One of the more common complaints about wine coolers is the slight noise they produce. Thermoelectric coolers’ solid state design allows them to take up less floor space, plus they are lightweight. Also, thermoelectric coolers don't cycle on and off and have smaller temperature fluctuations and more precise temperature control (+/- 0.1 degree Celsius). Lastly, thermoelectric coolers have high reliability with tests showing lives greater than 200,000 hours (almost 23 years). However, compressor based systems are more efficient at cooling than thermoelectric units (estimated at 4 to 12 times more efficient) and can withstand more adverse conditions. Thus, thermoelectric cooling is generally used more in environments where their solid state nature (no moving parts, quiet operation, maintenance-free) outweighs pure efficiency.
Wine Cooler Bottle Capacity: One easy way to estimate your desired wine cooler size is to keep track of how much wine you drink in a month and then multiply that amount by twelve. Four bottles of wine consumed a month means a minimum forty eight bottle wine cooler capacity. If you entertain regularly, and thus need multiple bottles of wine simultaneously ready for consumption, you will appreciate a larger wine cooler. A rule of thumb for estimating group wine consumption is two people per each wine bottle. Thus, if you are entertaining forty people you need to be able to chill twenty bottles of wine at a time, plus have additional room for your future, personal wine storage and consumption. Additionally, you will likely want to consider your future, potentially growing wine collection and storage needs. Even if your current wine collection is relatively small, you should consider its potential expansion years from now and plan your wine cooler needs accordingly.
Published 6/30/2009 12:00:00 AM
Tags: Temperature, Bottle Capacity, Single Zone, Dual Zone, Thermoelectric Cooling, Compressor Cooling