Working closely with the leading suppliers of wine cooling systems, including Wine Guardian, Chambrair and Friax, WineWalls can cater for all cooling system styles. This means we can always find a temperature control solution for your wine wall or wine storage space, wherever it may be located within your home. A cooling system is important to maintain a constant storage temperature for your wine collection, normally around 14°C. WineWalls will advise you on the other important aspects required for maintaining a uniformed temperature, such as the correct insulation and glazing ratings, but the cooling system itself is undoubtedly the main consideration we start with when surveying your wine space. A brief description of each style of cooling system is listed below:
DUCTED SYSTEM
This is the most popular system that WineWalls installs mainly because it is an integral unit that is hidden out of sight from the wine wall or cellar. By fitting ducts from the ducted unit into the wine wall, typically in the ceiling or one of the side walls, the cooled air is supplied into the space and returned back to the unit via two grilles. Another duct takes the warm air produced by the unit away to an external location and sometimes we need another duct or just a simple vent to bring some fresh air ventilation into the area. The beauty of this system is all you will see are a couple of grilles inside your wine space, in your ceiling or walls … they can even be powder coated to match your paint finish! The main requirement for this type of system is for the wine wall or wine storage space to be close to an external wall or garage to duct the warm air into; also the closer the unit can be to the wine wall itself, the better – above or behind is ideal! With correct weatherproof housing, the ducted unit can be located outside. All technical aspects will be surveyed and presented to you as part of our wine wall proposal.
THROUGH THE WALL INTEGRAL SYSTEM
This is an integral unit that sits into a pre-built, framed hole to one of the walls of your wine wall or wine cellar storage space. The front evaporator end will be visually seen within the wine wall and the rear condenser end will be shown on the other side, sometimes this could be an adjacent room such as a utility or garage, other times it can be directly to the outside. WineWalls will advise you on the best position for this style of cooling system, the main consideration being which wall to put the hole through! We can fit a duct collar to the rear of the unit should it not be feasible for the warm air to disperse into an adjacent room, this duct would typically lead to an outside wall. The most simple and cost effective method to provide cooling to your wine wall or wine storage space and easily fitted by yourself or the client. Available for smaller wine storage areas, WineWalls will provide you with a technical assessment as part of our proposal.
SPLIT SYSTEM
A more traditional way of cooling an area, similar to air conditioning, a split system consists of an internal evaporator unit and an external condensing unit, connected by refrigeration pipework. There is no duct requirement but the internal unit will have to be within the wine space. However, there are ways this can either be integrated into existing wine racks or hidden behind a grill. A split system is commonly used where the wine wall or wine space is centrally located within a building, meaning there is too long a distance to an outside wall to duct off the warm air produced from a ducted unit. WineWalls have installed many split systems into large residential houses and into basement cellars, the main requirement is the feasibility of routing the refrigeration pipework and a suitable area outside for the external unit (sometimes a well ventilated plant room is also a good location for the external unit).
SPLIT DUCTED SYSTEM
A clever way of utilising the benefits of both a ducted system and a split system is to install a split ducted system. If the client does not want any equipment on view within the wine wall or wine storage space, then utilising this system is ideal when the location of the wine wall is central to the home or within a basement area. By locating the ducted unit in an adjacent store room for instance, or above in a ceiling void, two ducts can be run off into the wine wall ceiling or walls. Refrigeration pipework is then installed from the ducted unit to the external location of the system’s condensing unit. There is no need to duct off any warm air. Although a more expensive option, sometimes this is the only option available for the client to ensure their wines are stored at the correct temperature. Our specialist and fully accredited installation teams will ensure optimum performance of the system.
HUMIDIFIER
For perfect storage conditions, there is sometimes a need to control the humidity within the wine wall or wine storage space. With modern homes well insulated and ventilated, or if the wine was being kept in a traditional underground cellar, this requirement is not so important as the natural humidity level maintained will be perfect for wine storage (typically 70%). However, there are many factors that can affect humidity and WineWalls can provide a humidification system in addition to the cooling system. Typically this can be carried out after the cooling system is installed and the humidity levels assessed once a constant wine storage temperature is being maintained.
WineWalls create all styles of wine walls and displays, always putting the customer’s design ideas and wine storage requirements first. We have carried out many installations throughout the UK and offer a no obligation initial consultation should you be interested in installing a wine wall or display into your home. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any enquiry as we are always happy to help and advise!
