Educational Archives - CellarCool®

Cellar Humidity & Condensate

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 12:07:06 +0000

Some of our clients are unaware of why their cooling system will produce water condensate through the drain line.

This water is a byproduct of your cooling system stripping excess humidity from the air inside your cellar. This feature was added to protect your collection from the side effects of long-term storage in a high humidity environment.

How CellarCool Systems Manage Cellar Humidity.

The key difference between CellarCool systems and traditional air conditioner units is the maintenance of well-conditioned humidity. Regular air conditioning units are designed to cool as quickly as possible. As a result, humidity is removed below acceptable wine storage levels. CellarCool achieves optimal results by gently cooling the air within your cellar at a slower rate, thus maintaining optimal humidity levels for the long-term storage of fine wines.

Producing Too Much Water?

If you are experiencing abnormally high volumes of water dispensing from your system’s drain line, your cellar is more than likely suffering from improper vapor barrier applications.

In high humidity areas (75%-90% relative humidity) of the country, moisture will frequently travel through the walls (especially in underground applications where materials like concrete or cinderblock are used) and enter the cellar. When creating your wine storage area, it is crucial to research your area’s climate to identify potential areas of concern. We suggest maintaining humidity levels near 55% since higher humidity levels can contradict the cooling process and make it harder to maintain temperature.

What Can You Do To Prepare Your Cellar For Humidity?

Vapor Barrier –

When building your cellar, a vapor barrier is necessary for the efficient cooling of the cellar environment. The barrier acts as a defense to unwanted moisture coming in or escaping out of your wine cellar environment.

Sealing Your Cellar –

Properly sealing your cellar environment will prevent unwanted humidity from leaking into your cellar and causing your unit to expend more of its capacity to work to strip this excess moisture. Areas of concern are as follows: doors, wall joints, and the cellar’s flooring, & ceiling sealing seal. These areas should all be properly sealed with recommended materials.

An Important Note To Keep In Mind.

When a cooling unit strips excess humidity out of the air within the cellar, it is using a percentage of its overall capacity to do that. For example, if your system was rated to run 50% of the time to cool the heat load of the cellar, it will use an additional 10%-20% of its capacity to work to strip the unwanted humidity from the air, when proper humidity prevention methods are not taken. This is extremely important to note when pertaining to the runtime of your system and the amount of liquid drainage from your cooling system.

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Troubleshooting 101 – Evaporator Coil Icing

admin — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 06:00:15 +0000

Evaporator Coil Ice

Occasionally, the evaporator coil of a wine cellar cooling unit may ice up. This can happen for several reasons.

In self-contained cooling units, a lack of ventilation may be to blame. The unit blows cold air into the room. If this air has no place to circulate (if the front of the unit is blocked or obstructed), the cold air will circulate back into the unit, chilling the coil to lower temperatures. This can trigger the formation of ice on the coil and on other surfaces. Clogged filters can also reduce airflow over the coils.

In split systems, overcharging can be an issue. For example, if the unit is charged with too much refrigerant, the coil will become colder than intended. This can lead to the formation of ice on the coil.

Coil ice can be a severe problem. Ice begets more ice. Eventually, the entire evaporator coil may be encased in a solid block of ice. This can damage the cooling unit. The fan(s) will strain to pull air through the ice-clogged coil and may overheat. The unit may run continuously, never shutting off, straining the compressor and other components, eventually leading to unit failure.

Even if the unit has an automatic shutoff, what follows could also be tragic. When the block of ice melts, water will almost certainly leak out of the unit, potentially damaging the interior of the unit, wine labels, racking, and walls.

Preventing Coil Ice

Customers can help ensure that their self-contained units will not develop ice on their evaporator coils. By ensuring that their unit has at least three feet of clearance on all sides (five feet is ideal), customers can prevent supply air from recirculating. This will go a long way towards preventing coil ice. Adequate ventilation is vital to the correct operation of CellarCool and other HVAC units.

Technicians can also help ensure that split systems and self-contained units do not develop coil ice by not overcharging the system.

Conclusion

To conclude, both poor installation and improper charging procedures can cause coil ice to form. To prevent damage to your unit and wine cellar, make sure your self-contained unit has adequate ventilation. Decorative grilles and other objects can obstruct airflow and cause ice to form on the evaporator coil. For split systems, make sure that the unit is not overcharged. Charging charts are included with the condensing units of each CellarCool split system. These charts explain how to properly charge CellarCool split systems. Adherence to these charts should prevent overcharging issues.

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Glass Wine Cellar Challenges

admin — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 06:00:43 +0000

Many wine cellar owners and contractors know how beautiful a modern wine cellar can be. (For the purposes of this article, we’re defining a “modern wine cellar” as one that incorporates non-traditional racking made of metal or materials other than wood. More importantly, it also includes glass. Glass walls, glass doors, etc.)

But some people are unaware of the thermodynamic properties of glass. Especially compared to traditional construction materials like drywall, wooden studs, insulation, and a proper vapor barrier.

Glass vs. Traditional Cellar Construction

Traditionally, wine cellars were below-ground, built into hillsides or beneath structures. For much of the modern era, home wine cellars were ordinary rooms in people’s houses. These rooms have extra insulation and vapor barriers. The door is made of solid wood and includes weatherstripping (including a bottom “sweep”). The walls are made of drywall or plaster and contain heavy-duty insulation to keep the temperature in the cellar as constant as possible. The vapor barrier prevents water vapor from entering or leaving the cellar. This keeps the wine corks moist and prevents them from cracking.

The current trend in interior design (and, consequently, wine cellar construction) is “modern industrial.” The modern industrial design trend, according to Wikipedia, is “an aesthetic trend in interior design that takes clues from old factories and industrial spaces that in recent years have been converted to lofts and other living spaces.” Metal (such as brushed aluminum) figures prominently in modern industrial design. And so does glass.

The current trend in wine cellar construction is to place the wine cellar in a central area of the home, usually in the living or dining area. It’s becoming more and more popular to furnish the wine cellar with glass doors and walls. Many modern wine cellars, for example, have three glass walls and one normal wall. Metal rails and pegs secure the wine bottles to the conventional wall. The glass allows passers-by to view the wine from virtually any angle.

The Problem with a Glass Wine Cellar

Unfortunately, glass is not an ideal construction material for wine cellars. First of all, it conducts heat far better than insulated drywall. When you build a wine cellar, what you must remember is that you’re not just building another air-conditioned room. You’re building a walk-in refrigerator. A glass cellar will require a much more powerful cooling unit to keep the space cool.

Second, glass wine cellars frequently do not include weather stripping on the door. As a result, heat and moisture leak into the cellar at a far greater rate than it ordinarily would in a traditional cellar with weather stripping on the door.

Our Recommendation

CellarCool recommends traditional drywall construction with 2×4 or 2×6 studs. Insulation should be a minimum of R-17 for interior walls and R-30 for ceilings and exterior walls. The cellar must have an adequate vapor barrier to prevent water vapor migration in and out of the cellar, and the door must have weather stripping, including a bottom sweep.

If glass must be used in the wine cellar’s construction, we strongly recommend caution. The glass should be dual-paned insulated glass. The door, even if made of glass, should still have weather stripping, including the bottom sweep. This will help prevent heat from entering the cellar and help keep moisture levels within the cellar relatively constant. Cellar owners and contractors should take care to compensate for the poor insulating properties of glass by judiciously upsizing the cooling unit they select.!

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Dew Point 101 – How Does It Affect a Wine Cellar?

admin — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 06:00:23 +0000

The concept of dew point is very important to wine cellar owners. Excessive humidity in the cellar will cause the dew point to rise. This, in turn, will cause excess stress on your cellar’s cooling unit. In this blog post, we will examine the relationship between temperature, humidity, and dew point. We will also discuss the impact of high relative humidity on the health and longevity of your cooling unit.

What is Dew Point?

The dew point is the temperature at which the air becomes 100% saturated with water vapor. Below this temperature, water vapor will begin to condense out of the air onto surfaces. (This condensation is called dew, hence the term “dew point.”) A good example is a cold can of soda. When the can is taken out of a cooler or refrigerator, it may begin to “sweat.” The can’s surface temperature is below the dew point of the air around it, so some of the water in the air condenses on the surface of the can.

It is vital to remember the relationship between humidity and dew point. The higher the dew point, the greater the amount of moisture in the air.

All other things being equal, and assuming that other factors which influence humidity remain constant, the relative humidity at ground level rises as temperature falls. Lower-temperature air is incapable of holding as much water as high-temperature air. So the lower the temperature falls, the less vapor is needed to saturate it. The preceding and following charts illustrate this relationship.

What Does This Have to Do With My Wine Cellar?

As we can see, at a temperature of 12.77°C (55°F, the normal temperature for a wine cellar), and a relative humidity of 55% (the recommended relative humidity level for a wine cellar), the dew point would be almost four °C, or 39°F.

Trouble can arise when the humidity levels in the wine cellar rise too high. This could be due to the lack of a proper vapor barrier. However, this can also be due to over-humidification on the part of the cellar owner.

Referring to the chart, at a relative humidity level of 70%, and at the same temperature of 55°F, the dew point will be much higher: 8°C, or just over 46°F.

This means that if any surface within the wine cellar drops below 46°F, water will condense out of the air upon that surface. A good example is your CellarCool unit’s evaporator coil. This coil is extremely cold. The CellarCool unit evaporator fan draws cellar air through this coil. The coils cool the air, and the cool air re-enters the cellar. If the cellar air is over-humidified, an excess of water will condense out of the air and onto the evaporator coil. (This is due to the surface temperature of the coil being much lower than the air’s dew point.) This stripping of moisture from the air is known as latent cooling.

With liquid water coalescing on the coil, the coil’s effective surface area will be lowered. The cooling unit will expend energy performing latent cooling instead of providing useful, sensible cooling to the cellar. This, in turn, can negatively impact the efficiency of the cooling unit. Since the unit must work harder to maintain the temperature of your wine cellar, it must run longer. This, in turn, reduces its operational lifespan.

The Importance of Proper Cellar Construction

Several areas of the United States regularly experience high relative humidity. This includes eastern Texas, Louisiana, Florida, much of the American South and the eastern United States, and western Washington State. CellarCool customers who live in these areas should be aware of the effects of dew point on their cooling units. They should also take steps to prevent the relative humidity in their cellars from climbing too high.

This is one of the reasons why an adequate vapor barrier is so vitally important. A vapor barrier will prevent moisture from migrating into the cellar and raising the relative humidity levels. This, in turn, will keep the dew point low enough to prevent excessive condensation from forming on the evaporator coil. This will keep your wine cellar cooling unit running as efficiently as possible and extend its operational lifespan.

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Extending Cooling System Longevity: Unit Runtime

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 11:18:05 +0000

Selecting the proper system based on the recommended BTU rating for runtime will have by far the most significant effect on your cooling system’s longevity. Unlike any other appliance you may own, your cellar cooling system will operate regularly throughout the day. These cooling cycles are necessary to keep your wine at the optimal storage temperature.

Putting It Into Perspective.

Your Cellar Is Like A Walk-In Fridge –

When you build a wine cellar, it is like building a walk-in refrigerator. The cooling unit will operate as needed based on the amount of heat that leaks into the cellar’s surroundings. Unlike your home’s fridge, the area required to cool your wine cellar has a much higher volume and is often not appropriately insulated or sealed.

Operates More Than Typical Appliance –

Typical household appliances, such as microwaves and water heaters, are used for a fraction of an hour or minute per day and only operate a few hours in total a week. In comparison, wine cooling units continuously operate to cool and monitor cellar conditions. Like an industrial walk-in refrigerator, each time a door opens, a cooling cycle will start to compensate for the hot air seeping into the cellar. Therefore, while a typical household appliance would not require much, if any, maintenance. A wine cooling unit, on the other hand, that operates for a more extended period would require some level of maintenance down the line to ensure optimal performance.

Operates More Than Typical Appliance –

Sizing Your System For Desired Runtime.

Before the purchase, to ensure the longevity of your cooling system, you must choose the appropriate system BTU runtime rating for your unique cellar environment. For example, by selecting a system with a 25% runtime rating in your environment, you can expect your unit to last 300% longer than if you were to choose a system with a 75% rating.

Think of your unit like a car.

Instead of comparing your wine cooling system to a typical household appliance think of it like a car. Much like a car, a wine cellar cooling system operates on a daily basis and should follow a maintenance schedule. After such consistent use, parts maintenance is often required to keep the car (or cooling unit) running in top shape. For example, after a vehicle reaches the 3,000 miles, it will require an oil change. At the 60,000-mile mark, parts maintenance is often necessary to inspect and sometimes replace the car’s brake pads, or air filters. Like a car, after a cooling unit consistently operates for 20,000 hours (about five years), parts maintenance is also often required to inspect and sometimes replace some system components. Make sure your system is set up for success. Oversizing your cooling system will put less stress on the unit and, therefore, reduce the need for system maintenance.

What Else Can I Do?

Understanding all of the various components that factor into the performance of a cooling system will help you make an informed decision when selecting the proper cooling system for your cellar environment. Learn more about these factors and building an efficient cellar environment by watching our “How to build a wine cellar” video on youtube. You can also check out our website for more great wine cellar resources.

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Advantages Of A Liquid-Sensing Bottle Probe

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 09:15:44 +0000

The question is often asked: is it better to use an air temperature sensor in your wine cellar? Or is it better to use a bottle probe, which measures liquid temperature in the cellar?

What is a bottle probe?

The CellarCool bottle probe is a slim metal rod that fits into a wine bottle filled with water. Inside this metal rod is a temperature sensor. The sensor is connected by a cord to your CellarCool unit. The sensor detects the temperature of the water in the wine bottle and relays it to the controller in your CellarCool unit. When the water in the wine bottle reaches a certain temperature above the setpoint, the controller will then call for cooling and the unit will turn on and cool the room.

The bottle probe differs from an air temperature sensor in one key respect: it measures the liquid temperature in your wine cellar rather than the air temperature.

Disadvantages of air temperature sensors

The simple truth is that air temperature sensors do not give a clear picture of the temperature of the wine. Since they measure air temperature instead of liquid temperature, the unit will turn on or turn off based on the air temperature of the cellar and not the actual temperature of the wine. Moreover, air temperature changes faster than liquid temperature. This can result in your cooling unit turning off and on more frequently than it needs to, which shortens its operational lifespan.

Advantages of bottle probes

The bottle probe, as we’ve seen, measures liquid temperature, not air temperature. By measuring liquid temperature instead of air temperature, the bottle probe provides a more accurate reading of the temperature of the wines in your cellar. It also tells the unit to turn on only when it needs to. With a bottle probe, the unit is actually cooling the wine and not the cellar air. Overall, this causes your unit to run less and last longer.

Using a CellarCool controller vs. a 24-volt Thermostat

Fortunately, you don’t have to limit yourself in regards to the type of thermostat you’d like to use in your wine cellar.CellarCool offers you a choice. You can use our standard thermostat with our bottle probe, or you can opt for a 24-volt thermostat conversion kit. This allows you to buy a 24-volt thermostat conversion kit as an add-on to your purchase. (Recently, we began offering the 24-volt thermostat conversion kit as an aftermarket upgrade for select units as well.)

After purchasing a 24-volt thermostat conversion kit, customers can then select the 24-volt thermostat of their choice (not sold by CellarCool). Our conversion kit is compatible with 24-volt thermostats from all major sellers: Honeywell, Nest, EcoBee, etc. Customers may choose to use conventional 24-volt thermostats or “smart” 24-volt thermostats that can connect to WiFi networks and which can send updates to mobile devices. The 24-volt thermostat conversion kit uses an air temperature sensor; you will not need the CellarCool bottle probe.

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Importance of Annual HVAC Technician Cooling System Inspection/Maintenance

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 06:00:32 +0000

It’s important to have an HVAC technician regularly inspect your unit to make sure that it’s working correctly. We thought we’d take some time to explain exactly what an HVAC-R inspection entails and why it’s so important to get one annually.

NOTE: Accessibility varies depending on the type of CellarCool unit you have. The following information pertains to split systems. For self-contained systems, HVAC technicians will be able to clean the drain line, coils, and/or filters and visually inspect components such as fans.

When an HVAC technician inspects your unit, he or she will:

1. Clean.

The HVAC technician will perform a comprehensive cleaning of the unit. This is especially important for split systems, as only qualified HVAC-R technicians (the “R” stands for “refrigeration”) can take the system’s housing off under warranty. The technician will clean and/or replace any filters in the ducting or in the unit itself. He or she will also clean the evaporator and condenser coils. The technician will clean the drip tray (removing any mold or bacterial build-up) and the drain line (removing any vermin- or mold-related clogs). Finally, the HVAC technician will wipe down the evaporator unit and condensing unit.

2. Test.

The technician will perform two kinds of functionality tests on your CellarCool ystem. The first is a “control functionality test.” This test ensures the controller is working properly. The technician will turn the controller on and off and attempt to temporarily readjust the set point. This will ensure that the controller responds properly and instructs the unit to begin cooling the cellar when it senses a preset temperature change. The second is a condensing unit functionality test. The technician will test the system to ensure the condensing unit and its various components are functioning properly.

3. Inspect.

The line set is the copper tubes that transfer refrigerant between the condensing unit and the evaporator unit. The technician will inspect this line set to ensure that it’s not leaking and that it’s properly insulated. He or she will also inspect all wires and wiring connections to make sure they’re sound. Finally, the HVAC technician will check the sight glass to ensure the refrigerant levels are where they should be. If necessary, the technician will top off the cooling unit’s refrigerant charge.

Some of the problems this annual inspection may catch and/or prevent include:

1. Drainage issues: When inspecting the unit, an HVAC technician will pay special attention to the drip tray and drain line. Ensuring these are kept clean and clear of obstructions will prevent water damage to your unit and your wine cellar.

2. Unit failures: Regular inspections ensure that operational problems are caught in time. For example, if the cooling fan on the condensing unit burns out, this will eventually cause the compressor to burn out. Annual inspections can help HVAC technicians catch these small problems before they cause premature failure of the unit. The technician will also check the integrity of all wiring.

3. Loss of cooling capacity: By thoroughly cleaning the coils, the technician will ensure your cooling unit’s maximum efficiency and longevity. Dust on the coils and clogged filters will prevent the unit from cooling your cellar to the desired temperature. Regular inspections and cleanings help to alleviate these problems.

Long story short, it’s essential to have your cooling unit regularly inspected by a qualified HVAC-R technician. The technician will be able to clean and perform routine maintenance upon the unit. He or she can also top off refrigerant charge and catch potentially serious issues before they become a problem.

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Preventative Maintenance Alert – System Filters

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:36:48 +0000

In order to keep your cooling system running in top shape, we recommend our customers regularly inspect their unit’s filters every 90 days, performing regular filter preventative maintenance is key to your cooling unit’s longevity. The filter’s location will vary depending on your type of cooling unit. The following information will give a simple overview of how to properly maintain your cooling unit’s filter:

Wall Mount / Mini Splits

These units have a wall-mounted evaporator that has a detachable front grille. Beneath this grille is a filter. The filter can easily be cleaned with a vacuum, compressed air, or the use of soap and water and then replaced inside the evaporator unit.

Ultimate Series

Clogged duct filters hamper the efficiency of a unit and shorten its lifespan. The filters can be located at the ductwork on the unit and require regular replacements.

Ultimate Plus Series

These systems use filters that are located at the wall register inside of your cellar. Since wall register sizes may vary we do not provide replacement filters and therefore must be purchased separately. We recommend filters with a mean efficiency reporting value (MERV) of 4 or better.

By following these simple filter preventative maintenance tips, your cooling unit will continue to run at optimum capacity while protecting your investment in fine wine for years to come.

If you have any more questions regarding your unit’s filters or any more preventive maintenance tips, please feel free to reach out to our customer support team and we will be more than happy to assist!

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Improve Unit Drainage with Rigid Drain Line, Strainer, and Condensate Pump

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 06:00:07 +0000

CellarCool prides itself on helping our customers and educating them about proper cellar construction and cooling unit care. We also intend to help our customers prevent common technical issues that may arise during the course of a unit’s operational life. One of the most persistent problems our customer service team has encountered is clogged drain lines. We’ve put our heads together and come up with a list of modifications you can make to your unit, prior to installation, that will help prevent drain line clogging issues. These modifications include rigid drain lines, drain line strainers, and a condensate pump.

Pre-Installation Modification #1: Rigid Drain Line

CellarCool’s ceiling-mounted units, which include built-in condensate pumps, use 1/4″ clear plastic drain lines. Sometimes, however, during installations, this drain line can accidentally become kinked. This inhibits the flow of condensate from your unit’s drip tray to the proper condensate disposal area. If the drain line becomes so kinked that water cannot pass through it, the drip tray in your unit may overflow. This can cause water damage to the unit and possibly your cellar’s wine racks, your bottle labels, and perhaps the floor or walls of the cellar itself.

A remedy to this problem is rigid drain lines, made of copper or PVC plastic. Copper or PVC drain lines are much less likely to kink, minimizing the danger of accidental kinking during installation. As long as care is taken to ensure that these drain lines are kept clean and clog-free, rigid drain lines should provide you with a reliable and consistent way for your ceiling-mounted unit to dispose of excess condensate.

Pre-Installation Modification #2: Drain Line Strainer

Besides kinking, another cause of drain line obstructions is insects. Insects, especially in dry areas of the United States, migrate to moist areas. The water in drain lines is a prime target. Sometimes bugs can climb inside drain lines. There, they become stuck and die, resulting in an eventual drain line blockage. Purchasing a drain line strainer, such as the above strainer from Cole-Parmer, can prevent insects from climbing inside drain lines and blocking them.

Pre-Installation Modification #3: External Condensate Pump

The final way to upgrade your cooling unit’s drainage system prior to installation is to purchase an external condensate pump. This pump easily attaches to the outside of a CellarCool evaporator unit. If you live in a high humidity area and anticipate that your unit will produce lots of moisture, an external condensate pump is a great way to prevent water from overflowing the drain pan and causing damage to your wine cellar.

These are all ways you can improve the drainage of your CellarCool unit prior to its installation. Rigid drain lines will prevent kinks. Drain line strainers will prevent vermin-related clogs. And the external condensate pump kit can pump excess condensate to a safe disposal location.

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