Closet-to-cellar conversion

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by pisano, Dec 31, 2012.

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  1. pisano

    pisano Maven (1,396) Sep 18, 2007 Massachusetts
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    My beer cellar has grown beyond the capacity of your typical refrigerator so I'm exploring another (relatively cost-effective) option of converting a small closet (approx. 4'x5') in our basement, which currently houses all of my bottles, into a sort of cool room with a constant temp throughout the year. The problem is that our house is on a sloping site so the basement gets a lot of sun on one side in summer and indoor temps down there can exceed 80F. My plan is to insulate the closet and install some sort of cooling system, perhaps a small air conditioner, which I will run in summer when needed. However, there are no windows and it's too small for any portable floor unit that I could find, so I'm wondering if anyone has come across any other types of air conditioning/cooling devices that would be appropriate for this type of application. If need be, I could run a vent through an adjacent room to a nearby window but I would prefer not to have to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Happy New Year!
    Jay
     
    #1 pisano, Dec 31, 2012
  2. zrab11

    zrab11 Maven (1,450) Dec 25, 2010 Indiana
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    I don't have much help on the Closet cooler.. But just thinking about it i think its going to be a lot more money making that then just buying a chest freezer. The only way i see doing what you want to do is running a air condition unit into the side of you closet and sealing it up really well so the cold air stays in there.. So if you have 80$ to spare i would just build you a Dual Temp control for 25$ and find a Freezer off craiglist for 50$ or so and go that way.. Sry i couldn't exactly help but it sounds like a lot of work and a little more money than just the freezer and temp control.
     
    #2 zrab11, Dec 31, 2012
  3. pisano

    pisano Maven (1,396) Sep 18, 2007 Massachusetts
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    Yeah, I wasn't sure if I'm just making more work for myself for just a little bit of potential cost savings. Ideally I'd love to be able to display the bottles while they are being kept at proper temp but I think that option might be way out of my budget (i.e. glass front display fridge). That's mainly why I thought I might try to convert the closet. Any idea how many bottles a typical chest freezer holds? Thanks a lot for the input!
     
    #3 pisano, Dec 31, 2012
  4. Alieniloquium

    Alieniloquium Grand Pooh-Bah (3,862) Dec 16, 2008 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    You'd need to build levels into the chest freezer. I had one that held around 100 bottles. Better option is an upright freezer. That will hold 150-200 bottles, depending on the size. Harder to find those, though. I'm talking bombers and 750s here, by the way.

    The closet conversion would require you do pull out the drywall and put in some hefty insulation. The floor won't be fun either. I remember reading about it on another forum, but I can't remember where.

    Ideal situation for you, given what you've said, would be a commercial beverage cooler. Glass doors that slide and a temperature controller and you're in business. Hella expensive, but man I'd love to have one of those...
     
    #4 Alieniloquium, Dec 31, 2012
  5. pisano

    pisano Maven (1,396) Sep 18, 2007 Massachusetts
    Trader

    Yup, would LOVE to have one of those lol, but they are REAL expensive. If I get the closet idea to work I'll surely post something on here about it, including pics and cost details. Thanks again for the help!
     
    #5 pisano, Dec 31, 2012
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