Rooms that run too hot or too cold
Deciding where to put a wine cooler starts with the room, because every model is built for a band of room temperatures. Zephyr's manual for its undercounter model asks for a well-ventilated space above 50°F and below 90°F, installed indoors and protected from rain, snow and moisture. Outside that band, the control either never calls for cooling or never stops, and the setting on the display stops meaning much.
Thermoelectric coolers have less room to work with. Vinotemp notes that the coldest a thermoelectric unit can reach is about 20°F below the room, so a cooler set for 55°F needs a room that stays near 75°F or lower on its warmest afternoons. A sunny den or a bar next to a patio door can defeat one before anything is wrong with it.
The garage
A garage passes 90°F in much of the country every summer and drops below 50°F in winter across the northern half of it, so it misses Zephyr's band at both ends. Garage outlets have required GFCI protection since 1978 by the code dates CPSC lists, and a tripped one leaves the cooler dark with nobody around to notice.
Sunrooms, porches and bonus rooms over the garage
Rooms with large windows or thin insulation swing the most between noon and midnight. Even when the average looks fine, a cooler that fights a 20-degree daily swing runs harder and holds its setting less steadily than one in an interior room.
Source: Zephyr — Presrv Wine Cooler Use, Care and Installation Guide (PRW24C01AG) — Ambient above 50°F and below 90°F; indoors, protected from moisture; away from ovens, grills, direct sunlight and flammables; floor strong enough fully loaded; no appliances on top; grounded outlet, no extension cords, power strips, switched or shared outlets; 2-1/4 inches hinge-side clearance by a wall; children not to crawl inside, lock keys away from children; Vinotemp — Wine Coolers Frequently Asked Questions — Thermoelectric units cool about 20°F below ambient; do not install in direct sunlight, moist areas or where the weight will not be supported
Direct sun and the heat of the cooking zone
Sub-Zero warns that direct sunlight can age wine prematurely and change its flavor, and the glass door that shows off the bottles is also the part that lets the light in. A cooler facing a west window takes the late sun straight across its racks; UV-filtering glass reduces the damage but does not make the cabinet any cooler.
Heat from cooking is the other trap in a kitchen. Zephyr lists ovens, grills and direct sunlight among the heat sources to keep away from, and a wine cooler slid in beside a wall oven or a range shares a cabinet side with the hottest thing in the room. If the island is the only choice, put a drawer bank or a cabinet between the two.
- Not in a beam of direct sun at any hour of the day.
- Not sharing a cabinet side with a cooking appliance.
- Not above a heating register or beside a radiator.
- Not near gasoline, paint thinner or other flammables, as Zephyr also warns.
Source: Zephyr — Presrv Wine Cooler Use, Care and Installation Guide (PRW24C01AG) — Ambient above 50°F and below 90°F; indoors, protected from moisture; away from ovens, grills, direct sunlight and flammables; floor strong enough fully loaded; no appliances on top; grounded outlet, no extension cords, power strips, switched or shared outlets; 2-1/4 inches hinge-side clearance by a wall; children not to crawl inside, lock keys away from children; Sub-Zero — How Humidity, Temperature, Vibration and Sunlight Affect Wine — Direct sunlight can prematurely age wine and affect its flavor; store wine where there is little vibration
Damp corners and places water collects
Vinotemp lists moist areas among the places not to install its coolers, and Zephyr wants the unit protected from moisture. A laundry room with a dryer venting humid air, a basement corner below grade, or a spot directly under a bar sink's plumbing all bring water to the one appliance that sits closest to the floor.
Humidity also shows up on the cooler itself. In a damp room the glass door sweats on its outer face, frost forms faster on the back wall, and cardboard cases on the floor soften. None of it is a repair, and all of it disappears when the cooler moves to a drier room.
Source: Zephyr — Presrv Wine Cooler Use, Care and Installation Guide (PRW24C01AG) — Ambient above 50°F and below 90°F; indoors, protected from moisture; away from ovens, grills, direct sunlight and flammables; floor strong enough fully loaded; no appliances on top; grounded outlet, no extension cords, power strips, switched or shared outlets; 2-1/4 inches hinge-side clearance by a wall; children not to crawl inside, lock keys away from children; Vinotemp — Wine Coolers Frequently Asked Questions — Thermoelectric units cool about 20°F below ambient; do not install in direct sunlight, moist areas or where the weight will not be supported
Floors that flex or shake
A full wine cooler is heavy, since every rack adds the weight of its glass and wine to the cabinet. Zephyr asks for a surface strong enough for the fully loaded unit, and Vinotemp adds that it should not go anywhere its weight will not be supported. An old suspended wood floor, a raised platform or a piece of furniture used as a stand can sag slowly and pull the cabinet out of level.
Movement matters as much as strength. Sub-Zero advises storing wine where there is little vibration, which rules out the floor above a laundry room, the wall shared with a home gym, or the cabinet next to a subwoofer.
Nothing heavy on top
Zephyr asks for no other appliances on top of its cooler. The top of a freestanding unit is tempting for a microwave or a coffee setup, but the weight and vibration go straight into the cabinet and the heat sits right above it.
Source: Zephyr — Presrv Wine Cooler Use, Care and Installation Guide (PRW24C01AG) — Ambient above 50°F and below 90°F; indoors, protected from moisture; away from ovens, grills, direct sunlight and flammables; floor strong enough fully loaded; no appliances on top; grounded outlet, no extension cords, power strips, switched or shared outlets; 2-1/4 inches hinge-side clearance by a wall; children not to crawl inside, lock keys away from children; Vinotemp — Wine Coolers Frequently Asked Questions — Thermoelectric units cool about 20°F below ambient; do not install in direct sunlight, moist areas or where the weight will not be supported; Sub-Zero — How Humidity, Temperature, Vibration and Sunlight Affect Wine — Direct sunlight can prematurely age wine and affect its flavor; store wine where there is little vibration
Outlets that set the cooler up to fail
Zephyr's installation page asks for a properly grounded three-prong outlet, and rules out extension cords, power strips, adapters that bypass the grounding prong, outlets controlled by a wall switch or pull chain, and outlets shared with other appliances. Each of those can cut power to the cooler without anyone noticing: a switch flipped off with the room lights, a strip overloaded by a space heater, a cord kicked loose behind a bar.
If the only outlet near the spot you have chosen is one of those, the place is wrong until an electrician moves or adds an outlet.
- A grounded three-prong outlet the cooler has to itself.
- No wall switch, pull chain, power strip or extension cord in the path.
- An outlet you can reach, or a breaker you have labeled, in case of a leak or outage.
Source: Zephyr — Presrv Wine Cooler Use, Care and Installation Guide (PRW24C01AG) — Ambient above 50°F and below 90°F; indoors, protected from moisture; away from ovens, grills, direct sunlight and flammables; floor strong enough fully loaded; no appliances on top; grounded outlet, no extension cords, power strips, switched or shared outlets; 2-1/4 inches hinge-side clearance by a wall; children not to crawl inside, lock keys away from children
Traffic, children and the swing of the door
A cooler in a hallway or at the end of a kitchen run gets bumped, leaned on and opened far more often than one tucked into a bar. Every opening lets warm air in, and a door that hits a wall before it opens fully cannot let racks slide out. Zephyr's guide asks for at least 2-1/4 inches of clearance on the hinge side when its unit sits next to a wall.
Children are the other reason to think about placement. Zephyr's manual warns never to let children crawl inside the cooler and to keep the key of a locking model away from them. A lock and a spot out of the main play area of the house help more than any warning label.
Source: Zephyr — Presrv Wine Cooler Use, Care and Installation Guide (PRW24C01AG) — Ambient above 50°F and below 90°F; indoors, protected from moisture; away from ovens, grills, direct sunlight and flammables; floor strong enough fully loaded; no appliances on top; grounded outlet, no extension cords, power strips, switched or shared outlets; 2-1/4 inches hinge-side clearance by a wall; children not to crawl inside, lock keys away from children
