Largest thermoelectric wine cooler available in USA

[Bolismoker]

Just curious what the largest single zone thermoelectric wine cooler available is these days? Plenty of 28 bottles around, seems to go any bigger you have to get into the dual zone coolers. Any of you guys know of larger single zone units?

[Skyfall]

At that size, why don't you just convert an upright frost free freezer, it will cost half the price, last 10 times as long, and will be 10 times more accurate and efficient!

[Bolismoker]

Not sure exactly what you mean. I've had a 52 bottle wine cooler for going on15 years and it has performed flawlessly. It was made before thermoelectric cooling was a viable alternative. As I'm now expanding my collection I'm looking into adding a new wineador and was hoping to come across a similarly sized model with a non condenser based cooling system. All I've found so far is 28 bottle wine fridges. In a perfect world I'd spring for an Aristocrat rh/temp cab. However dropping 8 grand on a humi just isn't viable at the moment.

[Skyfall]

When you said larger, I thought you were asking about really large wine coolers,( 100 bottles plus), and I was saying at that size, it's cheaper and more efficient to convert an upright freezer and get even more space. I'm a strong believer, as are many others, in compressor style temperature control, and do not like thermo electric at all

I run a 20.5 cu. ft upright freezer and a 16.7 cu ft upright freezer, both with johnson thermostat controls and other modifications. I have all the space in the world with precise and efficient long term durable temp control. It doesn't look as good as an aristocrat, but it's a quarter of the cost with twice the efficientcy and space.

[CaptainQuintero]

44 bottle is fairly standard over here so I'd guess over there shouldn't be too different. Samsung do a nice range that look nice too (All black with a tinted door) Mine holds around 40 boxes of various sizes.

[Bolismoker]

When you said larger, I thought you were asking about really large wine coolers,( 100 bottles plus), and I was saying at that size, it's cheaper and more efficient to convert an upright freezer and get even more space. I'm a strong believer, as are many others, in compressor style temperature control, and do not like thermo electric at all

I run a 20.5 cu. ft upright freezer and a 16.7 cu ft upright freezer, both with johnson thermostat controls and other modifications. I have all the space in the world with precise and efficient long term durable temp control. It doesn't look as good as an aristocrat, but it's a quarter of the cost with twice the efficientcy and space.

Sky with you being in Texas I imagine we have fairly similar environments. Do you not have condensation issues with your compressor style coolers? I would love to go with one of the 100-200 bottle coolers but am worried about all the condensation on tha back wall. Have you found this not to be an issue, or do you have a work around? Thanks for the input

[Skyfall]

Previous to building the Full on Freezer humidors, I have built I 3 smaller versions (that I out grew), and all three were wine coolers, but compressor technology. I've been around the forum since 2009, and I took a lot of advice and education from others who are far more science based than I am. Ray, (Pigfish) is a great place to start searching for some of his threads and posts.

My biggest problem with Thermo Elec. is they are inherently built to fail. Long term durability and thermo electric do not equate!

Second big problem is the NECESSITY for an ambient air temperature differential of ideally 10 degrees for a thermo unit to be even remotely successful.

Even if you can keep the ambient differential within the range, it is still not energy efficient and far from accurate and consistent.

Example: I like to keep my cigars at 65F & 65%RH, which means the room the unit sits in really needs to not ever go higher than 75F. In Texas summers, that is almost impossible. My A/C unit can only do so much when it is 106F-110F outside. And even if I had two units to achieve such a ambient temp, the electricity cost would be astronomical. So let's say you can always keep your house at 75F or less, even though it's 110F outside. Your thermo elec. unit will be working and burning non-stop to try and maintain 65F. It will never do it consistently, efficiently or accurately. 3 problems happen. 1) Fan will blow and run constantly drying out your cigars. 2) The unit will run non-stop and eventually give out soon (I've heard the average life of a thermo in Texas in 1.5 years.) 3) You'r temp ranges will not be accurate. If you can ever actually achieve 65F it won't be stable or consistent.

But if you modify a compressor unit, it will be accurate, energy efficient and last forever. Think about it, a freezer under normal use these days lasts about 15+ years and uses $50-$60 in energy a year. Make it hold at 65F and only run at a specific differential, along along with an anti short cycle program, it will only kick on about once an hour for about 3-5 minutes tops, even in the hottest heat. This will use little to no energy, it will last forever, and will keep your temps accurate and consistent.

So to address your condensation question. In my old units, the wine cooler compressor units, yes, during the summer, I did have an issue with condensation during the summer when the compressor kicked on. I solved this issue by running plastic tubing from the drain hole, through the unit, and re-routed back into a cigar oasis, that I drilled a hole in and routed the tubing in. I of course always remove the cheap foam and use 65% beads. This condensation feeds the beads, and the oasis is active and feeds the internal air when needed according to settings.

As far as the Freezers......absolute zero condensation!!!!!!!!!!! It wouldn't matter if there were anyway, because all of my boxes are in air tight containers, but still zero condensation whatsoever.

I can't tell you how much I hate thermo elec just based on science and fact. Ray - (Pigfish), has forgotten more about this science than any of us know combined. He has posted his opinion and comments on thermo vs. compressor on here many times. Do some searches and read his threads, His info is based on science, fact, testing and experiments, not just opinion. He knows what he's talking about. I've been doing this for a long time and as I said, have built multiple units. Being that your environment is similar to Texas, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you used a thermo elec unit. They are not built to withstand our environments, and if the do,it won't be for long and it won't be accurate. Trust me brother. I've researched this intensely.

Go get you a $550 freezer from Lowes or even cheaper on Craigslist. Spend $60-$80 on a Johnson A419 control, spend about $20 on misc. wiring ect. Spend $10 on some fans, and spend $20-$50 on some storage containers, $40 on a thermo/hygro monitor with 3 sensors, (Honeywell or Meade )you will be in heaven. Peace of mind is priceless. Literally Set and Forget.

Hope this helps. We spend too much money on this hobby to leave its fate in the hand of inefficiency and something undependable.

[Bolismoker]

Great reply. Thank you. If possible I'd love to see some pics of your oasis setup with the tubing etc. I've been wanting to go with one of the 200+ bottle wine fridges for many years but have always held off because of the condensation. If your set up could lessen this problem that would be awesome. Again thanks for taking the time.

[Skyfall]

PM me your email address

[Cohiba Stevie]

Bravo skyfall!

Some sterling advice there. I hope it encourages some more thermo to comp converts.

Let us know how u get on bolismoker.

[Bolismoker]

I will definitely keep you guys in the loop. As your collection grows these decisions become more and more serious

[jmg]

how did this turn out?

[TheCoach]

I literally just read this post and in my recent search for the right set up im a believer! Im buying a up right frost free freezer!

[Cisco]

Previous to building the Full on Freezer humidors, I have built I 3 smaller versions (that I out grew), and all three were wine coolers, but compressor technology. I've been around the forum since 2009, and I took a lot of advice and education from others who are far more science based than I am. Ray, (Pigfish) is a great place to start searching for some of his threads and posts.

My biggest problem with Thermo Elec. is they are inherently built to fail. Long term durability and thermo electric do not equate!

Second big problem is the NECESSITY for an ambient air temperature differential of ideally 10 degrees for a thermo unit to be even remotely successful.

Even if you can keep the ambient differential within the range, it is still not energy efficient and far from accurate and consistent.

Example: I like to keep my cigars at 65F & 65%RH, which means the room the unit sits in really needs to not ever go higher than 75F. In Texas summers, that is almost impossible. My A/C unit can only do so much when it is 106F-110F outside. And even if I had two units to achieve such a ambient temp, the electricity cost would be astronomical. So let's say you can always keep your house at 75F or less, even though it's 110F outside. Your thermo elec. unit will be working and burning non-stop to try and maintain 65F. It will never do it consistently, efficiently or accurately. 3 problems happen. 1) Fan will blow and run constantly drying out your cigars. 2) The unit will run non-stop and eventually give out soon (I've heard the average life of a thermo in Texas in 1.5 years.) 3) You'r temp ranges will not be accurate. If you can ever actually achieve 65F it won't be stable or consistent.

But if you modify a compressor unit, it will be accurate, energy efficient and last forever. Think about it, a freezer under normal use these days lasts about 15+ years and uses $50-$60 in energy a year. Make it hold at 65F and only run at a specific differential, along along with an anti short cycle program, it will only kick on about once an hour for about 3-5 minutes tops, even in the hottest heat. This will use little to no energy, it will last forever, and will keep your temps accurate and consistent.

So to address your condensation question. In my old units, the wine cooler compressor units, yes, during the summer, I did have an issue with condensation during the summer when the compressor kicked on. I solved this issue by running plastic tubing from the drain hole, through the unit, and re-routed back into a cigar oasis, that I drilled a hole in and routed the tubing in. I of course always remove the cheap foam and use 65% beads. This condensation feeds the beads, and the oasis is active and feeds the internal air when needed according to settings.

As far as the Freezers......absolute zero condensation!!!!!!!!!!! It wouldn't matter if there were anyway, because all of my boxes are in air tight containers, but still zero condensation whatsoever.

I can't tell you how much I hate thermo elec just based on science and fact. Ray - (Pigfish), has forgotten more about this science than any of us know combined. He has posted his opinion and comments on thermo vs. compressor on here many times. Do some searches and read his threads, His info is based on science, fact, testing and experiments, not just opinion. He knows what he's talking about. I've been doing this for a long time and as I said, have built multiple units. Being that your environment is similar to Texas, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you used a thermo elec unit. They are not built to withstand our environments, and if the do,it won't be for long and it won't be accurate. Trust me brother. I've researched this intensely.

Go get you a $550 freezer from Lowes or even cheaper on Craigslist. Spend $60-$80 on a Johnson A419 control, spend about $20 on misc. wiring ect. Spend $10 on some fans, and spend $20-$50 on some storage containers, $40 on a thermo/hygro monitor with 3 sensors, (Honeywell or Meade )you will be in heaven. Peace of mind is priceless. Literally Set and Forget.

Hope this helps. We spend too much money on this hobby to leave its fate in the hand of inefficiency and something undependable.

I wish I had read this before buying some TEs....the logic seems sound...time to sell the units and move on the a better solution. Thanks for posting this Skyfall.

[DropTopDee]

hate to bring back an old thread with a noob question but....doesnt the compressor remove humidity where a Thermoelectric wouldn't?

[PigFish]

I have discussed this on many threads.

In order to remove heat, you need a means by which to transfer it. The most common means is to introduce something cold and move the air past it. How well it works will be determined by the design, the heat differential between the "cold plate" and the ambient air, and the dwell time, the rate that you move the air past the cold plate.

The evaporation coil of a plasma or compressor type cooler is one type of cold plate. The heat sink of a TE cooler is a cold plate. So I have to ask (rhetorically) how does passing air and water know the difference? The answer is this... It doesn't!!!

The TE cooler humidor myth is just that... a myth! If we look at a typical ambient/dew point differential of say 15˚F and you lower the temp of the TE cooler to that point or below, you are going to get condensation on it. Those are the facts of the matter, it is that plain and that simple.

Your position (question) is one of cigar forum myth and lore and has zero foundation in the real physical world!

I hope that helps. -the Pig

[DropTopDee]

I have discussed this on many threads.

In order to remove heat, you need a means by which to transfer it. The most common means is to introduce something cold and move the air past it. How well it works will be determined by the design, the heat differential between the "cold plate" and the ambient air, and the dwell time, the rate that you move the air past the cold plate.

The evaporation coil of a plasma or compressor type cooler is one type of cold plate. The heat sink of a TE cooler is a cold plate. So I have to ask (rhetorically) how does passing air and water know the difference? The answer is this... It doesn't!!!

The TE cooler humidor myth is just that... a myth! If we look at a typical ambient/dew point differential of say 15˚F and you lower the temp of the TE cooler to that point or below, you are going to get condensation on it. Those are the facts of the matter, it is that plain and that simple.

Your position (question) is one of cigar forum myth and lore and has zero foundation in the real physical world!

I hope that helps. -the Pig

it does answer my question, thank you sir!

[PigFish]

it does answer my question, thank you sir!

You're welcome! -Piggy