In this article, we’re going to be talking about where to place a large wine refrigerator, in terms of where’s the best place to use a large wine fridge, and then what’s the best position to keep it in, including some of the most common issues to look out for.
With that being said, let’s get to it!
Table of Contents
What is a large wine cooler?
A large wine cooler is a refrigerator-sized appliance that is designed to keep wine chilled and ready for consumption.
It can typically hold between 50 and 300+ bottles of wine, and is commonly used in both home and commercial settings to store and chill entire wine collections.
They usually come with either a single cooling zone, or multiple cooling zones (referred to as dual-zone wine coolers), which allow for users to store multiple varieties of wine (I.E different types of white wine and red wine) within the same physical unit.
Considerations to take when placing a wine fridge
There are multiple factors that need to be considered when choosing where to put a large wine fridge, these are as follows:
Depends on the type of wine cooler
There are two main types of wine fridge, freestanding and built-in.
Units that are built with freestanding usage in mind will often have back/side-facing vents, meaning that airflow will be inhaled and exhaled via those vents, to allow for efficient cooling. These types of units cannot be placed in enclosed spaces, because they simply won’t be able to collect enough air, and it may not only mean that your wine collection isn’t cooled properly, but the wine fridge may break.
Those wine fridges which are built with front-facing vents are known as built-in/undercounter wine coolers, and can be used in both enclosed spaces and open environments. They are a lot more versatile.
Depends on the space available
Although this may seem like quite an obvious factor, the amount of space you have in your kitchen/bar area will highly affect whether you have the capacity to store a large wine fridge, or you may need to re-adjust the area and move other appliances around to compensate.
Requires good ventilation
As we touched on further above, wine coolers require good ventilation in order to not only work efficiently at an optimal temperature, but to also ensure they last a long time, because a wine fridge that can’t inhale enough cool air and exhale hot air will ultimately overheat and it will jeopardize the unit’s internal mechanisms and components.
Out of direct sunlight
Around 10% of the light emitted by the sun is UV, and only around 1/3 of that reaches the surface of the earth (LiveScience), however, this UV light has a negative affect on wine, as it dramatically changes the PH, colour density, anthocyanins, pigment, total phenolics and tannin content (Pubmed)
Despite the fact that most large wine fridges come with UV-protective glass, it’s highly recommended to place the wine cooler out of direct sunlight, to further minimize light exposure.
With that being said, this is why wine fridges are often installed in a wine cellar or in a wine cabinet.
Cool environment
Now, large wine fridges utilize compressor-based cooling systems, and so even with these being fairly powerful, if you’re placing your wine cooler in a warm room, the cooler is facing an uphill battle.
Not only this, but it’s having to use more electricity to achieve the same cooling temperature, which means costs increase unnecessarily.
Where to put a large wine refrigerator?
Wine fridges are usually kept in a place with enough ventilation for proper airflow, a cool room temperature so that the refrigerator isn’t having to overwork, and somewhere out of direct sunlight.
This is especially important for large-sized wine fridges, since they usually used by wine collectors, wine connoisseurs, wine sommeliers, and for commercial purposes, to hold a large collection of wines, potentially including rare/limited wines, so it’s crucial to ensure these are stored correctly.
With that being said, this makes a wine cellar, kitchen (not located near a window), enclosed within a wine cabinet or in a commercial setting (bar, hotel or club) best suited.
