Replacing a Whisperkool Unit

WINE TALK
1

I have a vinotheque 300 bottle cabinet that I purchased used. The Whisperkool unit went out on it, luckily it is in a basement area so I’m not too worried about cooking the wine but I would like to replace the unit. However, I have read that basically the Whisperkool replacements have all of the same defects and will likely just fail again on me in 6 years. Anybody have any experience swapping out a Whisperkool unit for another brand in a vinotheque cabinet?

2

CellarCool units are designed to replace Breezeaire anne Wine Mate - same dimensions. But I don’t know what would fit into your WhisperKool opening. What size is it?

3

I’m not entirely sure about the size as it is in the unit but the 2500 they are telling me will be the replacement is :
20"w x 10.25"h x 14"d
http://whisperkool.com/2500-cabinet-system/

4

Sorry - I don’t know of any other brand that makes units with those dimensions.

5

My WhisperKOOL 2500 unit in my Vinotheque cabinet went out sometime today or yesterday. Of course, I was in full panic mode as the cabinet temp showed 77 degrees (technically higher than our home which is 74 degrees). Moved priciest stuff to kitchen wine fridge, calling authorized repairman, and have my offsite guy on standby in case I need to move everything over to him (a little over 20 cases). My unit was purchased in 2013, so I think I’m at the dreaded 6 year mark that so many have said is when these things start to go out. Rethinking my entire storage strategy to now keep everything offsite with a small collection at the house. So frustrating!

6

I have an old (1998 or so) Vinotheque 700 cellar where the cooling unit finally died a couple of years ago. It’s in a garage that naturally stays reasonably cool so I didn’t immediately replace it, but I decided to look into replacing it recently.

I called Vinotheque/Whisperkool and decided to do the wholesale replacement of the cooling unit to a Whisperkool 2500. It was very technically easy to swap cooling units (just involved normal screws and lifting the cooling unit in and out), but beware that the unit is heavy (55 pounds or so).

I got 20 years out of my last cooling unit, and hopefully I’ll get something close out of this one. The fact that it is in a location where it doesn’t have to cool that hard probably gave it the 20 year life span.

Tip - if you need a replacement cooling unit, call Whisperkool directly to order one. It is cheaper and faster than going through a 3rd party.

7

If it’s going to be in a basement try CellarPro. Reliability and performance in one. But those dimensions, ugh.

8

I am moving soon and looking at construction of a new cellar in the basement of a house which itself has A/C. (I had a cooled cellar in the old house.)

I will use a through-the-wall cooling unit and the choices include:

  • WhisperKool SC 4000 Pro
  • CellarCool CX4400
  • Wine Guardian TTW018
  • Cellar Pro 4200VSI

Any positive or negative viewpoints on any of these? My priorities are: effectiveness (temperature and humidity control), reliability and longevity, ability to have the unit repaired, operating noise/quietness.

9

Another vote for Cellar Pro.