More Home Cellar Suggestions/Questions

I didn’t want to hijack Vamsi’s thread.

I am in the planning stages of doing something in my garage as well but have an issue with heat because it’s a metal building. My current wine cabinet is located against a Southern exposed wall (problem #1) and the cooling unit gives me an error because the intake air temp is too high. So it cycles off and then comes back on but will shut down again when the temps are too high. I have gone through all the above ground underground thoughts. It’ll take some rearranging to do this on a shaded wall, but I’m building a wine room. Problem #2 is I think my Cellarpro 1800XT is too small but a split system is overkill. Not sure what to do. Gotta keep the cost reasonable so I’m doing all the work myself. Split system more than doubles the cost of the project. Should I just bite the bullet? I have Winter and Spring to work on this. I’m out of storage, have 8-10 cases in a closet in the house 3 on the garage floor and 5-6 more pending delivery. Need to shit or get off the pot now. How do I deal with the ambient temp issue?

Nobody here has an opinion? We may be witnessing WB history!

Can you plant a tree outside the southern exposed wall? Seriously, the shade will help significantly.

Can you run a duct to pull air in from an air conditioned space? There is an option to add an intake duct to the CellarPro 1800. I have mine set up this way, where my CP1800 pulls in air from the house.

As mentioned getting cooler air on the intake would be the cheapest option if possible but success is uncertain. I have had friends frame, drywall, and insulate a space within garage space. Still need cooler air for intake but at least you have a proper and cold insulated room to work with. I have even seen modified home window AC units used. The metal building is a toughie regardless as as noted orienting on a shade side should make a big difference.

How hot does it get in there mid summer?

To answer the questions there is an apple tree behind the Southern wall bu the peak of the roof is about 18’ up so it’s not effective. I want to build against the Eastern facing wall which has large oak trees overhanging the roof.

I’m in Northern California 30 miles from the coast. What’s air conditioning? The coastal fog cools us in the evening. No, we have no air conditioned area to draw from. The garage is 100’ from the house.

I can figure out a duct that maybe draws from the garage floor. Hits high 80s to low 90s in there in the Summer but down low the concrete keeps that area cooler. Outside temps regularly hit mid-90s so I don’t know if that is a viable option. I could try better insulating the garage but at 24 x30 with 10’ walls and a high peaked roof that’s an expensive undertaking.

Brian - maybe something like this? Shipping Container As An Underground Shelter - YouTube

  1. Cellarpro makes larger, non-split units.
  2. Can you put more insulation along the southern wall (or wherever you build) - maybe frame up with 2x6 or 2x8 filling the cavity with closed-cell foam? Maybe with some reflective foil on the metal side of the wall? The sun is creating much more temperature gain than just a warm garage would.

I love the underground container idea. But after some investigating have been told (by builders I trust) too many times that it simply does not work. The main problem which is not easily addressed is that the walls will buckle inward. Shipping containers are quite strong vertically, but horizontally not so much. So once you backfill around them and then add regular moisture from rain it becomes crunch time and the side walls fail. Guys I spoke with have seen this quite a few times and simply said whatever you do, don’t do this.

Kind of wondering why digging a hole and putting a shipping container surrounded by concrete on the top is much better than simply building it all with concrete - either blocks or forms. Pour footings, form up walls (or use blocks), and then put a concrete roof on using forms as well. It’s just building a basement . . .

Andrew, pouring a bunch of concrete is the way to go per all discussions I’ve had. It is pricey of course but doing things right often is. People think just burying a container and backfilling the dirt is a cheap path to a root cellar.

You could also build your own two stage AC system with a window unit and a ducted package added to your CP1800. Build a box/framed and enclosed space that the window unit dumps cold air into and pull air from that space to your CP1800. Just be sure to leave air holes / space gaps where air can get into the box/framed space, since you will be pulling air from the space into the CP1800.

Bite the bullet, and make the room larger than you’re currently planning while you’re at it. If the cooling is doubling the cost of your “cellar,” then you’re already way ahead of many on this board…

I’ve got the reflective insulation on the walls now. Main issue is the cooking unit draws from the rear of the cabinet and that is up against the wall 6-8” air space.

The new location won’t have the warm steel to deal with and will be well insulated. My problem is having intake air temps that the cooling unit is OK with.

I’m already building it larger than I’ll ever need. I can always add more racking as needed. Split system runs about $4k. That’s a significant amount for me. Then I have an issue with where to place the compressor.