New 1500 SF cellar project

A few friends are in the process of leasing roughly 1,500 SF of space to store wines. I would love to get some feedback/advice especially from those who have experiences in commercial wine storage or large wine cellar.

Some back ground;

1,500 SF - close to 40’X40’

11’ ceiling

R19 all four walls plus ceiling

Sub-basement, 18 ft underground in Northern Virginia, only a few days in summer to get close to 70 degrees.

Two sides face interior, the other two sides are exterior walls and earth on the other side

Any experiences with winecellarrefrigerationsystems.com or winecellarinnovations.com?

I am surprised to hear this, AFAICT at 18’ depth the temperature should not vary more than a couple of degrees from the mean temperature at 30’, which is Virginia is around 56 degrees.

We assumed the worst case. Also two sides are facing interior. So what sort of high temperature do you anticipate? Also is R-19 all over, a bit of overkill? We are trying to maintain constant 53-55 degrees.

This has got to be your cellar we’re talking about Kevin, right neener? The plans look gorgeous!

There are local building codes that would need to be followed for any refrigerated space like that, and energy codes have become quite stringent. Here in Seattle, it requires R-25 just for a 55º cellar. R-38 for a walk-in that is closer to freezing, like a produce storage area.

Kevin I had wine cellar innovations do my design, racking, and install. Call me.