Wine Cellar: Keeping humidity down?

WINE TALK
1

I have noticed over the past few weeks as the temps rise here in CA that the humidity in the cellar is creeping up a bit and now it is right around 80%. The highest I have seen it get which is usually in the middle of summer is around 85%. The cellar is subterranean here in the Sacramento area with a commercial cooling unit. It seems that the target range for humidity is around 55% to 70% and while it doesn’t look like the high humidity is causing problems now I am worried about the future.

Any ideas for bringing the humidity down a bit? I could always use Damp Rid as this stuff seems to work well in my parents basement back east but how much would I need to bring the humidity down 10%. The cellar size is roughly 750 square feet.

TIA!

2

I don’t really worry about humidity too much, but if you were really concerned could you lower the temperature on your cooling unit temporarily? Cooling units tend to dry out the air, so the more it ran the more the humidity would fall. Though it would probably be a somewhat expensive solution. I’ve always been taught that high humidity has no adverse effects except possibly some long term mild label damage.

3

There are lots of commercial dehumidifier devices that plug into the wall, just search on Google. At a quick glance, they seem to start at around $100. I’m not sure if you care enough to do that or not, but it’s an option.

4

I worry a lot about humidity being in Georgia. When it is above 70% we get serious black mold and that stuff is serious on labels. If you don’t care about your labels or the area your wine is stored, you can just let it ride.
Otherwise, I have a small unit that I turn on and off when needed. It works great and isn’t a pain. If you want continuous drainage into a pipe, you will have to install a control to turn the machine off when your humidity is lower than 55% or so. In the summer, I dump about 2 gallons of water out every 3 weeks. In the winter, I turn it off and don’t have to worry about it. FWIW.

5

Most likely the cooling unit is oversized. You need to deal with this or you will end up with mold. Start by using a 1" dial quick reading meat thermometer and measure the return and supply air temp at the unit.

I would recommend against using a dehumidifier as it creates heat and in the event of cooling unit failure you will end up with a hot cellar.

What temp. do you keep the cellar at? If you can raise it a bit that may lower the humidity as well.

6

Most likely lowering the temp. will only raise the humidity, take a look at a psycrometrics chart (good luck [snort.gif] )

7

How long has the unit been installed? was the high humidity always an issue? It could also be a dirty evaporator coil, restricted airflow or even a freon leak.

8

I have a Cavavin wine cabinet (holds approx 220 bottles) and I’ve been noticing some of my labels are getting loose and falling off. I measured the humidity and its showing between 85-90% inside the cooler…it’s around 60% in my condo. Is there something I could put inside the cabinet to reduce the humidity? Any other suggestions? I’d like to keep it around 65-70%…

Thanks in advance.

9

if you have any cardboard inserts from cardboard wine boxes, you can just lay them on the ground and they will absorb some of the moisture in the air.

10

Really? Short of absorbing condensation on the floor, I’d love to know how this works.

And that wet cardboard smell doesn’t seem like a good idea at all…

11

I would discard the cardboard after a couple of days…the smell never became an issue. The more pourous types work better…like these:

12

80% is no problem. My cellar is 80% all year long and my split system is designed to prevent it from going higher (not exactly sure of the details, but it has a dran pain and a drain pipe to the outside). Never have issues with labels, and the only thing I’ve seen get moldy in the cellar is MDF, which I was able to get rid of.

13

Tyler, that is a fairly large space: 750 sq feet: 25 x 30 or so…
You might try using Silica gel, which you can buy cheap in bulk online.
Or you can use Cat Litter Silica gel (same stuff) that you can easily get at PetCo.
Just get a tray ( a litter box would do.) and spread out the stuff. get non-scented/neutral stuff

Si gel can also be recharged/re-used by drying it out (set it in the sun).

It might be better than using DampRid, which works great, but you have to store it airtight.

In Florida, after a storm or hurricane people used damp rid a bunch, so I know it works great.
I think the mega pak @ 42 oz in the plastic thingie would take it down to ~ 50-60% humidity and last about 1 month.

I use Si gel as it produces no waste, is ultra cheap and re-usable.
let me know if that works out for you. the space we used it on was a cellar in the foothills about 16x20.
One kitty litter tray, re-charged about every 6 weeks.

14

with a commercial cooling unit

Does the unit have a drain line/hose to the condensation catch pan? If not, you might see if it is designed for one because unless you are in and out of the cellar all the time, the unit should naturally reduce the humidity and if it is not, it sound like too much standing condensate.

15

Another possibility (assuming it is not a problem with your cooling unit as Howard suggests) is to dig a dry well in one corner. Unless of course, you have a high water table.