Wineador Feedback Wanted.

[Ryoken]

Hello, new member, long time reader.

I've been looking at peoples Wineadors on Youtube and various forums, and as Australia's power prices are rising, I have to be more economical with the Air-conditioning, and I've also moved to somewhere where it's hot a lot. So I've looked at getting a Wineador as a replacement for my glass-top humidor, so I can keep the temperature stable.
As I am just starting, I'm thinking of going with this wine cooler. It's thermo-electric, and a lot cheaper than some of the bigger ones. The other option would be this one. Any suggestions/feedback?
Sourcing NewAir, Vinotemp, Edgestar and Avanti in Australia is rather difficult.

I'm going to keep the metal trays in, and go with some of these. I have a family friend which is a carpenter and may be able to build some shelves. But sourcing Spanish Cedar in Australia, again is somewhat difficult. Feedback would be welcome if that is a bad idea instead of just going the full way and getting full cedar trays instead of metal with the above link.
Now obviously, once I fill any of the above Wineadors, I'll look at buying a Newair or other model straight from Amazon. Probably one of the pre-built ones just to save myself the hassle. Getting a voltage downgrader is easy. Or perhaps I'll just buy a more well-known model in Australia and get the cedar trays built.

For humidification I'm probably going to buy an Oasis unit, paper thin cable shouldn't break the seal by what I've read.
As for a hygrometer, are there any particular brands I want to go for? I'll be buying a digital one, and getting a Boveda calibration kit. One that is adjustable is what I've seen recommended.

Any feedback is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[hot grits]

What is the highest ambient temp where the wineador will be going? If it is 10 degrees more than your target temp than a thermoelectric unit may have trouble cooling.

 

[Ryoken]

Wont be more than 30°C (86°F)
The cooler I'm looking at goes as high as 18°C (64.4°F). And ideally I'd want one that goes as high as 20°C (68°F).
So even if it doesn't keep a solid 18°C, 20°C is fine.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, the compressor types aren't good. I could of course add a Cigar Oasis to one, but wouldn't that have trouble, as the compressor ones remove humidity?

Oh and judging by the product descriptions, they do not recommend ambient temperatures over 30°C. So that's all fine on the product description front. If it ever does get over 30°C, I'll turn the airconditioner on. Or I can simply move it to an area that is cooler than my man cave

 

[hot grits]

I would go with a compressor model personally as your are going to want to get that temp down to atleast 70. The main complaint about compressor units is condensation but this is overblown in my opinion. It is more of a result of dew point. Any type of cooling unit is going to play havoc with the rh of the system. Going active is going to help with that.
If it was my money, i would go with a compressor unit with some modifications. I would go with active humidification. Depending on your budget, i would look into ditching the stock thermostat (temp control) and use something like the habitat monitor to control temp and humidity. Also being that the system is sealed, you may also need a dehumidifying unit. You can have the habitat monitor control all 3 (humidifier, temp and dehumidifier)
Of course the price tag is now starting to go up.

 

[Ryoken]

Indeed. I wasn't looking to spend over $250.
The Wine Cooler itself is $85. The humidifier is around $150. A habitat monitor in itself is around $220 from here. And getting the cooler from that website kind of negates the whole need of a fridge, does it not? I also don't know how to make any kind of habitat monitor control the temperature of the fridge rather than using the in-built one.

 

[hot grits]

The habitat monitor would control the fridges cooler. There is no seperate cooler. Plenty of people have thermoelectric units and are more than happy. At $85, it is worth a shot. A 20 degree temp differntial is alot to overcome with a thermoelectric (peltier) cooler tho.
Once cooling is added to a cabinet it opens up all new cans of worms regarding humidity. Eslecially since the unit will be running quite often to keep the unit at a decent temp being that the ambient temp of the room will be in the upper 80s. Going active will help with stabilizing the humidity. I would also consider adding fans to atleast run when the cooler does turn on. And possibly adding beads in addition to the cigar oasis.
Also realize that when using the cigar oasis, that it is only one way humidity control. These wine coolers seal rather well. You may need some way to dehumidify. If you are vigilant enough, than i suppose that opening the door when rh gets too high can rectify this.

 

[Ryoken]

Doesn't the cigar oasis constantly only put out the set humidity? I thought once it reached a certain humidity level it'd cut off or something.

 

[Bondo 440]

Grits said it best. My experience below....

I use thermoelectric here, and if it gets over 80F, she loses the battle.
Try keeping the wineador in the coolest room of the house.

A good tray of kitty litter ( silica) on the bottom has proven to keep the RH steady at 65%.

I found some empty higher quality cigar boxes were great as re-purposed trays with little modification.

 

[hot grits]

Doesn't the cigar oasis constantly only put out the set humidity? I thought once it reached a certain humidity level it'd cut off or something.

Yes, the cigar oasis only turns on until it reaches a set level. But picture in a sealed system that the following happens. The cooler turns on. The plate in the thermo electric cooler gets cold to cool the unit. The plate drops below the dew point temp and condensation occurs. The cigar oasis turns and brings you back to the target humidity. Now you modified the cabinet to drain the condensation but it is not 100% effective. Now you have an open water source that will raise humidity with or without the cigar oasis running. Being that the unit is sealed, there is no way to lower that humidity short of opening the door.

 

[hot grits]

This is also the reason why some people suggest not sealing the door when building a walk in humidor so that humidity can escape. I personally dont like that approach as i would rather have an independent system that is sealed from the outside enviroment

 

[daleo8803]

I have a new air 180. I live in south Carolina so the summers here get warm. Normal temps at mid summer are normally 95° F or close to it. I do not have ac of any kind. My wineador has never gotten over 70°. It stayed around 65F most of the time. I use heart felt beads for humidity control, stays at a rock solid 65%. I have home made Spanish cedar drawers. Hope this helps.

 

[hot grits]

As i said, plenty of people are more than happy with their TE units and beads. I am the kind of guy that overdoes everything. There are drawbacks with any system. It is just a matter of what drawbacks you can live with.
daleo - how long does it take for the cooler to return to 65% after the unit runs for a while and how often is it running to reach the target temp when it is 90+ ambient?

 

[Zmilin]

Hello, new member, long time reader.

I've been looking at peoples Wineadors on Youtube and various forums, and as Australia's power prices are rising, I have to be more economical with the Air-conditioning, and I've also moved to somewhere where it's hot a lot. So I've looked at getting a Wineador as a replacement for my glass-top humidor, so I can keep the temperature stable.
As I am just starting, I'm thinking of going with this wine cooler. It's thermo-electric, and a lot cheaper than some of the bigger ones. The other option would be this one. Any suggestions/feedback?
Sourcing NewAir, Vinotemp, Edgestar and Avanti in Australia is rather difficult.

I'm going to keep the metal trays in, and go with some of these. I have a family friend which is a carpenter and may be able to build some shelves. But sourcing Spanish Cedar in Australia, again is somewhat difficult. Feedback would be welcome if that is a bad idea instead of just going the full way and getting full cedar trays instead of metal with the above link.
Now obviously, once I fill any of the above Wineadors, I'll look at buying a Newair or other model straight from Amazon. Probably one of the pre-built ones just to save myself the hassle. Getting a voltage downgrader is easy. Or perhaps I'll just buy a more well-known model in Australia and get the cedar trays built.

For humidification I'm probably going to buy an Oasis unit, paper thin cable shouldn't break the seal by what I've read.
As for a hygrometer, are there any particular brands I want to go for? I'll be buying a digital one, and getting a Boveda calibration kit. One that is adjustable is what I've seen recommended.

Any feedback is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Sounds to me like you'd be fine with a thermoelectric. You have A C in the house and can use it if temps get too high so the thermoelectric shouldn't have an issue keeping up.
I'd suggest the following:
- Go bigger than you think you need. I went with a smaller unit and have already reached capacity and only just got my drawers.
- Use an external temp controller to allow you to set a range for the wineador. I use an ETC controller and it's great.
- Use beads or KL and stay away from active humidification.
- This should be at the top but get a couple very good hygrometers. I also use a pair of weather station (Inforget the brand now) units so I get a visual on what's going on.

 

[hot grits]

Why stay away from active? When rh drops, (which it will with any cooling unit) active humidification will bring you back up in a much quicker time than beads. If you arent cooling than i would choose beads almost everytime. But cooling adds a whole other element.

 

[JuzCallMeDee]

i think one of the vets uses ice packs in the bottom of a cooler to keep temp down. definitely cheaper than a wine cooler and more space.

 

[ItsBarbarino]

The seal in the wine cooler is so tight, that active humidification is going to sky rocket your rh (imagine leaving a bowl of water sitting in there). Your sticks will start smoking poorly and will probably have mold in no time. Also, in a fridge that small, it will pretty much just be misting your sticks.

A lot of people will plug the condensation drain (to conserve RH when the cooler runs), and re-route the water down to the beads to "recycle" the water. However, my experience with that wasn't so great. I live in Atlanta, it gets plenty hot here in the summer. My wineador was running frequently, and was dropping a lot of condensation. My humidity spiked sharply, and I couldn't get the kitty litter to absorb enough. I maybe could have tried harder to find a solution, but once it hit 80rh, I literally pulled the plug.

However, I know other guys on here have done it, so maybe search through the builds to see. Def stay away from active humidification, especially in a wineador so small.

Edit: Also, filling with cigar boxes (empty or full ) or Spanish cedar trays, like you said, will keep the humidity rebounding better if the unit runs frequently.

 

[hot grits]

Using sealed tupperdors inside the wine cooler, each with their own beads or boveda packs would also help with humidity swings due to the cooling.

 

[hot grits]

There are dehumidification units that can also be hooked up to a controller that will solve the over humidification issue.

 

[hot grits]

There is a member of another forum that used a data logger to test the use of beads in a wine cooler. The humidity swings when the cooler ran was quite interesting. I do not know the rules of posting to another forum but a google search should bring it up for you. Definitely an interesting read.

 

[danmdevries]

I didn't read the replies, sorry if this has been proposed.

Camp/dorm fridge (standard compressor style) with external thermostat switch. Cheap, reliable, and can handle much more extreme temperatures.

But... it'll dry out your cigars.

So, store them in tupperdors with Bovedas, inside the fridge. Temp control via refrigerator, humidity control via tupperdors. Best of both worlds.