524873 Mon Jun 02 09:38:44 -0700 2008 8 34 Wine 0 3741467 Anyone have any experience building a well insulated cellar within their attic space? I live in New Orleans and my only other options would be a closet cellar or buying a stand alone one. Mon Jun 02 09:38:45 -0700 2008 191429 noladude 1 3743781 Just from an energy standpoint, it seems that putting an air conditioned/refrigerated space in the hottest part of your house might be a little expensive and inefficient. I'm guessing you have air conditioning in your house, being in NOLA. It seems most logical to me to put a wine cellar in some place that's already air conditioned. Your unit wouldn't have to work as hard. I do understand that your attic is probably underutilized. This may seem absurd, but is it possible to dig a cellar, or is that water table thing an issue? Full disclosure: I was raised in the South. I live in SoCal. I've been through a major remodel before I fell in love with wine. My wine is in my closet. Mon Jun 02 21:33:52 -0700 2008 3741467 68466 vickib 2 3744215 No possibility of digging a cellar - However, is your wine closet temperature controlled? If so, that may be something I could think of. I'd be leery of not controlling the temperature. I don't think my closet has great swings in temperature, but it definitely stays too warm to store wine properly. Tue Jun 03 05:34:51 -0700 2008 3743781 191429 noladude 3 3744395 It is definitely possible to temp-control a closet. It would be worth your while to spend a couple of hours with a consultant to be sure you do it properly. Tue Jun 03 06:45:23 -0700 2008 3744215 52499 ChefJune 1 3746684 No -- repreat, NO -- amount of insulation in the attic will be sufficient. Period. In an ideal world, you'd store wine at 55 degrees F. and 58% humidity. No amount of insulation in an attic will come close. You are MUCH BETTER OFF insulating an interior hall closet (with no direct sun hitting the other side of the walls or ceiling) in the house or getting a stand-alone "wine refrigerator." It's too hot, and the water table is too high. You can't do a "passive" cellar in New Orleans. Tue Jun 03 16:13:28 -0700 2008 3741467 28122 zin1953 2 3746875 I figured the attic would be a big No No, just trying to get a variety of ideas. I'd be willing to bet you can't do a passive cellar anywhere along the gulf coast! I'm seriously considering transforming a closet now.....just need to do some research on cooling units now. thanks for the help Tue Jun 03 17:18:56 -0700 2008 3746684 191429 noladude 3 3751931 Noladude, there are some wine fridges that are designed to fit inside a closet. The cooling system exhausts to the front. You might want to look into those. Thu Jun 05 07:36:08 -0700 2008 3746875 52499 ChefJune 1 3749468 For the cost of appropriately remodeling anything you can buy a wine refrigerator. Wed Jun 04 12:12:36 -0700 2008 3741467 83832 fussycouple 1 3752330 Just in case.... I'll re-post my comment on your other post: Two components: Dark and Cool. You have dark when you close the door, no? One inexpensive and effective method I've used is to run a new cooling tube through my attic into the closet ceiling..install a register and you have enough cool air for the summer. Close the vent and you can protect wines in the winter... Good luck! Thu Jun 05 09:19:12 -0700 2008 3741467 198130 Gruet Winery