Building a Home Wine Cellar on a Budget
If you love to collect wine, you’d probably also love to have a dedicated place to store it. Your wine collection is expensive, so you need to preserve it properly. However, you may not want to spend a fortune building a fancy wine cellar. Here are some ideas for building a home wine cellar on a budget.
A Home Wine Cellar is All About Temperature Control
Protect your wine collection by controlling the temperature and humidity of your wine cellar. The ideal temperature for long-term wine storage is 55°-58° F. This may be surprising, but it is advised to have higher humidity in your wine cellar than is suggested for the rest of your home. This is because you don’t want the corks to dry out and crumble in the bottles. 50-70% is the optimal humidity for wine storage.
If you have achieved the correct temperature but need to raise the humidity, use a basic portable humidifier in your wine storage area. Another option is to purchase a wine cooler refrigerator, which you can find for under $200.
Portable vs. Built-In Wine Storage
Built-in wine storage, whether it is a dedicated wine room, built-in racks in the basement, or a walk-in wine cooler is not the most budget-minded approach, but it does provide a good return-on-investment. If you decide to sell the home one day, a wine cellar will set your house apart from other similar properties. Portable wine storage, like a mini-fridge wine cooler, is a better option if your collection is small and you are renting or don’t have a lot of space.
Building a Home Wine Cellar in Your Basement
The basement is a perfect place to build your wine cellar on a budget because it is dark and separate from the rest of the house. If the floor is concrete, seal it, because moisture can pass through concrete. You’ll also want to install vapor barriers to keep the humidity at the right levels. The wine cellar needs to be well-insulated for climate control.
Once you have finished building the wine cellar in your basement, the best way to keep it cool is by installing a mini-split AC unit. While you want the humidity in the wine cellar to be higher than the living spaces in your home, anything above 70% can cause a mold problem.
If you love wine, consider adding a wine cellar as an investment both in your home and in your hobby. Take stock of the size of your wine collection and how much you plan to grow it when planning your wine cellar.
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