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A through-the-wall cellar unit and a slim split evaporator shown on two cellar walls side by side.

Which system suits the room, and keep or replace

Choosing and comparing
guides.

Through-the-wall, ducted or split, how big a unit a cellar really needs, and whether an aging cellar system deserves another repair or makes way for a new one.

(844) 398-5977

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Three guides
  • Read before you book
  • Says where to stop

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Choosing and comparing,
guide by guide.

A cellar cooling unit is chosen once and lived with for many years, usually by someone who did not build the room around it. The guides in this section are for owners planning a new cellar, owners whose existing unit has started to struggle, and anyone holding a repair estimate and wondering whether new equipment would be the better use of the money.

All 18 guides
A finished stone wine cellar with wooden racks of unlabeled bottles, a flush supply grille and return grille of a ducted cooling unit set into the upper wall, and through an open doorway the plain mechanical room beside it.
5-minute read

Through-the-wall, ducted or split: where the cellar's heat should go

How the four layouts move heat, what each asks of the room behind the wall, how loud each is inside the cellar and what each means for service years later.

A small basement wine cellar with a tape measure lying open on a wooden rack of unlabeled bottles, a through-the-wall cooling unit's grille high on the far wall and a glass door with an insulated frame at one side.
5-minute read

Sizing a cellar cooling unit: heat load, not cubic feet

Reading a maker's load chart, the glass, walls and summer air that volume hides, and the runtimes that show a unit is too small or too big for its room.

A wine cellar with its through-the-wall cooling unit slid partly out of the wall opening, a technician's tool case open on the stone floor and racks of unlabeled bottles along both walls, soft light from above.
5-minute read

Repair or replace a cellar cooling unit: check the room before the machine

Keeping the collection safe while you decide, which parts are routine at any age, why a hot exhaust space ages compressors and what replacing a split system involves.

Which system suits the room, and keep or replace.

They compare layouts and decisions rather than makers: a self-contained unit set through a wall against a ducted cabinet in a mechanical room, a split system with its compressor outdoors, a ceiling evaporator that drains through a pump. Figures come from the manufacturers' own installation and owner's manuals, named beside each claim, so you can check them against the equipment you are considering.

Three questions run through all of them. Where will the heat go once it leaves the cellar? How much heat will the room actually let in once glass, doors and the surrounding space are counted? And what will this equipment need years from now, when a fan tires, a drain clogs or refrigerant work is due?

We write from the service side, so these pages say less about finishes and more about access panels, drain routes, clearances and line sets. Those details rarely appear in a brochure and always come up on a service visit, and knowing them before a purchase can save the cellar a difficult summer.

Not sure where to start?

The short answerThrough-the-wall, ducted or split: where the cellar's heat should go

The types of wine cellar cooling systems differ mainly in where the heat goes.

The short answerSizing a cellar cooling unit: heat load, not cubic feet

Sizing a wine cellar cooling unit means matching its rated output, in BTU per hour at your cellar temperature, to the room's heat load.

The short answerRepair or replace a cellar cooling unit: check the room before the machine

Whether to repair or replace a wine cellar cooling unit depends on three things: which part failed, whether the room caused it, and what kind of system it is.

When reading
is not enough.

If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop.

What repairs cost
  1. 01The room and the unit, both measured
  2. 02The cause and the figure, before any work
  3. 03Common cellar parts in the van
  4. 04The cellar heading back to 55°F

The problems
these answer.

Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
A small stone-walled wine cellar with dark wooden racks full of unlabeled bottles lying on their sides, a through-the-wall cooling unit grille set high on the far wall and a round dial thermometer standing in a glass of water on a tasting shelf in front. The collection is exposed

Wine Cellar Too Warm

6 causes, cheapest first

 A narrow storage closet with its door wide open, the louvered exhaust grille of a through-the-wall cellar cooling unit set into its back wall, stacked cardboard boxes pressed close in front of the grille and a faint heat shimmer in the air. Problem

Cellar Cooling Unit Exhaust Overheating

5 causes, cheapest first

 The exhaust side of a through-the-wall cellar cooling unit in a finished family room, its louvered grille set into a painted wall above a low bookshelf, a closed glass-paneled door to the lit wine cellar beside it showing racks of unlabeled bottles. Problem

Cellar Cooling Unit Loud or Vibrating

5 causes, cheapest first

 The cellar-side grille of a through-the-wall cooling unit high on a plastered wine cellar wall, a dark wet streak running down the plaster below it toward a wall outlet, wooden racks of unlabeled bottles along the side wall and a folded towel on the tile floor. The collection is exposed

Cellar Cooling Unit Leaking Water

6 causes, cheapest first
A couple lifting a bottle from a lit stone-walled wine cellar, the cooling unit's grille high on the far wall
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
choosing and comparing.

Which kind of cellar cooling system is most common in homes?
Self-contained through-the-wall units, because they need one framed opening and a dedicated circuit. They depend entirely on the room behind them, which is why ducted and split systems take over in cellars surrounded by living space.
Can I size a unit from cubic feet alone?
Only as a first guess. Insulation, glass, the door and the temperature of the surrounding space can change the heat load enough to move a room up a model, which is why makers publish charts and calculators.
Is repair usually cheaper than a new unit?
For fans, probes, controllers and condensate pumps, yes, by a wide margin. The question gets harder with compressor or refrigerant failures, and harder still when the room itself caused the wear.
Do these guides recommend particular manufacturers?
No. We repair cooling equipment from many makers and quote their manuals where they publish a figure, but the choice between them is yours.

The other
sections.

Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns.

All guides
A thermometer on a rack in a wine cellar reading warm, the cooling unit's grille above it.
What the room and the unit are telling you

Common problems

A hand pressing a key on a small cellar cooling controller beside the cellar door, the display dark.
Checks an owner can make in the cellar

Troubleshooting

A soft brush cleaning the dusty condenser grille of a cellar cooling unit on its exhaust side, the unit switched off.
Habits that keep the unit off our schedule

Maintenance and prevention

Bottles laid in cardboard cases on a cool basement floor outside a warm wine cellar.
The bottles first, then the wiring and the floor

The collection, power and water

Rigid foam insulation and a plastic vapor barrier sheet on the framed walls of an unfinished wine cellar.
The room, the opening, the door and where the heat goes

Installation and setup

Not sure which section?

Start from your question

The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it.

18 guidesWhere to start Where to start

Back to your everyday

Let’s get your wine cellar cooling unit working again.

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