--- title: "Installation and setup — Wine Cellar Cooling Unit Guides" description: "What a cellar room needs before any cooling unit can hold it steady: insulation and a vapor barrier on the warm side, a door that seals, a place for the exhaust…" url: "https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/installation-and-setup/" --- The room, the opening, the door and where the heat goes # Installation and setup guides. What a cellar room needs before any cooling unit can hold it steady: insulation and a vapor barrier on the warm side, a door that seals, a place for the exhaust heat, and a drain for the water the coil pulls from the air. ## Installation and setup, guide by guide. Many of the visits this site books end at the walls rather than inside the unit. A cellar without a continuous vapor barrier, a door that never sealed or an exhaust grille breathing into a closet will make a sound machine look broken, and no part swap fixes it. This section covers the room the cooling unit was bought for. [All 18 guides](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/) 5-minute read ### [Vapor Barrier and Insulation for a Cellar: The Envelope the Unit Depends On](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/vapor-barrier-and-insulation-for-a-cellar/) The warm side of the insulation, R-11 and R-19 from Breezaire against WhisperKool's R-13, masonry that insulates nothing, recessed lights, the dark test and the new room that drips for a season. 5-minute read ### [Where the Exhaust Heat Goes: The Room Behind a Cellar Cooling Unit](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/where-the-exhaust-heat-goes/) Exhaust at 90°F to 100°F, 3 feet of clear space, closets and attics that fail, the 78°F rule for the receiving room, ducts up to 25 feet and split systems that send it outdoors. 4-minute read ### [A Cellar Door That Seals: Weatherstripping, the Bottom Edge and Glass](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/a-cellar-door-that-seals/) An R-11 door of minimum size, seals on four sides and behind the casing, the paper test, the dark test, glass doors that raise the load and habits that keep a good seal tight. ## The room, the opening, the door and where the heat goes. It is written for two readers. The first is planning a cellar, or finishing one, and wants to get the enclosure right before the racking goes up and the walls close. The second already owns a cellar whose unit runs without a break, drips in summer or trips its own heat protection, and wants to know whether the room is part of the reason before paying for a diagnosis. The three guides follow the path heat and moisture take. The first covers insulation and the vapor barrier, the envelope that keeps humid house air out; the second covers where the unit's warm exhaust goes and what the receiving room has to cope with; the third covers the door, the one wall that opens every week and the one most often left unsealed. The specifications quoted here are the makers' own, taken from Breezaire's and WhisperKool's installation instructions and published answers, with EPA's rules cited where a split system's refrigerant circuit is involved. Each figure sits under the section it supports. Where makers differ, as they do on the insulation required for interior walls, both numbers are given rather than an average of the two. [Not sure where to start?](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Vapor Barrier and Insulation for a Cellar: The Envelope the Unit Depends On A wine cellar vapor barrier belongs on the warm side of the insulation, on every wall, the floor and the ceiling, with every outlet, pipe and door frame sealed through it. ### The short answer Where the Exhaust Heat Goes: The Room Behind a Cellar Cooling Unit Wine cellar cooling unit exhaust runs at roughly 90°F to 100°F by WhisperKool's figures, and it needs a large, ventilated space with at least 3 feet clear in front of the grille. ### The short answer A Cellar Door That Seals: Weatherstripping, the Bottom Edge and Glass A good wine cellar door seal means an insulated door of the smallest practical size, high-quality weatherstripping on the sides and head, a sealed bottom edge and sealed trim behind the casing, as Breezaire specifies. ## 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](https://winecellarrepair.center/cost/) 1. 01 The room and the unit, both measured 2. 02 The cause and the figure, before any work 3. 03 Common cellar parts in the van 4. 04 The 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](https://winecellarrepair.center/problems/) Problem ### Cellar Cooling Unit Running Constantly 5 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Condensation on Wine Cellar Walls or Glass 5 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Wine Cellar Humidity Too High or Mold 5 causes, cheapest first The collection is exposed ### Cellar Cooling Unit Leaking Water 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about installation and setup. ### Is it better to choose the cooling unit before or after building the cellar? Before. WhisperKool advises choosing the system early, because glass, insulation, ventilation and the door all change the load the unit has to meet. ### Can I install a through-the-wall unit myself? Some self-contained units are made for owner installation when the instructions are followed exactly. Split and ducted systems involve refrigerant and hard wiring, and WhisperKool requires an HVAC-R technician for those. ### Does the cellar unit need its own circuit? Usually. Breezaire asks for a GFCI outlet on a circuit of its own, and WhisperKool's split condensing units need a dedicated circuit; the exact requirement is in the model's manual. ### How do I tell whether a problem is the room or the unit? Long run times, water overflowing in humid weather and condensation on walls or glass point at the room first. A unit whose cold side blows air barely cooler than the air it draws in points at the machine. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/) What the room and the unit are telling you ### [Common problems](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Why the cellar will not hold 55°F: the room, the exhaust side or the unit](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/why-the-cellar-will-not-hold-55-degrees/) - [Why the cellar unit drips water, and which side of the wall it lands on](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/why-the-cellar-unit-drips-water/) - [Why the evaporator ices over, and what the ice pattern reveals](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/why-the-evaporator-ices-over/) Checks an owner can make in the cellar ### [Troubleshooting](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [Cellar cooling checks before booking: twenty minutes on both sides of the wall](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/cellar-cooling-checks-before-booking/) - [Reading the cellar controller: set point, probes, modes and alarms](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/reading-the-cellar-controller/) - [Find the cooling unit model plate before the visit](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/find-the-cooling-unit-model-plate/) Habits that keep the unit off our schedule ### [Maintenance and prevention](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [Cleaning the condenser coil and filters of a cellar unit](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/cleaning-the-condenser-and-filters/) - [Keeping the condensate line clear, from drip pan to drain](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/keeping-the-condensate-line-clear/) - [A yearly cellar cooling check, done in spring](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/a-yearly-cellar-cooling-check/) The bottles first, then the wiring and the floor ### [The collection, power and water](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/safety-and-food/) - [Protecting the Cellar During an Outage: Door Shut, Breaker Off, Thermometer Outside](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/protecting-the-cellar-during-an-outage/) - [Water From the Cellar Unit Near Wiring: Circuit Off First, Then Trace the Drain](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/water-from-the-unit-near-wiring/) - [Moving Bottles When the Cellar Warms: What Leaves First and Where It Waits](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/moving-bottles-when-the-cellar-warms/) Which system suits the room, and keep or replace ### [Choosing and comparing](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [Through-the-wall, ducted or split: where the cellar's heat should go](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/through-wall-ducted-or-split-system/) - [Sizing a cellar cooling unit: heat load, not cubic feet](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/sizing-a-cellar-cooling-unit/) - [Repair or replace a cellar cooling unit: check the room before the machine](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/repair-or-replace-a-cellar-cooling-unit/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: Installation and setup — Wine Cellar Cooling Unit Guides](https://winecellarrepair.center/guides/installation-and-setup/)** **[Book a visit with WineCellarRepair.center](https://winecellarrepair.center/schedule/)**