This is an independent guide site about building and running a home wine cellar. It exists because the practical information — how to size a unit for a real ambient temperature, where the condensate goes, why your cellar sits at 45% humidity — is scattered across forum threads and buried under product listings.
Every sizing method and calculation on this site is derived from first principles and shown so you can check it. Where a number depends on your circumstances, we give the range and the reasoning rather than inventing false precision. Cost figures are drawn from published installation reporting and vary by region.
We do not accept payment for product placement, and no manufacturer reviews copy before publication. Some outbound links are affiliate links, which may earn a commission if you buy — this never changes what we recommend or what a page says. See privacy and disclosure.
If a figure here is wrong, we want to know. Corrections are welcome through the contact page and are made with a note in the page rather than silently.
One page: heat gain by room, the derating maths, and the unit size that actually holds 55°F. No newsletter spam.