2g vs 3g for a Wine Room

[Adam2]

We're finally at the stage where we have a trusted chippy to build the under stairs wine room. The area has no UFH and the ceiling and walls were extra insulated. There is a chiller unit installed which should work down to our target temp of 16 degrees - getting lower temps meant a much bigger investment which I'd like to keep for the wine 🙂 

 

Front will be along these lines:

 

 

The front of this will be glazed with wooden framing (sapele stained to match our stair edging detail (door shown on right but will be the same colour). To minimise the warm air leakage into the wine room I am thinking to have a drop seal on the bottom of the door and use magnets to hold the door closed against a thin rubber strip set into a rebate that the door closes against - using a simple pull handle to open (happy to hear any other suggestions on this also)

 

Our house is fairly toasty as I WFH and like to wear shorts most of the year so internal temp is not often below 22/23. 

 

So - pros/cons of 2g vs 3g:

 

Cost is not much different

Weight is a big difference and moving the large panel in 3g could be a bit of a challenge (approx 1m x 2.1m)

Weight may also make the door frame a bit of a challenge if we are trying to keep thinner framing as shown

 

So I guess my question comes down to is the insulative benefits in this scenario of 3g going to make much difference?

 

 

 

 

 

[Onoff]

Every room's a whine room if my missus is in it. 

[JohnMo]

32 minutes ago, Adam2 said:

wine room

What's wrong with a fridge? Other than that I will keep my comments to myself.

[Adam2]

4 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

What's wrong with a fridge? Other than that I will keep my comments to myself.

Fridge isn't big enough, it'll look very nice and fill in a hole under the stairs that has been gathering useless objects 🙂 

[Mr Punter]

Compare the heat loss for UG for 3g v 2g based on 3.5m2 of glass with your chosen internal and wine room temperature.

45 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

What's wrong with a fridge?

The target temperature is only 16C.

[JohnMo]

4 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

The target temperature is only 16C.

Sounds like summer in Scotland

[Adam2]

So we'll go with double glazing - as we are planning to keep the cold in vs out. I guess that when specifying this glazing panel I should specify the inside as the outside so any heat retention aspects to the glazing will work more effectively?

 

Another aspect I'm pondering is the best way to make the door reasonably air tight. possibly using the small wings along the long edges and a soft foam strip along the top. BUT, for the bottom of the door could a drop seal work well for this, or is there a better solution seeing as I'm not looking for fire prevention just minimising air movement. 

[SteamyTea]

On 25/03/2025 at 19:47, JohnMo said:

Other than that I will keep my comments to myself

Puts a new slant on a drink problem.

 

[saveasteading]

It's a fridge in a cupboard. The fridge expels heat, so warms up the cubboard. 

Otoh, how often does it have to work hard? 

Buy bottle of wine af 18°. Cool it to 16°.

 

A bigger issue is your room heat warming the cupboard.  So 3g and an insulated , sealed door.

 

It's good to dicuss trivia sometimes to test logic.

 

More importantly 22° is far too warm for a room. Can't be healthy for you or the planet. You would get used to 18° very quickly.

[Adam2]

I have a cooling unit that has intake/exhaust passing through an exterior wall (original post mentioned the chiller but not the plumbing for it). So the wine room challenge is preventing the room heat warming it up mainly in the summer as in the winter it should be OK with an external wall and good insulation and no UFH of course. Whilst I could lower my room/house temp the summer this will anyway by >22 degrees (which I like - maybe should move somewhere warmer)

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

On 25/03/2025 at 19:12, Adam2 said:

So I guess my question comes down to is the insulative benefits in this scenario of 3g going to make much difference?

 

No.

But 3g windows are much harder to smash right through. Ask me how I know

[Gone West]

4 hours ago, saveasteading said:

You would get used to 18° very quickly.

🤣🤣🤣

4 hours ago, saveasteading said:

More importantly 22° is far too warm for a room.

It's not about numbers, but comfort. If you feel most comfortable at 18C that's fine, if like me you feel most comfortable at 23C, that's also fine. What I'm not happy about is being told how comfortable I should feel. There are a lot of factors determining comfort, such as age, health etc.

[JohnMo]

Our last house was built in 1830, and had a wine cellar on the lower ground floor. No windows, just a heavy door, but floor 8" thick stone, shelves 4" thick stone, and shelf framing 4" thick stone. Shelves and framing were about 3 foot deep. All walls were stone also.  Room never changed temperature all year round.

 

Totally uninsulated, no heating or cooling - just a stone cave inside the house. 

[saveasteading]

6 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

Room never changed temperature all year round.

About 12°C?

[Pocster]

@Adam2 no idea about your mega wine chiller construction. But , I feel that someone like myself would be an expert wine taster for you . I don’t charge , so it’s a free service .

[Adam2]

On 31/03/2025 at 18:57, Pocster said:

@Adam2 no idea about your mega wine chiller construction. But , I feel that someone like myself would be an expert wine taster for you . I don’t charge , so it’s a free service .

That's why I like this forum, always people volunteering to help.