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Stylish, Glass Wine Cellars That Orange County Homes Can Replicate
When it comes to building beautifully designed wine cellars, Custom Wine Cellars is here, ready to give your wines the home they deserve. Together with our partners, we create sophisticated glass wine cellars like this one in Orange County, fully fitted with metal racking, glass doors, and stunning mood lighting that allow your wines to stand out.
Designing Glass Wine Cellars in an Orange County Climate
Wine cellars are to be kept in a cool and humid environment to preserve the quality of the wine. But what happens when you need to build a cellar in an area where the outside temperatures can be hot enough to promote condensation within a glass cellar? You’ll need more than just a reliable air conditioner. You’ll need wine builders in Orange County who have the technical expertise, knowledge, and skills to combine science and design and keep your wine tasting fresh all year round.
Constructing Insulation for Glass Wine Cellars in Orange County
In climates such as what is found in Orange County, heat exchange in walls is faster due to pressure differences. To combat this, we put up an interior wall insulated with polyurethane, a vapor barrier, and a drywall. Polyurethane alone can already block some vapor up to a certain degree. Still, we added another vapor barrier to make sure, especially when the afternoon sun hits a significant part of the exterior walls.
If you install the right insulation, keeping the climate stable within your Orange County glass wine cellar becomes easier, regardless of what wine cellar air conditioning unit you’ll use.
Using A Metal Racking System for That Modern Look
For small spaces, metal racking is often recommended because it takes up less space than wood (not all the time, but most of the time, though). For this Orange County glass wine cellar project, we chose metal wine pegs that we mounted on plywood. This was plywood strong enough to support the heavy weight of the metal racking and wine bottles. The pegs were arranged accordingly in such a way that the wine labels stayed visible without lifting the bottles.
If you look at the first picture, you’ll see that the racks were installed on only two (2) sides of the room. On the 3rd side, we installed a mirror and some dark-stained wooden wine shelves to add to the overall design of the cellar.
Deciding on the Right Wine Cellar Cooling Unit
Building modern glass wine cellars in Orange County’s wet and dry climate can be tricky because too much heat outside can promote moisture build-up on the glass walls and glass bottles. The temperature inside the wine cellar should be kept between 55oF – 85oF, while the relative humidity should not go beyond 50%-70%. Hence, you need an internal climate-control system that can adapt fast and is durable enough to work non-stop.
We always use a heat load calculator to determine the cooling requirement of a wine cellar, helping us also decide on what cooling unit to use best. For this Orange County wine cellar with glass panels, a split-type cooling system was installed since its longevity is more or less similar to a commercial-grade cooling unit.
We placed the evaporator on the upper left-side wall, covered by a grill that is painted to blend in with the room’s aesthetic. On the other hand, we placed the condenser outside the house and attached it to the exterior sidewall. This was a smart way to keep the condenser and exhaust away from the main cellar.
Since the glass wine cellar was near the center of this Orange County house (particularly the dining room), we had to first prepare or fit the cooling system before working on the cellar wall and its insulation. Overall, our 1/3hp cooling unit was able to extract the heat out of the wine cellar successfully and provide ample refrigeration to the entire room.
Installing, Soft, Elegant Lighting to Complete the Look
The combination of glass and metal results in a modern and fancy atmosphere. So apart from a huge mirror and a glass door, we also added a glass chandelier to illuminate the room. With the glass chandelier, light is dispersed so softly and as exquisitely as the wines stored in the cellar. You’re always going to feel that plush warmth as you dine next to show-stopping glass wine cellars in Orange County like this one.
Build Your Own Wine Glass Cellar with the Experts
The Custom Wine Cellars team has been in the industry for years. Our master designers, engineers, and HVAC professionals specialize in wine cellars, and they will always work hard to give you a long-lasting, fully functional wine cellar according to your taste and the unique conditions of your home.
Building custom glass wine cellars in Orange County can be complicated for some contractors. But with Custom Wine Cellars, you can have your own one-of-a-kind custom wine cellar without the worry of wasting your money! Call us today at (714) 202-0989, and let’s turn your wine cellar dreams into reality!