Portable AC for wine cellar

[JoP]

Hi Seth,
I just purchased a dual hose Whynter 122DS portable unit and I'm preparing to use it to cool a garage cabinet that I insulated and have been cooling it with a single hose Frigidaire unit for the last 7 years.
I'm also considering to use a CoolBot or a DIY version of that.
Do you know where are the sensors located on a Whynter unit and how to get to them?
Thanks

Hello all.,
I realize that this thread has not been followed up on for three years, so if anyone knows about these portable units from Whynter, I would appreciate if you reply to my post.
It is not so much about locating the sensors if you are able to remove the shell, but removing the shell turns out to be quite a challenge.
A service manual would help, but couldn't find it on line.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[KarenLambert]

Hmm. Well, let me tell you my story about AC in the cellar. I have a small AC in the wine room because it often isn't as cold as it should be. For several months, I didn't notice that it had a water leak. Because of the mold appearance, it began to be an unreal smell. That was the moment when I realized what happend. I called Aircon Leaking Water - Aircon Dripping Water | SoCool Pte Ltd, and they fixed the issue; however, sometimes you can still feel the smell. But, if you find a specialized team, you will never have such problems again.

 

[MarkSC]

I just completed a project in my garage. I have a storage room under stairs that is within the garage. I insulated the room and added a window a/c unit that vents to the main garage (there is also a nearby screened opening to the outside). Has anyone tried this setup with a window a/c? I’ve seen photos of shops within garages with a similar setup. I know that low humidity can be a problem, but I’m only aging my own wines and only for 1-2 years, so I’m not too worried. If anyone has tried this, was condensation a problem? Mine is a GE unit that slings the condensate onto the coils for rapid evaporation. There is also a drain plug that I can use if needed to drain to the outside. My garage is around 80 F in the summer, and I plan to keep the room around 65.

BTW, do NOT try using a portable A/C. Those units are crap. I tried it, and the negative pressure that the unit created made the unit useless for cooling. It did create cool air, but that was replaced 1-1 by hot air from the garage from the negative pressure.

 

[sour_grapes]

I just completed a project in my garage. I have a storage room under stairs that is within the garage. I insulated the room and added a window a/c unit that vents to the main garage (there is also a nearby screened opening to the outside). Has anyone tried this setup with a window a/c? I’ve seen photos of shops within garages with a similar setup. I know that low humidity can be a problem, but I’m only aging my own wines and only for 1-2 years, so I’m not too worried. If anyone has tried this, was condensation a problem? Mine is a GE unit that slings the condensate onto the coils for rapid evaporation. There is also a drain plug that I can use if needed to drain to the outside. My garage is around 80 F in the summer, and I plan to keep the room around 65.

BTW, do NOT try using a portable A/C. Those units are crap. I tried it, and the negative pressure that the unit created made the unit useless for cooling. It did create cool air, but that was replaced 1-1 by hot air from the garage from the negative pressure.

Here is a thread from @NorCal that may be of interest to you: Cold box wine storage project

 

[Rice_Guy]

my experience was with a 5000BTU in an eight by eight metal/foam cooler in Houston 95%RH. It was tight and didn’t have issues with humidity pulling in, ,,,, how tight did you seal the stairs/ walls/ door?

only for 1-2 years, so I’m not too worried. If anyone has tried this, was condensation a problem? Mine is a GE unit that slings the condensate onto the coils for rapid evaporation. There is also a drain plug that I can use if needed to drain to the outside. My garage is around 80 F in the summer, and I plan to keep the room around 65.

 

[MarkSC]

Here is a thread from @NorCal that may be of interest to you: Cold box wine storage project

Thanks, that was spot on.

 

[MarkSC]

my experience was with a 5000BTU in an eight by eight metal/foam cooler in Houston 95%RH. It was tight and didn’t have issues with humidity pulling in, ,,,, how tight did you seal the stairs/ walls/ door?

Pretty tight. I caulked the stair treads, insulated walls and ceiling, etc. I'm not worried about excess moisture in the wine room since the A/C will presumably take care of that, but the side room/garage where the A/C vents is a bigger question. A post in the @NorCal thread mentions that his unit self-evaporated all of the moisture, so no drain line was needed. I hope that is true for me, but not a big deal either way I suppose. I can run a drain line to the outside if needed.

 

[Rice_Guy]

with everything sealed you should be OK in the closet. One of the AC sins in Houston is that contractors size the unit for the worst day. This translates into central which cools quickly without removing a lot of humidity. Said type of install will feel cold/ clammy. Infiltrating Humid air will condense on any cold surfaces.
A normal garage has air leaks as around the garage door, single pane windows, ,, again I expect that humidity isn’t an issue here, the truss area will have excess heat but if not a living area venting that shouldn’t matter.

Pretty tight. I caulked the stair treads, insulated walls and ceiling, etc. , , , but the side room/garage where the A/C vents is a bigger question. thread mentions that his unit self-evaporated all of the moisture, so no drain line was needed. I hope that is true for me, but not a big deal either way I suppose. I can run a drain line to the outside if needed.

 

[NorCal]

Pretty tight. I caulked the stair treads, insulated walls and ceiling, etc. I'm not worried about excess moisture in the wine room since the A/C will presumably take care of that, but the side room/garage where the A/C vents is a bigger question. A post in the @NorCal thread mentions that his unit self-evaporated all of the moisture, so no drain line was needed. I hope that is true for me, but not a big deal either way I suppose. I can run a drain line to the outside if needed.

Ive never had the collection pan overflow, but I’m usually dealing with 95-105 temps.

 

[stickman]

@MarkSC Water becomes more of an issue if you live in a humid part of the country. Slinging the water onto the hot condensing coil is not really a good idea, but the engineers design units this way to meet energy performance standards; evaporating the water on the condensing coils allows recovery of a portion of the energy used to condense the water on the cold side of the unit. Water anywhere in the cooling unit quickly becomes contaminated with dust and debris causing bacteria, mold, and algae, which ultimately cause performance problems as well as coil corrosion. Many people figure that a window unit is cheap enough that it can be tossed out and replaced without causing much pain to your wallet, but my opinion is that you'll have less maintenance issues if the condensed water is allowed to drain away directly without wetting the condenser (hot side) coils.