Temperature changes

[hobbyiswine]

I am almost back in wine production mode again. I just moved to my new house so I haven't been able to have much going on in terms of winemaking lately so I am itching to get the primary going again.

Question is...I have a room in my new house for my winemaking but it is upstairs. Unfortunately basements are not real popular in Texas. The temperature is very warm in my winemaking room right now especially during the day but cools off in the evening. There is one small AC vent that blows out cool air but it doesn't seem to work on cooling the room. It seems I will have some problems keeping temperatures consistent in this room. I had also planned to store finished wine in the room also but am rethinking this with the high temperatures which today we're in the 80s. Besides the other problems the temperature changes could cause with clearing wine in the secondary, etc would fermenting at 90 degrees be an absolute no? I could always ferment downstairs then move it up to my winemaking room but that is not really the point of having a dedicated room for my projects.

 

[tonyandkory]

Last summer we were running up a high bill with the air conditioner so we bought a 5,200 BTU window unit for our bedroom at around $150 from sears
Kenmore I believe

• 5,200 BTU
• Cools up to 165 square feet

this way we could keep this one room cool.
It doesn't run up a huge bill.
We usually keep it at about 70* and we are in Dallas area so know just how you feel.

 

[ibglowin]

Upstairs room in TX or anywhere is probably the worst place for wine storage as heat will always rise so its going to be the warmest area of the house year round. If you can't find a place downstairs I would advise a small room AC as well. Make sure to get one with a true thermostat that will shut off the AC (including fan) when the temp set point is reached. They work great for small rooms and are pretty efficient these days to operate. I have one in my winery and it cost about $25-30 a month to keep the room at 65 degrees. Wine is happy and its a great place to hang out after doing yard work etc.

 

[hobbyiswine]

I think my upstairs "man attic" has been demoted to storage use only for the summer. I have moved my fermenters downstairs to the cubby hole under the stairwell. They seem to be much happier there. Think I will have to use under the stairs on the ground level for fermenting and use the upstairs to store equipment, supplies, empty bottles, etc for now. I am working on a wine Storage unit to put in the living room. Will make easy access to the bottles and something nice to look at. Very bummed out that the "wine attic" is a bust for now but I am thinking it will work very nicely about 8 months out of the year, just not summer.

 

[wvbrewer]

A root cellar maybe a good idea to get steady cooler temps for fermentation. Its just a idea I don't know what you property is like.