Winemaking & storage dilemma

[Elmer]

Have spent the better part of the week and all day today gutting a section of my basement. My intent was to move my wine shelves, aging carboys & fermenting operation away from the fluctuating heat of the furnace.
I wanted to move it to the other end next to my electric box on the south side of the house. While working in this room and doing many loads of laundry I notice that the room warms up because of the dryer.
I tend to do about 6 loads of laundry on the weekend.
So my Dilemma is, where to move everything?
I don't have any spot that is sufficiently away from anything that warms up.
I have been bulk aging on the floor in the kids playroom, but you can only have your kids trip over them and draw on the carboy in crayon so many times before disaster hits.
Even if I do move my wine I will continue to keep heavy blankets dropped over everything creating a barrier and keep a fan blowing to circulate air.

I apologize for the crudeness of my drawing. My shaky hands and poor penmanship ended my career as an architect while in college. Probably should have had my 3 year old draw map, might have been more legible.

 

[Rocky]

Elmer, from your drawing and text, I assume that South is at the top of the page and North is at the bottom. You say that you get heat from the dryer and the furnace so why not put them in the same area? I would move the washer and dryer to the lower left corner of your drawing and move your wine making area to the top right corner of your drawing. This would put the two heat generators in the same area, have the washer and dryer conveniently located near the bottom of the steps and have your wine making area as far from the heat as possible. Am I over simplifying this? I know you need a drain for the washer and a 220 line for the dryer, assuming it is electric and not gas. The drain may be the largest issue.

 

[bkisel]

Heat of course will rise so would keeping your wine bottles and carboys near as possible to the basement floor solve your problem? In my basement, depending on what time of the year, I see a 5-10 degrees difference between floor and ceiling.

 

[Elmer]

Rocky,
Yes south is top of the page.
Moving the washer dryer is just not an option. My main drain runs right were my washer is, straight down the ride side of the page. The dryer exhaust is right behind the dryer. The thought of having to drill another hole in my foundation to exhaust the dryer scares me.
I don't think moving either is an option at this point. I neither have the know how or the money to hire someone!

My basement is a good 6 to 8 feet in the ground.
My basement also does not have any direct heat source -no heat vent. So all the heat is just radiated from either furnace or dryer .

I guess I could combat the heat by storing everything low.

I don't think there is much I can do, but I figured I would pick people's brains!

 

[bkisel]

Elmer, Most dryer venting is accommodated by drilling a hole through the rim or band joist not the foundation. Is your house not stick construction?

 

[sour_grapes]

Could you build a stud wall between the washer/dryer and the new location? Possibly make the door enter the new room from the playroom (although from the laundry room also okay). Exclude the duct from that room, or else insulate the duct well.

 

[Elmer]

Elmer, Most dryer venting is accommodated by drilling a hole through the rim or band joist not the foundation. Is your house not stick construction?

My house is stick construction, but was built atleast 45 years ago. All the houses in neighborhood are exactly the same and our cinder block foundations have a hole where the dryer exhausts.
It is nearly 8 ft, if not more to reach my sill . On the outside of my house my sill is probably 2.5 ft above the ground, with concrete foundation showing.

 

[jethro]

Another way to soften the temperature fluctuations would be to use water to absorb heat. Water has a thousand times the capacity to absorb heat as the same volume of air. If you could build a wall of water, and put a 4x8' sheet of quarter inch plywood on top, with insulation, then the water would help keep everything inside at an even temperature. It would absorb heat from the dryer/furnace during the day, and then release it during the next 12-18 hours. This is exactly what you want during the winter, eh?

Naturally, you better make sure your drain works well before you go trying to store a large volume of water in a homebuilt tank in your basement. I can think of two different ways to make such a box.

1. Build a five sided box (4 sides and a bottom), with the piece of quarter inch plywood to use as a lid. Put rebar through the plywood sheets 3-4 inches center-to-center so it doesn't become a death trap for toddlers.

2. If you already have a plastic kiddie pool, just set your carboys in it and fill it with water. Put some kind of water heater in there to keep the water temperature 70F during January and February. (preferably the kind that won't melt a hole in the pool, hahaha...) Throw a tarp overtop if necessary to trap the heat.

I'd want the carboys at least half their height off the floor so you can siphon out their contents when it comes time to move them.

A much easier way might be to simply get a plastic garbage can with a lid and a flat bottom (no wheels!). Put two cinder blocks in the bottom. Set the carboy on that. Fill up the rest of the space inside the garbage can with 70 deg. water. Kid-proof the lid.

I don't know if they make min./max. thermometer for water like the electronic min./max. thermometers for air temperature. If they do, one of those in the water tank would be ideal for making sure the temperature of the carboys stays just right.

 

[Elmer]

Thanks for all the tips.
After spending the weekend seeing what my finances would allow in terms of wine room improvements, I am going to have to crudely insulate.
I am going to by one of those pink foam insulation boards and line the partial wall next to the dryer. This way it blocks some heat.
I am also going to get a tension rod and run it from the same partial wall across the way.
This will allow me to curtain off the area.
I am going to put one of this air circulating fans to keep air moving.
I will cover all my shelves and carboys with heavy hippy blankets!

 

[JohnT]

Could you build a stud wall between the washer/dryer and the new location? Possibly make the door enter the new room from the playroom (although from the laundry room also okay). Exclude the duct from that room, or else insulate the duct well.

This is what I would choose. I would take the corner of the play room, so that I have 2 walls below grade and only nee to build 2 more.

I would insulate the wall and install a locking door so you can keep unauthorized people out.

 

[Elmer]

This is what I would choose. I would take the corner of the play room, so that I have 2 walls below grade and only nee to build 2 more.

I would insulate the wall and install a locking door so you can keep unauthorized people out.

Thanks for advice.
But that is way past my skill set.

I am going to try and build some shelves for my room, based on James G's directions.
I am pretty sure I am going to end up with slanted shelves!

Overly Handy, I am not!