Dual Zone wine cooler concept

[dublin76]

I am somewhat versed about the reasons for using thermoelectric vs compressor, thanks to the expertise & experience of FOH and other sources. Currently I am using a 28 bottle thermoelectric wineador. Very happy...but as is common, now too small:( The option of a duplicate unit is of course easy, but with the future in mind, I am considering other options.

Key to my current situation is that I have a basement where temps are consistently in the 60s with no large fluctuations, so I can keep my wineador unplugged and have had success controlling humidity with no fans, using only kitty litter crystals. In anticipation of a future move where I may not have such consistent low ambient temps for storage, I am considering my next upgrade carefully. I also want to minimize the effort needed to control humidity.

My concept is to buy a 100+ bottle dual zone wine cooler -- scratch and dents can be found at great discounts. I would initially use one zone to store my red wines in and then use the second zone as a humidor. Whatever I buy would have to have the ability to turn off the cooling for the zone to be used as a humi, and I would continue to use passive humidity control (KL).

The biggest unknown I have is whether or not the zones are sealed well enough from each other, so that moisture in the cooling zone (cooled for red wine, not cold for white) would not introduce moisture to the zone that is turned off. Vendors have provided me with a variety of responses to this question. I don't think I will really know until I buy a unit and try it out.

Any FOH members toyed around with large (100+) dual zone set-ups in one way or another? Most discussion I have come across is related to 30 bottle or less wine coolers (and of course coolerdors too) or large cabinets with active humidity/temp systems. I have not found anyone using a large dual zone for wine & cigar storage.

Cheers to any insights you may have....

[Hazza]

Great question. I recently bought a 58 bottle dual zone cooler. I haven't set it up yet so I'm curious to see what people say. I too was planning to use one zone for reds and one for my cigars but it is difficult to find any info on it

[beachcougar]

Is there a reason your worries about humidity seeping in? It should be fine for both cigars and wine

[dublin76]

I am concerned about moisture buildup in either zone due to one zone being cooled and one zone being ambient (either moisture leaking from zone to zone or a condensation buildup due to zone temp differences). While in general over time I would expect my KL to do its job, I don't want spikes in humidity or fast fluctuations. It may be that I am over thinking this, but I am trying to keep the setup simple and not have to use active humi control (oasis or others). Thank you for your time.

[dksd39]

guess a lot will depend on the unit you get. My dual zone Eurocave does not have a separation between the zones and as it sits there is a 20 degree difference between top and bottom (could be more if I wanted). It simply works off the hot air rises principle. Humidity is something of a trial and error since the unit will probably be compressor driven. It took me about week to find the balance and now it only requires periodic adding of water.