Can wine cellar refrigeration systems be sized by cubic footage or number of bottles stored ?
These methods do not take into consideration the shape of the room, the construction of the room, the R values of the walls, ceiling and floor of the room, the surrounding ambient temperature or humidity levels, the number of entries per day, the quantity and temperature of product brought into the cellar and finally the tolerances required for the storage temperatures. Cubic volume of the refrigerated space is an indication of the size of refrigeration equipment only if the surrounding ambient conditions fall into a very narrow range and the construction of the space is within very narrow parameters of vapor infiltration, heat infiltration and air changes. Even when a heat load calculation is done in the manner accepted in the industry for buildings and refrigerated spaces there is a margin for error. From time to time in spite of the heat load calculation, equipment is oversized, undersized or improper for some other reason such as unusual humidity conditions or unforeseen heat sourc
