Once the decision is made to build a basement wine cellar, and once you have decided on the perfect basement wine cellar location, the next decision is: how big? Of course we all know that “bigger is better”, but with wine cellars that is not always the case.
The bigger the wine cellar, the larger the cost, for construction, racking, and operating costs (since it costs more to cool a large space than a small space). To determine the perfect size, consider three factors:
1 Your budget. What can you afford? If you only have a few hundred dollars to spend, you will be doing all of the work yourself, and your wine cellar will be passively cooled, since you probably can’t afford a cooling unit. Your best option may be to buy a stand-alone wine fridge or cooler. The larger your budget, the larger your cellar. Start by adding up the costs for the cooling unit, racking, and construction costs, and then set your budget based on what you can afford.
2 Available space. If you are converting a corner of your basement, the size decision may already be made for you. If you are building a new house or building, you have more flexibility in deciding on your wine cellar dimensions.
3 Your expected storage needs. How much wine do you expect to consume? How long do you expect to store your wine? If you consume, on average, 100 bottles per year, and you want to store your wine for an average of five years, a 500 bottle wine cellar is sufficient. If you consume more than that, or if you want to have bottles laying down for a longer time, you will need more space. Start by determining your consumption over the last year, and use that as a guide for projecting future requirements. If at most you need storage for 1,000 bottles, there is nothing to be gained by building a 5,000 bottle cellar.
It is important to realize that too big is as bad as too small. Even if you have unlimited money, building a 5,000 bottle capacity wine cellar to house 1,000 is not wise. The cooling unit will be most efficient if the wine cellar is close to full. Each full bottle holds the temperature, so the more bottles, the more consistent the temperature. (It is easier to keep your refrigerator temperature consistent if it’s full of food; and empty refrigerator is not energy efficient).
Of course building a 500 bottle cellar only to realize you need a 2,000 bottle capacity is also inefficient, since you will need to demolish and start again, which is costly.
So, before you start construction, estimate your needs, and your space availability and budget, and plan accordingly.