If you enjoying drinking a glass or two of white then the wine cooler is an essential part of your home. You know your wine needs to be chilled and hopefully know the right temperature to chill it too.
The problem is that there are so many different ones in the market! There are two things that will help you make the right decision:
- Take a look at these best wine coolers on Wine Turtle.
- Understand how the thermoelectric wine cooler works.
Understanding the basics of their operation will allow you to assess the specifications of each wine cooler properly.
Please note these are designed to keep your wine at the proper temperature, not help you serve it correctly!
The Thermoelectric Wine Cooler
This is not the same as a compressor wine cooler which uses a refrigerant in much the same way as a refrigerator. It is effective at dropping the temperature but can be noisy and potentially has a negative impact on the environment.
The thermoelectric wine cooler does not have any environmental concerns; there are no hazardous materials used in its construction.
The principle of the thermoelectric cooler was discovered by Jean Charles Athanase Peltier. It is known as the Peltier effect. By sending an electrical charge through two joining pieces of metal heat is transferred from one side to the other.
In short, one side of the metal will get hot and the other will get cold! By varying the charge you can control which side gets cold; making this an effective heating or cooling device.
All that is needed is a small heat pump attached by two wires to a ceramic plate. Sending the voltage the right way through the plate cools above and warms below.
The plate is the bottom of your wine cooler.
However, for a wine cooler to work effectively you need to remove the heat below the plate; or it could build up and cause an issue.
Heat is removed by adding fins, in the same format as the radiator in your car. This allows the heat to dissipate and ensures the heat pup does not overheat. The fins are connected to the rear of the wine cooler allowing the warm air to escape into the room.
The thermoelectric wine cooler is very quiet as it relies on just one small heat pump. Because the pump is small they cost very little to run and they have no moving parts to break.
Of course, there are a few downsides to consider:
- A thermoelectric cooler will not get as cold as a compressor. They should be cold enough to store wine properly though!
- If the air round the cooler is hot then the wine cooler will struggle to do its job as there will be no where for the hot air to go.
- If it gets too cold then you may also have a problem as it will be very difficult to control the temperature inside your wine cooler.
But, your thermoelectric wine cooler is better for the environment, very cheap to run and virtually silent. You’ll also find that without the vibration of a compressor your wine is disturbed less.
The choice is yours!