Reply to "Wine Refrigerator Electricity Usage"

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Originally posted by yg_jonzz:

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Originally posted by vinole:

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Originally posted by yg_jonzz:
My question (and a rather technical one): does anyone have an estimate of how much electricity these wine refrigerators uses?

That's sort of like asking what kind of mileage does a Ferrari or a Bentley get? Or much fuel will a yacht burn? If you are concerned about that type of minor expense (in relation to what you would be spending on wine), collecting wine may not be for you.

That said, power consumption will be much less if kept in a climate controlled space rather than a garage or somewhere that temps vary widely. Keep in mind the temperture differential when kept indoors would normally be only 20 degrees, much less than the 40 degrees for a refrigerator or 60 degrees for a freezer. Therefore, less usage than a refrigerator. I have replaced many incandescent bulbs with flourescent recently, and have seen a noticeable decline in usage. That would more than offest a wine cooler.

On space, I agree with others that bigger is better. However, another option is offsite storage which is what I use. I have two 50 bottle coolers at home for near term drinkers, with the rest offsite. Works well for me.

Thanks for all the input. I understand that collecting wine is a big investment. The reason why I'm asking about the additional electricity cost is that I have a roommate and he tends to get quite stingy with these things. But my discussion with him about these things are beyond this forum.

Points taken, though. I will be looking into bigger units and will be placing the it somewhere in the living room.