What To Consider When Placing A Wine Fridge

Wine fridges are one of the best possible ways of storing your wine, and they do more than just regulate the temperature and keep your wine cool. Wine fridges can also regulate the humidity levels, protect your wine from the harmful UV rays found in sunlight, minimise movements and vibrations, and even eliminate any unwanted aromas.

There’s plenty to consider when placing your wine fridge, whether it be the manufacturer’s instructions, the ventilation requirements, the design of the wine fridge, or whether there’s actually space for the wine fridge. If you want to learn more about placing your wine fridge, we’ve got you covered - keep reading to find out what to consider when placing a wine fridge.

Design

Wine fridges come with different designs - fully integrated, built-in, and freestanding. These three different designs have different instructions when it comes to placement. Integrated wine coolers are designed to be completely integrated into your kitchen space - whether it be under your kitchen counter, inside a kitchen cabinet, or even built into a wall. This design offers a sleek and seamless look, which is perfect for modern kitchens.

Built-in wine coolers are similar to integrated wine coolers - they’re designed to be integrated into kitchen space and also offer a sleek look. However, instead of being completely enclosed in cabinet space, built-in wine coolers are visible and accessible from the front.

Typically, built-in wine fridges are referred to as under-counter wine coolers. This is because many built-in wine coolers are designed to be installed under kitchen counters, although they can also be installed into other kitchen spaces.

Freestanding wine coolers are arguably the easiest to place. This is because they are designed to stand alone, rather than be installed into kitchen space and snug units. You can place freestanding wine coolers wherever you like, whether it be in your kitchen, dining room, living room, garage, or utility room. However, they do have specific ventilation requirements that should always be followed - but we’ll get onto that in the next paragraph.

Ventilation

When it comes to placing your wine cooler, ventilation is one of the most important things that you need to consider. Each type of wine cooler will have its own ventilation requirements, and the requirements may vary depending on where the fans are located.

With most freestanding wine fridges, the warm air escapes from the rear of the unit. This means that you should usually leave around 12 inches of space above the unit for optimal airflow, as well as a couple of inches around the rear and sides of the cooler.

Built-in and fully integrated wine fridges usually need less space for ventilation - but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t leave any space at all. It’s usually best to have built-in and fully integrated wine coolers fitted professionally to avoid causing damage and to ensure that there’s enough space for the cool air to enter and warm air to exit the wine fridge.

Always be sure to check the manufacturer instructions when placing and installing your new wine cooler. If you don’t, then you may void the warranty, meaning that if anything goes wrong with the wine cooler, you won’t be able to get your money back as it may be due to the installation.

Other Appliances

When placing your wine fridge, it’s important to be mindful of other appliances. Firstly, if you have multiple appliances plugged into one extension lead, then this could be a fire hazard - and there’s a chance that all appliances plugged into the cord will stop working.

Another thing to consider when placing your wine fridge is heat. Avoid placing your wine fridge near other appliances that generate heat - for example, your tumble drier, oven, or even your washing machine.

This is because it can cause the internal temperature of the wine fridge to rise and exceed the optimal storage temperature, as well as cause the fridge to work harder. When your wine fridge works harder, it may seem louder, have excessive vibrations, and of course, will reflect in your electricity bill.

Where Should I Place My Wine Fridge?

Where you place your wine fridge is entirely up to you - however, certain designs of wine fridges (built-in and integrated) are usually only suitable for kitchen use. Freestanding wine coolers, however, can be placed pretty much anywhere as long as there is enough space for ventilation.

Kitchen

One of the most common places in which people place wine fridges is the kitchen. This is because it’s a super convenient place - as most people will serve their wine in the kitchen. Whenever you have guests over, your wine is easily accessible if the cooler is placed in the kitchen - you can simply grab a bottle and serve it within a matter of seconds.

Your kitchen is also home to other appliances, such as your regular refrigerator, your freezer, your oven, microwave, dishwasher, and sometimes your washing machine. Why not add a wine cooler to the mix? Any design of wine fridge is suitable for kitchen placement, but built-in and integrated wine fridges are especially suited to kitchen space.

Utility Room

Another place that many people decide to place their wine cooler is in their utility room. If you have a utility room, then this may be a great space for your wine cooler. After all, you may store other appliances such as your washing machine, tumble dryer, and spare fridge in there, so why not your wine cooler?

This is a great way of freeing up space in your kitchen or dining room. However, if you want to display your wine collection, then you may not want to hide it away inside your utility space.

Garage

You may also want to store your wine fridge in your garage. Garages usually have plenty of floor space, meaning that you can store larger wine coolers and collections in your garage.

However, if you plan on storing your wine fridge in the garage, then you should check if it has some kind of winter system or insulation. Garages can get pretty cold in the wintertime, and you don’t want your wine cooler to overwork or the internal temperature to drop to freezing.