Wine coolers are electrical devices to make beverages in bottles or cans more chilled for consumption. To operate, they need two connections: one from your home’s power supply and another from your water supply. They’re not refrigerators, so they don’t have cooling coils or any other component that provides the chilling ability. They produce cold air by cycling the gas around them through an evaporation-condensation process which cools down its exterior coils before it is pushed back into the interior chamber, where it mixes with the room’s ambient temperature air and is blown outwards again.
How Does a Wine Cooler Work? The Principles of Wine Cooling:
Cold air is pushed in from the outside and chilled down by the cold-air discharge, which runs up to the air conditioning unit. This air is then circulated in the inner chamber again to produce the chilled beverage. So, what does it take to make a wine cooler work? The design of your wine cooler depends mainly on how well its two main components are designed together. The so-called evaporator coils are made up of a copper tube surrounded by thin metal fins covered in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. It has several sets of rings surrounded by thin aluminum plates that are mounted inside each other to create an airtight environment for faster chilling. The condenser unit is located outside, and it is composed of several copper fins hidden by the outer covering of the cooling coils. It also has a fan that circulates cold air into the wine cooler through an inlet on its front panel. The warmer air from within the interior is mixed with the incoming chilled air, which allows for the fast chilling of beverages inside.
The evaporator coils are similar to heat exchangers. They use metal plates surrounding both sides of the evaporator coil to act as heat exchangers through conduction and convection processes (the transfer of heat energy through direct contact and fluid movement). The evaporator coils are installed in the actual cooler to keep the beverage inside at a consistent temperature. They are also used for condenser cooling to produce cold air. The heat exchangers are sealed with a plastic material that conducts heat well through conduction and then transfers it through plastic plates to stop heat loss.
Different kinds of wine coolers can be found on the market. Some wine coolers have two functions—for example, one where the cool air is circulated in your wine bottles or cans, and another function where you can store corkscrews or other utensils. Others have only one part—to chill your drinks. Some wine coolers have a single door, and others have two. Some are designed with a light inside to let you see your drinks better, while others don’t. Most wine coolers are made of stainless steel, but some are made of plastic. There are built-in coolers that you can install into your existing cabinets at home, but there are also portable wine coolers that you can take when going on vacations, to the beach, or camping. The coolers are designed to take cool wine bottles or cans, but some are designed to operate with cans only.
Working of Different Types of Wine Coolers:
There are two main types of wine coolers available in the market. Both of them differs in functionality:
Compressor Wine Coolers:
Compressor wine coolers work as same as the conventional fridge. A compressor cooler uses a unique liquid known as a refrigerant. A refrigerant is located on the back of the refrigerator utilizing a compressor system. When the refrigerant has more surface area, it can absorb more heat from the surrounding. It can raise the temperature of the refrigerant and cooling the interior of the fridge.
According to their powerful cooling system, it makes it possible that you can save a lot of wine bottles in it. It is a perfect advantage for those who have a large number of wine bottles. As compared to a thermoelectrical wine cooler, it has a more powerful cooling capacity. It makes it more sufficient in use. However, they can create some noise in the production as they have a moving part. The moving parts also produce noise when in operation. It can make a similar noise as a standard refrigerator. This noise irritates you if you live in a small apartment.
Thermoelectric Wine Cooler:
An electric wine cooler is more popular than a compressor cooler as they are more common these days. Most people prefer electric coolers as they offer quieter operations and come in small in size. The thermoelectric cooler uses the Peltier effect. Peltier does not require any chemicals or refrigerant. It completely works through electricity. The passage of an electric charge by two pieces of metal joining together can create a heat transfer from one corner to the other, known as heat flux. The Peltier effect is also called the cooling process, which was designed to transfer heat from one source to the opposite direction.
On the one hand, it gets warmer. On the other hand, it gets colder. Attaching the heat sink to the hot edge can remove the heat with more efficiency and extract more heat from the cold. Thus, further lowering the temperature; otherwise, it is possible. The heat sink used in the wine cooler is similar to those you will find inside your computer. They consist of aluminum pins, which are heat efficient and enable a fan to provide more cooling and pins to absorb more heat from the plate.
Thermoelectric modules are much lighter and smaller than compressor motors. They consume less electricity, which benefits both your wallet and also for the environment. However, they are not as powerful as compressor models and are Only efficient with little wine bottles.
Conclusion
If you are looking for the best wine cooler, you need to consider how much space is available in your home. Also, think about the number of bottles you want to store. You should also think about how noisy it can be in regular operation.
