Best Wine Coolers in 2022

Factors To Consider When Buying a Wine Cooler

Why not take a break while you’re busy looking at a potential wine cooler for sale? Before you pick the perfect product to class up your kitchen, garage, or bar and ensure you’ll always have a crisp bottle of quality vino reader for crack open at the end of a long day, or in times worthy of celebration, perhaps you should take a look at our factors to consider when buying a wine cooler. This little guide will be a huge help in giving you a little broader frame of reference and be able to figure out which wine cooler is the right one for you.

Sizing - Let’s start with the obvious, we all know that fridges - aside from every college student’s own shrine to sugar and laziness: the mini fridge - are not small. Wine fridges are no different. While they’re mostly smaller than your average fridge, they’re still bound to take up a lot of room wherever you place them.

Considering the sizing potential for your wine cooler, be sure to consider how much available space you have so that it will fit comfortably in the room. The considerations don’t stop there, though. You’ll also need to think about additional space that might be needed to open the door the full 180-degrees. The majority of wine fridges will require this range of movement to allow you to properly stock the fridge, so it’s more important than you might firth think.

Buying a cooler, bringing it home and then realizing that it doesn’t fit where you were hoping can really put a downer on the wine-flowing future you had envisioned just an hour before. Ensure you check (and maybe double-check) the sizing of the wine cooler thoroughly and give it a little bit more room. If this room isn’t available, you can always get a smaller model.

Freestanding Coolers vs Built-in Wine Coolers - The sizing of the cooler can also directly affect the placement. When buying a wine refrigerator, you have the option to pick between freestanding coolers and built-in coolers, also sometimes referred to as an under counter wine fridge. Your choice in this matter really depends on what space you have available, as a freestanding cooler is designed, as the name suggests, to stand by itself in the room, while a built-in cooler is to be installed within existing cabinets or cupboards.

With freestanding coolers, you have a little bit more freedom, as you can place them wherever you like, and many people choose to keep them in garages or basements, as well as other rooms in the house - some people will keep them in the living room if there’s space. However, built-in coolers require a front vent, which is the only means of proper ventilation as, unlike freestanding coolers, is cannot release the built-up heat from the back. Anyone who has even a cursory knowledge of refrigeration and ventilation will understand why this is a terrible idea.

Really, it comes down to two factors: what you want, and what you can achieve. The two are not mutually exclusive, and if you need to place your built-in cooler in the living room for a few months while you work on customizing a cabinet, so be it.

Type - While searching for the perfect wine cooler, you’ll  no doubt be bombarded with words and options and features that all sound great, awesome, and things that cannot be missed, but it’s no good getting excited about these cool features if you don’t know what they mean in the different types of wine cooler. We’ve already discussed the differences, advantages, and disadvantages between freestanding and built-in coolers, and we’ll get to the cooling systems very soon. For now, let’s give you an idea about zones:

1. Single Zone - A single zone wine cooler is something that’s mostly recommended for newbies. They’re used when you’re just beginning your collection and can give you a good little base of wines to pick and choose from. These coolers will be cheaper, take up less room, and generally require much less upkeep.

The name refers to the fact that there is one temperature zone throughout the cooler and so needs only one set of controls to keep the wine at the right level. When first starting your wine collection, or if you just want a space dedicated to storing your wine, it’s best to keep it simple, and a single zone cooler provides that sufficiently.

2. Dual or Multi-Zone - With the dual or even multi-zone cooler, you will have different storing options. They’re designed for the pros, people who know their reds from their whites, their cabernets from the syrahs, the ones who’ve been doing this kind of thing for years and have a substantial collection of the best wines from all over the world.

Not all wines can be stored at the same temperature and so having a cooler with multiple zones will ensure that you don’t accidentally ruin a wine because you didn’t store it correctly. There are at least two separate areas within the same cooler where the temperatures can be independently adjusted to suit the wines within.

Multi-zone coolers are excellent for giving you versatile storage options, but they will be more expensive than single zone, and because of the extra space required they will take up more room as well.

So how do you choose between single and dual zone? It’s up to you. You know your wine needs better than we do, and so you can select the type of cooler that will most benefit you.

Pricing - We all know that coolers aren’t cheap, but you might be surprised that wine coolers are a little cheap than your average fridge/freezer combo. In a cooler, the price will depend on several factors. Primarily, this is the size, the capacity, and the type. There are other factors that contribute to determining the pricing, but from our extensive research covering hundreds of wine cooler reviews, these three stand out the most.

So, what do you do? Do you decide to go all out and purchase the biggest, best cooler with the highest capacity, or do you step back, take a minute or two to consider how much wine you actually drink. We’re sure somebody reading list of the best wine coolers is or knows somebody who frequently has wine well-stocked in the house for entertainment purposes or simply a nice post-work glass to relax, so it’ll obviously be worth the purchase.

From here, though, you’ll need to consider how much space you have and what kind. The better wine coolers will obviously cost more, but are you willing to sacrifice quality to save a couple of bucks? It’s something to think about.

Finally, consider your budget, because none f the above matters if you can’t even afford the one you have your eye on. We don’t want to bankrupt you buying a wine cooler, but we’re also not in charge of your money. If you can justify the purchase, then, by all means, splash out and pour us a glass while you’re at it, we’d love to celebrate this monumental decision along with you.

Cooling Technology

When perusing the possibilities for your potential wine cooler, you’re going to see two types of options. These options are thermoelectric and compressor-based wine coolers. To the uninitiated in the intricacies of wine cooling technology, these might not mean anything at all, not right now, anyway. Just be patient though dude, we’ll explain everything you need to know so you can find the very best wine refrigerator as straightforward as we can so neither you or we end up in a whirlwind of confusion.

Thermoelectric Cooling

Thermoelectric wine coolers are refrigerators that use a cooling node that sends an electric current through a ceramic tile to cool the fridge by one side of the while cooling as the other warms up. You don’t really need to know the how and why this works, but we thought we’d give you a quick overview. Now, onto the proper details to help you figure out what your options for the best wine cooler option are.

There are a lot of good things about electric coolers, but there are also some things that aren’t as great. To make it easier, we’ve separated these for you to check out.

Cool!

They’re Energy Efficient - Thermoelectric coolers are the most environmentally-conscious option when buying a wine cooler - short of just placing your wine in a pile of snow - and so if you’re somebody who cares about the planet as much as you care about your wine, then this might already be enough to convince you.

If not, then remember that this low-energy solution doesn’t just benefit the environment, but also your bank account. The less electricity the cooler uses, the lower your monthly bill will be, which is always a cause for celebration.

You Won’t Hear a Thing - Except of course the happy jingle-jangle of wine bottles as you pull another one from the fridge. Due to the lack of required movement from internal parts and operations of the cooler, it’s one of the quietest products you’ll ever buy.

We all love a silent home, and it can be awfully distracting to have that constant brrrrrrrrrn droning throughout the day. If you’ve already got a loud house, whether that be due to other appliances, outside road traffic, creepy, mysterious creakings, or the pitter patter and occasional wailing of kids, then the last thing you want is another source of noise interfering with your day.

Good Vibrations - Or none at all, really. Unlike compressor-based coolers, there are absolutely zero vibrations. This is great for reducing noise levels (which we’ve already been over) but it’s even better for the condition of the wine. Some wines will come with a sediment, and a consistent vibration can cause this to affect the aging of the wine.

Some of you will buy a wine cooler just so you have a constantly cool supply close at hand, but others will be more interested in aging the wine properly. If this is you, you’ll know that any kind of movement for the wine is the complete opposite of a good thing, and having a cooler that minimizes any potential movement is definitely something that belongs in the plus column.

Not So Cool!

The Price Ain’t Right - Yeah, they’re better for the environment, and due to using less energy they’re also better for your wallet up until a certain point. Over the years, thermoelectric coolers will cost you more money than compression coolers because they are required to be on all the time.

For many, this could be a deal breaker, but if you are concerned about the quality of your wine collection and its effect on the environment, you might be able to look past this cost outlay and focus on the greater good. You may also remember that thermoelectric coolers are cheaper to purchase in the first place, but the overall cost of operation may not make this relevant

Sensitive Souls - If you live somewhere the weather fluctuates like bad wifi during peak hours, then the thermoelectric dream may not be what you first anticipated. In climates where you can never predict the weather even by the hour, thermoelectric coolers do not operate as you’d hope.

Places with high ambient temperatures like in the desert or cities where it feels like the asphalt is soggy, perhaps even melting, then you’ll encounter issues with the coolers ability to properly regulate the temperature. This is important to remember if you’re planning on storing your wine cooler in your attic or cellar, which are notorious for struggling to maintain a consistent, flat temperature and could ruin the condition of your wine before you’ve even had a chance to get the glasses out.

Good Things, Small Packages, Maybe Not… - It’s no secret that thermoelectric cooling does not pack quite the same amount of power as its compressing counterpart (what? It was a secret? Woops). This means that you’ll not find a thermoelectric cooler that’s capable of housing more than 24 bottles of wine at the most.

Yes, this sounds like a lot to somebody who’s not a wine aficionado, but for those serious about their vino collection, this doesn’t provide enough space to store the variety that they’d like. If you’re looking to expand your collection, it’s smarter to invest in a larger wine cooler as opposed to purchasing several similarly-sized coolers. Although, the benefit of this small cooler means you’ll definitely be able to fit it somewhere.

Compressor-Based Coolers

The other option you can choose is compressor-based coolers. These are typically larger and more powerful than thermoelectric and work very much like your traditional refrigerator just a little smaller. It’s composed of four main parts: the compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and an evaporator, which all work together to carry warm air from the unit and expel it outside. Some newer models will also use a fan to evenly distribute temperature through the unit, which is also present in thermoelectric models.

Cool!

They Have the Power - Compressor coolers will provide you with much more power than the thermoelectric models. This is the reason you find most built-in units will have compressors, and they are also the preferred cooling system when designing and manufacturing large capacity coolers.

It’s this extra drive of power that could mean the difference between selecting a compressor or thermoelectric model. Another benefit of this extra power is that you will have more varied temperature options, as thermoelectric can only typically get to temperatures around 20-degrees Fahrenheit below the external temperature.

High Capacity - With more power comes more capacity. The coolers have the ability to store and adequately cool many more bottles of wine than thermoelectric, which is perfect for those of you who want to expand their collection as much as possible. These larger units also save you money should your collection start to get too big and causes you to buy a brand new unit.

No Stress - Unlike thermonuclear coolers which struggle to withstand the variety of different climates and temperatures that houses and rooms across the country can incur, the compressor-based coolers are well-equipped to handle any changes in temperature no matter much they fluctuate.

Instead of being exposed to the temperamental whims of the weather, the internal temperature of compression coolers remains constant and is ideal for when you are planning on storing the cooler someplace that is readily exposed to varying temperature readings or places without adequate insulation. This can be a big factor in deciding which kind of temperature system to invest in.

Not So Cool!

Bad Vibrations - In compression-based coolers, there parts moving all of the time to keep it working. Throughout the day, these cycle on and off and will work at different times, which is great news for ensuring that your wine stays chilled, but not so good news for the condition of the wine itself.

We’ve already mentioned how bad constant movement and jostling can be for the wine, so having a compression cooler could very easily ruin the wine before you’ve even had a chance to properly age and sample it.

If you’re planning on drinking your wine as quickly as possible - within reason, perhaps because of an upcoming dinner party - then vibrations shouldn’t affect your wine too much in a short period of time. If you’re in it for the long haul though, it’s recommended to find a cooler that’s as vibration-free as possible.

Can’t Hear Yourself Think - Furthermore, with these vibrations comes the noise. Not lots of noise, but enough noise to make you think I really wish there wasn’t any noise.’ It’s the moving parts again that contribute to this noise and while it’s not something that should necessarily be a deal breaker, it’s not unreasonable to consider that you’d be better off with a thermoelectric cooler if for no other reason than getting some peace and quiet.

If you remember a long way back when full-sized refrigerators would interrupt every meal, every movie night in front of the Android TV box then you might want to avoid the compression method. However, manufacturers do understand this and have taken steps, such as installing rubber padding, to negate the noise emanating from the cooler.

Money, Money, Money - Like a flat purchase, compression coolers are more expensive. This is for the obvious reasons like being larger than thermoelectric as well as requiring different components that make up a more expensive unit to buy. In short, they’re like a smaller version of your kitchen refrigerator, which we’re all well aware of the prices of.

The good news is that, in the long run, they’ll actually work out to be moderately cheaper than their thermoelectric younger brothers as they will only switch on and kick into gear when they need to instead of working and rocking around the clock. It isn’t much, but it’s something.

And this leads us very naturally into our next point.

Power Consumption of Wine Coolers

Look at you being all energy conscious. We’ve already outlined the almost-contradictory consumption regarding thermoelectric coolers, and different products and brands will provide different results.

The average wine cooler will require 90 watts of power on average. In thermoelectric models, this will vary depending on the environment, which affects how hard the unit works to stay cool, while compressors are stable with all kinds of temperatures.

Really, it’s the size of the cooler that makes a difference. Small coolers can use a little as 70 watts, but a large cooler, especially thermoelectric will consume as much as 140 watts.

Wine Cooler FAQ

Q: What is a wine cooler?

A: A wine cooler is essentially a small refrigerator that’s purpose is to store and age wine at a safe and comfortable temperature.

Q: Why do I need a wine cooler?

A: To cool wine, duh. No, not really. It’s more than that. Wine coolers are massively useful if you’ve got existing or want to start growing your wine collection. Many novices believe that you store wine in your regular refrigerator or even out in the open if it’s cold enough, but if you’re serious about storing your wine, you'll need a wine cooler to ensure you get the proper flavor once you decide to crack open a bottle.

Q: What temperature should I store wine at?

A: Wine is not as simple as beer or soda, and so you should first understand why type of wine you have.

Dry White, Rosé, Sparkling -  45℉

Full-Bodied White, Light, Fruit Red -  55℉

Full-Bodied Red -  55℉

Wine coolers will have digital displays for you to change the temperature needed from the outside to prevent opening the door and interfering with the ambient temperature within, ensuring the wine stays at the right temperature if you’re concerned about affecting the chilling process.

Q: What is the best way to clean a wine cooler?

A: After disconnecting the unit and removing the bottles (carefully now) the best way to clean your wine cooler is to wipe it down with a half-water, half-vinegar mix, which is the safest cleaning solution that won’t interfere with your wine or leave odors as bleach will.

Following this, use a cloth to thoroughly wipe the entirety of the cooler and leave the door open, allowing it to air dry. You must make sure everything is dry before plugging it back in and re-adding the wine.

You also cannot just add the wine back as soon as it’s dry, you need to allow it to cool down to the correct temperature first.

Q: What are the best conditions for aging wine?

A: The term ‘wine cellar’ isn’t just a fancy-sounding name. It means exactly what you think it does. What are cellars? Cold, dark, a little damp but not too damp. Yeah sounds about right.

Q: How do I achieve the best aging results from my wine cooler?

A: To ensure your wine ages just like you intended, be sure to:

• Keep it at a consistent temperature
• Keep it between 60 - 70% humidity
• Keep it in the dark
• Keep the air clean
• Keep it from getting knocked or moved around

Q: Do I need a Dual or Multi-temperature zone wine cooler?

A: You don’t need either, but some of the top rated wine refrigerators do have dual or multi-zone capabilities. If you have enough variety of wine that requires different storage temperatures to justify purchasing one then go for it, if not, maybe wait until your collection increases.

Q: Are wine coolers noisy?

A: Not as noisy as you might think! Compressor-based coolers will provide some noise with both the moving parts and the vibration, but modern coolers are much less noisy than ones from the past. Thermoelectric coolers are so silent you might forget you have one. From our detailed studies of wine fridge reviews, this is something that’s always appreciated.

Q: Where is the best place to install a wine cooler?

A: This is up to you and will depend on available space and frequency of use, as well as how much you want to show off you have a wine cooler. The most popular places for installing a wine cooler include the kitchen, cellar, (converted) garage, or even the tasting room. Yes, quite.

Sources

1. Learn to Love Wine Without Being a Snob About It - Lifehacker
2. 6 Common Questions About Wine Coolers - WineCoolerDirect
3. Wine Coolers: Thermoelectric vs Compressor - WineCoolerDirect
4. Single Zone vs Dual Zone Wine Coolers - Cooling Wine
5. Wine Cooler FAQ - Quench Essentials
6. Cleaning The Wine Cooler is Easy to Handle - Wine Cooler Reviews
7. Typical Electric Requirements And Running cost of a Wine Fridge - Wine Turtle