Thermoelectric cooling

[donzz]

I have my Verona listed for sale on another site, and the question was asked why not put the vino cooling unit into the Verona? Does anybody have any experience in such things? Would such a conversion even help without any additional insulation? Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Thanks
Don

 

[klipsch]

You can install a cooler on the back of a wooden humi. Though I think you may have some serious condensation problems with the glass. The doors on glass front coolers are double paned, so that owners can view their bottles of wine clearly. Wooden humidors that I've seen with coolers installed don't have glass fronts.

 

[tomthirtysix]

Two other things that come to mind - size of the Verona vs size of the Vino. The size may overwhelm the cooling unit, and cause problems. There's also the condensation issue. Not just on the doors like klipsch mentioned, but right underneath the unit itself. The back of my vino has what appears to be a small channel cut into it with a little hole for drainage. From time to time I've noticed a couple drops of water back there, and make sure to keep my cigars away from the back wall, but inside a wood cabinet, that could cause problems.

 

[Bob Staebell]

donzz,
The Verona is probably not a good candidate for conversion to temp control. It's fairly shallow in depth & insulation is not easily added to the interior & still look good.

It takes 6-8 times as much cooling output to get the same temperature drop in an non insulated cabinet as one that has insulation (1"-2" depending on surface) on all surfaces. With insulation to get a 15 degree drop in temp for a humidor the size of the verona & a glass door one would need a minimum of 160 watts of cooling capacity. Without insulation the minimum would be 960+ watts. You wouldn't have a lot of room left for cigars nor would it be cost effective.

Condensation is not a problem if the peltier is designed to operate in the higher RH (65-70%) found in cigar storage. Most peltiers have a small cold side assembly & a larger hot side, which concentrates the cooling energy on a small mass & lowers it's temperature below the dew point which causes condensate to form. If the mass of the cold side & hot sides are near equal & air flow over the fins balanced, the temperature drop on the cold side stays just above the dew point & one does not get condensate. The available temperature drop or Delta T stays the same.

cheers,
Bob Staebell

 

[donzz]

Thanks for the replies I thought there would be problems with trying this.
I guess Ill move back into the vino until I can afford one of Bobs units


Don