30 bottle wine cooler

[socaldmax]

I saw this wine fridge at Walmart and thought it was pretty nice for the money. Glass door, digital display to set temp. no compressor (I'm guessing Peltier Junction for cooling) and only $148. I currently have an 8 cuft fridge dedicated to wine/beer on my patio at home, I wouldn't mind having a wine fridge on board for this price.

Igloo 30-Bottle Wine Cooler - Walmart.com

[Pete7]

I have to ask, why do you need to keep 30 bottles of wine cold? you don't chill red wine do you? sacre bleu !

Guess one of the advantages of living above 50N is wine goes in the bilge and stays cold in there.

Pete

[Scot McPherson]

If you have to ask you'll never understand. He's not going to chill 30 bottles of the same thing. Geez you can stage a few bottles through the reefer if that were so. He wants to choose which bottle just as he's going to uncork it....Geesh.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Pete7

you don't chill red wine do you? sacre bleu !

Guess one of the advantages of living above 50N is wine goes in the bilge and stays cold in there.

Pete

Where "room temperature" is 30° C or more lots of us chill reds.

[a64pilot]

Peltier plates are very inefficient, I believe better off with a compressor.
You really have the room for one of those things?

[weavis]

Working a lot in Spain, Ive got used to chilled red wine. But then its not French wine, just the local reds.

Kinda nice.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Peltier plates are very inefficient, I believe better off with a compressor.
You really have the room for one of those things?

I don't have a boat, yet. But I'm narrowing the search down to 40 -47 ft catamarans. It's going to have a lot onboard - water maker, ice maker, freezer, solar panels, A/C, genny, large alternators, 2 Honda 2000s, either a scuba tank compressor or a hookah system, in addition to some good nav equipment.

I agree, Peltier coolers are pretty inefficient, I was initially attracted by the low price in such a nice looking package. It might be a bit tall, too. I'm not going to buy anything until I have something to install it in to, I want it to look factory installed. It will probably end up being a shorter, slightly wider, compressor based model.

[marlinmike]

For wine they are good, but if you think you could dial down the temp for beer etc, then forget it, they are no good.

[MarkSF]

The myth that red wine should be served at room temperature is rooted in the fact that houses used to be much cooler than they are today.

Most reds benefit from being served at 65F or thereabouts. I keep my wine fridge at 60F - so by the time the wine has breathed and been poured, it still has a slight chill.

Of course it depends on the wine. The higher the alcohol content, the cooler - as the alcohol tends to mask the taste and the taste is more pronounced at lower temps. I like my Bordeauxs at 60F. California Zinfandel - well, I just pour that directly down the sink. But that's another story.

[MBWhite]

I looked up the specs and yes, they are a peltier system and lowest temp is 59F, which can still work for beer if you have nothing else, LOL!

Anyway, they operate at 120V and are rated at 140 watts. I suspect you could run one during the day by bypassing the transformer and using a straight 100-120W solar panel just don't keep the door open that much. However, I'd probably just use something like this when plugged into shore power at the home slip.