How To Maintain Your Wine Fridge
Imagine bringing home bottles of your favourite Champagne for a party a few months away, only to discover your wine fridge has been out of sorts. You can no longer depend on it to keep your wine in the best state until you need them. Such a horrible event is something we never want to experience.
Like every other appliance you own, you need to ensure that your wine refrigerator is in good shape. First-time wine fridge owners come to realize that good wine fridge maintenance is important.
That way, you can enjoy your wine collection and even store wines that grow in value and quality. There’s no doubt that poor storage can ruin even the most fantastic wines in the world.
But then, what should you do to ensure that your wine fridge consistently delivers the best temperature and humidity control to protect your wine? How can you take good care of your wine fridge to reduce the chances of problems and unexpected faults?
This article will share with you tips to maintain your wine fridge and increase its longevity.
1. Choose A Suitable Location
The correct location is the first advantage to ensure that your wine fridge lasts and depends on two factors: ventilation and sunlight or ambient temperature.
Adequate ventilation enables its ability to cool down when running. When this is blocked, it might cause the fridge to overheat, which also damages its efficiency. So, you need to ensure your wine fridge has suitable space all around (2 to 4 inches on each side) for proper ventilation.
Never place your wine fridge in an area that receives plenty of direct sunlight, especially if your unit has a glass door. If your intended spot gets some sunlight, ensure that your unit comes with dual pane glass or a tinted door to protect your wine from harmful UV rays. Also, avoid placing your fridge next to any appliance that dissipates heat, such as a washer, dryer, dishwasher, or oven.
2. Get The Wine Fridge Installation Process Right
When installing your wine cooler, we recommend that you read the instruction manual thoroughly before you begin setting up the fridge. A wine fridge that is not installed correctly according to the manual’s specifications may run inefficiently.
Other wine installation tips you need to know include:
◾ Be sure to air out the fridge before loading it up with wine. This removes any smells that might linger and adversely impact your wine’s quality.
◾ Ensure your unit stands upright for at least 24 hours as its inner components may have been rattled during shipping, and they need time to settle themselves.
◾ Allow enough space to open the door of your wine refrigerator entirely to avoid damaging the door, which becomes a nuisance.
◾ Don’t forget to follow the instruction manual to the latter, especially about holding the cabinets properly and securing all attachments.
3. Never Overload Or Exceed Your Capacity
Your manufacturer will specify the capacity of your wine fridge. However, you can also research to be sure you are using the suitable bottle capacity. We also recommend buying a unit with a larger capacity than you need. That way, you don’t force your varied collection into a tiny wine fridge.
The perfect capacity (not reaching capacity) is vital to ensure each bottle is correctly cooled and ready to serve. Exceeding your wine cooler limits increases the risks of hot spots, which can also damage our wine collections. When a refrigerator overworks, it might break down frequently, which further reduces its lifespan.
How To Maintain Your Wine Fridge – Regular Maintenance
Regular maintenance is critical to ensure that your wine fridge continues working as it should. Sure, getting the best wine fridge is essential, but maintenance solidifies its durability.
Maintenance makes it easier to find problems and resolve them quickly before they become damaging.
However, maintenance also demands you keep track of tell-tale signs of internal damage. Here are some common wine fridge issues to look out for:
◾ Leaking water
If your wine fridge is leaking water, you don’t have to panic. Leaking water in and around your fridge is a sign of condensation. It usually happens if the refrigerator was turned off or left open for a long time accidentally. Sometimes water leaks go away, but if you find that the leak continues, it’s time to call the mechanic.
◾ Mould
Mould grows in cool and dark spots, which is easy to find in a wine fridge cabinet. Often it comes in when you remove and store bottles of wine. So, when the temperature and humidity levels are suitable for the mould, it will hold on the sides and shelves and continue to multiply and spread. Unfortunately, your wine fridge requires those specific humidity levels to prevent allowing smells inside.
However, if you continue seeing mould inside your fridge, consider using moisture absorbers to soak up the excess moisture and humidity. Consider using chalk or baking soda. These natural absorbers can help soak excess water and stop the mould from growing. If it continues, you may need to change how you clean your wine fridge. You can also use bleach or white vinegar as long as you use a non-abrasive cloth/rag.
◾ Fan problems
When one or both fans stop working, the temperature rises in your cooler. Be sure to check that your fan works normally and look for signs of debris or excess dust. When you find any of these issues, you might need to replace the fans.
How To Clean Your Wine Cooler
Cleaning is just as crucial as troubleshooting your wine fridge. Regular cleaning gets rid of blockages or build-up substances that can affect the running of your appliance.
But how many times should you clean your wine fridge?
On average, you need to clean out your wine fridge once or twice per year. You also need to clean out the entire appliance if you do any repairs or a bottle breaks inside. Every leak or breakage should be handled as soon as possible. If a leakage stays in place for a long time, it might damage the cabinet or even seep into the mechanics.
Besides, here are other tips for cleaning your wine fridge:
◾ Before cleaning your wine fridge, never forget to turn it off and unplug it from the socket to prevent electric shock, injury, or death.
◾ Removing your wine bottles entirely from the cooler makes it easier to clean your fridge. It also ensures you won’t try to work around them and miss vital spots.
◾ Ensure to empty and clean the water in the drip tray frequently. This helps you avoid mould or overflowing. When water is left to sit for too long, it begins to smell and can affect the taste of your wine.
◾ Use only non-abrasive cleaning items so you don’t scratch or damage the inside of your appliance. We recommend using the all natural enzymatic cleaner that is 100% natural, non-toxic and plant derived that permanently breaks down and removes stains and odours. This product is eco-friendly and safe around kids and pets, outperforming chemical cleaners. It is so versatile, that you can even use it to remove red wine stains from your clothes!
◾ Clean and perhaps change interior lighting and seals regularly.
◾ Take great care when wiping the shelving and mechanisms as damages can affect your ability to store wine correctly.
◾ Allow the wine fridge to air out before turning it back on and returning the bottles inside.
Final Thoughts
Your wine collection is an investment and the best way to protect that investment is to adequately maintain your wine fridge.
Be sure to pay attention by regularly cleaning, troubleshooting, and resolving any issues as quickly as possible. That way, you can have the much-needed peace of mind that your precious wines are safe from damage.