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vapor barrier for wine cellar question
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Posted by foodwright (My Page) on Sun, Feb 7, 10 at 13:47
Hi, I'm building a passive wine cellar in my basement in Ontario, Canada. I've read how the vapor barrier needs to go on the warm side, but in my case it's not that simple.
I don't heat or cool my basement, so the main space is warm in summer and cold in winter. The wine cellar, if I build it right, will moderate the worst of this, so that in winter it will be a little warmer than the rest of the basement (no drafts, etc., plus constant temperature from the tile on concrete floor) and in summer it should be cooler. In other words, where the warm side is depends on the season.
So . . . what do I do for the vapor barrier?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: vapor barrier for wine cellar question
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| Where is the vapor coming from and where is it going? Where would it be likely to condense that is not ventilated to the room? In other words, why do you need a vapor barrier? |
RE: vapor barrier for wine cellar question
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| Energy Codes typically do not require any vapor retarders at all on walls installed below grade. Vapor retarders are typically only required on above grade walls. That said, contact your local building code authority for the right answer to your localized problem. |
RE: vapor barrier for wine cellar question
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| Why not just use a closed cell foam and not worry about which side? A wine cellar doesn't fit the model anyway. The idea is to keep warm moist air from dry cold air... a wine cellar has cool moist air (if done correctly). |
RE: vapor barrier for wine cellar question
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| I can't think of any reason why the local building department would have an interest in the design your wine cellar. |
RE: vapor barrier for wine cellar question
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| You could always do what one distillery did in their aging house. They put in a chiller unit to recover the alcohol that escaped the barrels and was present in the sir in the aging house. Of course, this disturbed the equilibrium and even more alcohol evaporated. The barrels showed higher losses during aging (called the 'angels share'). They did recover the alcohol they lost, but decided it was upsetting the aging process and affecting flavor. Talk to your local AHJ, but they are unlikely to have any real requirements for a wine cellar beyond lighting and structural safety. Cool, dark, damp, and stable are the desired environment. |
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