Storing wine perfectly is a great way to have it ready to drink at your leisure. However, what is the ways to reduce humidity in a wine fridge to keep your wine fresh?
If you have an improperly maintained or incorrectly-sized wine fridge, it can lead to issues with your wine. Thus, humidity can become a problem if you don’t take the right precautions. If the humidity in your wine fridge rises too high, there is a risk that your wine could go bad faster than usual.
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce humidity in your wine fridge that will keep your wine fresh for longer and decrease the risk of spoilage. Here are some ways you can reduce humidity in a wine fridge with ease:
Ways you can reduce humidity in a wine fridge
Step1: Get a wine fridge of the right size
There are many factors that go into deciding the right size wine fridge for your household. The most important factor is how much wine you plan to store in your fridge at any given time.
While you may have a large fridge available to use, you don’t want to overstuff the fridge with wine. This will cause the air inside the fridge to be compressed, making the fridge more humid and creating a dangerous environment for your wine.
The most efficient wine fridges are designed to be between 50 and 60% of the total internal volume. If you are unsure of the right size for your fridge, consult the manufacturer’s information about the optimal volume for your model.
The next factor to consider is the amount of space you have in the room your wine fridge is kept in. Ideally, you should have at least 2 feet of space around the wine fridge for proper circulation.
You not only need space for air to move in and out of the fridge, but also space to allow for temperature variation. If your wine fridge is too close to other appliances, there may not be enough room for consistent temperature changes. This could cause your wine fridge to run too hot or too cold.
Step 2: Create a seal between the fridge and the room (Don’t Let Air Escape)
The most important step in keeping the humidity in control is to seal the door to the wine fridge. You don’t want air to leak out of the fridge and into the room where it could be trapped thus creating a create a vapor barrier.
Likewise, you don’t want the cool air inside your fridge to escape into the room. To prevent this from happening, make sure the door to your wine fridge is closed as tightly as possible.
You can do this with a seal that goes around the edge of the door. This seal will make sure air doesn’t escape into or out of the fridge and maintain the temperature inside your fridge.
You can find seals for almost any wine fridge on the market today. Another thing you can do to seal out the airflow is to hang a curtain in the room surrounding your wine fridge. Pick a fabric that is dense enough to close off airflow, but light enough to let some light through.
Step 3: Get Rid of All the Extra Moisture
If you want to keep the humidity in check, you need to get rid of all the excess moisture in the wine fridge. This may sound like a strange thing to do, but it will keep drips and humidity from ruining your expensive wine collection.
You can do this in a number of ways. The easiest way is to simply open the lid of the wine fridge every couple of days and let out the extra moisture. You can also remove the bottles from the fridge on a regular basis to let out the excess moisture.
This will avoid drips, leaks, and can help lower the humidity levels in your wine fridge. Another option is to install a dehumidifier in your wine fridge. This will actively remove excess moisture from the fridge and keep your wine safe from dripping.
Step 4: Change the temperature of your fridge
If you want to decrease the humidity in your wine fridge, one of the easiest ways to do this is to change the temperature of your fridge.
Most wine fridges are designed to run at between 41 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. If the humidity in your wine fridge is too high, you should try to turn the temperature down as low as it will go.
This will make the air in the fridge more condensed, which will make it harder for the air inside the fridge to evaporate and create extra moisture.
Changing the temperature of your wine fridge may lower the longevity of certain wines. You should check the manufacturer’s recommendations for the optimum temperature for your wine fridge to avoid damaging wine.
Step 5: Install a cooling system or air conditioner
If you can’t lower the temperature of your wine fridge to below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, you can also use a cooling system or air conditioner to reduce the humidity in your wine fridge.
If you go this route, you should make sure to set the temperature as low as it will go and keep the cooling system running for a few hours each day. Keep in mind that air conditioners and cooling systems don’t evaporate moisture, so they may not be able to get rid of all of the moisture in your wine fridge.
If you are using an air conditioner, make sure you set it to a low enough temperature to avoid damaging your wine. Always check the manufacturer’s recommendations before setting the temperature on an air conditioner.
You can use a cooling system to lower the humidity in your wine fridge, but it won’t actively remove moisture from the air. This means that you should have to run it more often if you have a high level of humidity in your wine fridge.
Step 6: Change the location of your wine fridge
If you don’t want to make any changes to the temperature or humidity of your wine fridge, you can always move it to a different location. Humidity levels in the home are largely dependent on location.
If the humidity in your home is too high, you can move your wine fridge to a lower level. This will help the fridge to improve circulation and reduce the amount of moisture in the air.
The lower floor will be drier than the upper floors of your home as it will receive less airflow. You can also move your wine fridge to an outdoor patio or porch.
This will allow it to get more circulation from the outdoor air and help it to stay at a lower humidity level. You may want to cover the wine fridge with a tarp or other covering to protect it from the elements.
Depending on the layout of your wine fridge, the humidity may be higher in some areas than others. To prevent this, try to change the location of your wine fridge so the humidity is spread more evenly throughout.
This might mean moving your wine fridge if you’ve already got it, but it will also help prevent the humidity from rising too high. Another option is to add an extra fan to your wine fridge. This will help push the air around and prevent the humidity from rising too high in any one place.
Step 7: Install a silica gel pack inside your fridge
If the humidity in your wine fridge is still too high, you can install a silica gel pack inside the fridge. Silica gel is a desiccant that absorbs moisture from the air.
If you have a high level of humidity in your wine fridge, this will help reduce the amount of moisture in the air. This will help keep the humidity in your wine fridge at a lower level, protecting your wine.
You can pick up silica gel packs at most hardware stores or online. You can put one in each section of your wine fridge or install a single pack in the back of your wine fridge.
If you want to be extra careful, you can test the humidity in your wine fridge before you install the pack. You can do this with a wine thermometer. If the humidity is too high, the thermometer will show a higher temperature than the rest of the wine fridge.
Once you have the silica gel pack installed, you can test the humidity again with the wine thermometer. If the humidity is now lower, the silica gel pack has done its job.
Step 8: Use wine-specific storage containers
If you want to prevent humidity in your wine fridge from rising too much, you should use wine-specific storage containers.
While regular cardboard containers will be just fine for storing the wine, the added moisture will make the cardboard damp, which will add to the humidity in the wine fridge.
This means that using wine-specific storage containers will not only protect your wine from being damaged by the cardboard but will also prevent the humidity from rising too high.
Note that the amount of humidity will depend on the type of container you choose. For example, wooden containers are very porous and will absorb more moisture than a non-porous plastic container will.
Step 9: Clean the fridge in the right way
If you want to prevent humidity from becoming an issue in your wine fridge, you will also want to clean it in the right way.
Cleaning your wine fridge should be done regularly to prevent the build-up of bacteria. However, you should be careful not to add to the humidity in the wine fridge while cleaning it.
To clean the wine fridge, first, unplug the fridge from the power outlet and then empty all of the bottles. Thereafter, clean the shelves and the internal walls of the fridge with mild soap and warm water followed by thorough rinsing.
Ensure that you wipe off the moisture from the fridge walls and shelves with a dry cloth before returning the wine bottles.
For example, if you wipe down the walls of your wine fridge with a damp cloth, you will add to the humidity. Instead, you should use a clean dry cloth to wipe the walls.
This will help reduce the humidity in your wine fridge and prevent the growth of bacteria.
Step 10: Store Bottles Upright
Keeping bottles upright will help prevent the cork from becoming damp. This is due to the cork being at the top of the bottle.
If it remains above the wine, it will be less likely to become damp and add to the humidity in the wine fridge. However, many wine fridges are designed to hold bottles at the side.
If this is the case for you, you should place the wine bottles on their side. This will reduce the risk of the cork becoming too damp and swelling and preventing the wine from being able to come out of the bottle properly.
Step 11: Remove Old Stored Bottles Regularly
If you have bottles of wine that you have been storing for a long time, they may have become too damp. In this case, they may be adding to the humidity in your wine fridge.
In order to prevent this from happening, you should remove old stored bottles regularly.
When you do this, you will also remove any cork that may have become damp, which will help prevent it from swelling and blocking the wine from being able to come out of the bottle.
Bonus step: Place an appropriately sized container of baking soda inside the wine refrigerator or food-grade charcoal filter
If the humidity in your wine fridge is already too high, there are a few things you can do. First, you can place an appropriately sized container of baking soda inside the wine refrigerator or food-grade charcoal filter.
Both of these products will help reduce the humidity in your wine fridge. Baking soda will absorb the moisture and charcoal will soak it up as well as remove any odors that may be lingering in the fridge.
If you notice the humidity is too high, you should try to reduce it as soon as possible. This is so that the wine does not become too damp and spoil.
Conclusion
Keeping wine in your home is a great way to have it ready to drink at your leisure. However, humidity can become a problem if you don’t take the right precautions.
If the humidity in your wine fridge rises too high, there is a risk that your wine could go bad faster than usual or you can spoil the wine labels.
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce humidity in your wine fridge that will keep your wine fresh for longer and decrease the risk of spoilage.
These include using wine-specific storage containers, changing the location of your wine fridge, cleaning the fridge in the right way, storing bottles upright, removing old stored bottles regularly, and placing an appropriately sized container of baking soda or food-grade charcoal filter inside the fridge.
