Wine Cellar Monitoring with AKCP

Oct. 25, 2020 - PRLog -- AKCP (https://www.akcp.com/) provided a wine cellar monitoring solution that includes temperature, humidity (https://www.akcp.com/akcp-products/single-port-temperature-humidity-sensor/), airflow (https://www.akcp.com/akcp-products/air-velocity-transmitter/) and water leak detection (https://www.akcp.com/akcp-products/spotwater-detector/).

Temperature Sensor
Maintaining a stable constant temperature for wine is important. The ideal temperature is between 11°C and 14°C (52°F to 58°F). Higher temperatures accelerate the ageing process of the wine. a general rule of thumb, every 10°C increase doubles the speed of chemical reactions. So a wine that could take 10 years to age could be past its prime in just a few months if stored incorrectly. With fluctuations in temperature, the cork will expand and contract. This results in fresh air being drawn into the bottle and cause oxidization of the wine. The ageing process of wine is a complex series of chemical reactions. You can't simply increase the temperature and age it faster so you can drink it sooner.

Humidity Levels
So we have established that lower temperatures are more suitable for wine storage. However, lower temperatures usually mean drier air with lower humidity levels. Therefore, humidifiers are often employed in newly built wine cellars. In traditional older wine cellars, underground usually provided a damp, cool environment. The aim when building a wine cellar, therefore, is to recreate the type of conditions found in a real cellar. Low humidity results in cracking to the cork. This allows more air to get inside the bottle. With temperature variations this is even worse as the expansion and contraction of the air trapped in the bottle will draw more air into the bottle. However, if your humidity levels are too high (https://www.akcp.com/blog/how-to-monitor-food-storage-war...), then mold and mildew will form, damaging corks, vintage labels and storage crates.

Water Leaks
In modern wine cellars, HVAC (Heating, cooling and ventilation systems) are employed to maintain the correct environmental conditions. These systems can use chilled water or compressed gas. Water leak sensors will indicate if there has been defrosting after ice build-up or the pump has stopped working.

AKCP Wine Cellar Monitoring Solution
The AKCP SP2+ (https://www.akcp.com/akcp-products/sensorprobe-series/sp2...) was deployed together with an air velocity sensor, spot water sensor, dual temperature and humidity sensor. The SP2+ mounted on the wall beside the HVAC chiller system.