In article >, bgmanne@hotmail
..com says...
>
>It seems to have been a while since this has been addressed, so which
>do you recommend as better performing and more reliable? I will be
>cooling a 4x6x8 foot closet in Houston -- lots of heat and humidity.
>Am also curious about your thoughts on sizing. Are the smaller units
>rated for 265/300 cu feet (Breezaire/Whisperkool) sufficient for this
>192 cu foot closet, or should I spend a couple hundred more dollars
>for the next size up rated for 650 cu feet? I worry about a smaller
>unit being overworked in Houston. Is this a valid concern or will the
>smaller units be sufficient for a properly built closet? Thanks for
>your replies.

I installed a Whisperkool 8000 to cool a 10x10x10 cellar six years ago. The
cellar is on a lower level in Phoenix, AZ and has 2 earth-bermed wall, one
common wall to the home, and a fourth that is exterior. The exterior wall
faces N and is shielded from any sun by an overhead deck. The walls are super
-insulated with the exterior wall thickness of 10". The unit failed once, very
early on and Whisperkool had a replacement in two days. Since then, it has not
missed a lick. The unit is one step up for the displacement of the cellar and
has maintained 55 +/-1 for these years. I do have to add some humidity,
Phoenix being in the Sonoran Desert, but that is mainly for my cigars, as the
Whisperkool maintains ~50% year around.

I looked into the Breezaire, but elected to go with the Whisperkool and have
been pleased with its preformance. The one problem was handled very quickly
and efficiently. They even upgraded the thermo-couple with the replacement
unit.

I would never recommend against the Breezaire, especially as I have no
experience with that unit.

One caution, is to have a dedicated 20amp electrical mains run to the unit. Do
NOT run it from an existing electrical line.

Maybe it is over-engineering to go up one unit size, but AZ, and especially
one exterior wall posed concerns for me. If you are using the unit in a
totally interior space, and it vents to the interior of an air-conditioned
home, I don't know that the sizing-up would be necessary in your case.

I recommend that you take a look at a book, "How and Why to Build a Wine
Cellar," by Richard M. Gold Ph.D. It covers a lot, that will not directly
effect your decisions, but much that you can draw from. Another source is a
Web site (sorry I do not have the URL, but it is close to www.artsplace.com),
run by a gentleman named Art Straton [SP?]. Google it and visit. Mr Straton (a
contributor to this NG) has an area dedicated to cellar construction. There is
also a additional resourse posted in Reply to your article that sounds like a
very likely source of info, as well.

Good luck,
Hunt

Any questions to hunt @ huntphoto.com (remove spaces at @) Just place Wine
Cellar in Subject, please.