Forced-Air and Cold-Wall Cooling Systems for Wines

Do you know that your wine collection could also be stored in a wine cabinet, aside from wine cooler refrigerators?

A Wine Cabinet is not a Wine Fridge, but it is similar to a mini bar that is climate-controlled. It is designed not only to replicate the conditions found in the best natural underground wine cellars, without the excavation costs, but it is also designed to blend in with other formal furniture.

It can be made of either durable melamine laminates or hand-crafted wooden exteriors, Adjustable Humidity Control, High Performance Air Filtration System, Top or Rear-Vent Exhaust, Electronic Thermostat, and Foil-backed polyisocyanurate insulation. It can also be made of either forced air or cold wall cooling systems. By controlling humidity, temperature, UV light and ventilation and limiting damaging vibrations as well, you are ensuring, thereby, the maintenance of your wine's quality as well as ensuring your wines mature under optimal conditions and are always served intact.

Two Types of Compressor-Based Cooling Systems Used in Wine Cabinets and Cellars

Forced-air Cooling Systems

By far the most common type of cooling system, the Forced-air cooling systems are typically self-enclosed units mounted at the top of the wine cabinet or cellar. They make use of powerful fans to blow air across cold surfaces, called evaporator coils, and into the wine cooler cabinet. These units are easy to remove, repair and/or replace because they are entirely self-enclosed. One more advantage is these units give more even temperatures and less stratification inside the wine cabinet or cellar.

But, these systems are said to be slightly louder than cold-wall cooling systems when the fans are “on”. Unfortunately, the fans are necessary in creating and maintaining even temperatures throughout the cabinet or cellar.

Cold-wall Cooling Systems

On the other hand, these systems are typically fully-integrated into the construction of the wine cabinets, having compressors placed at the bottom of the cabinet, and evaporator coils running up and down the rear of the cabinet.

However, cold-wall systems sometimes tend to have a difficulty in maintaining even temperatures throughout the cabinet. It also tends to strip too much moisture and humidity from the air inside the cabinet. Also, another disadvantage, cold-wall systems is difficult to replace and expensive to repair as they are integrated into the walls of the wine cabinet.

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Guide to a Proper Wine Cellar Lighting

The lighting option of your wine cellar,  aside from humidity, vibration and temperature, is one of the most important that will determine the quality of your cellar condition as well as your wine collection, either hindering or helping achieve your desired result.

Not only does your wine’s ability to age well, bringing out its best bouquet or aromas, characteristics, flavors, and balance, depend on your management techniques of these factors, but also does your wine’s value, visual appeal and the marketability.

Improper lighting is known to have an adverse effect on the room temperature and consequently on the wine's quality and aging process, promoting premature aging of wine. It can also ruin wine labels as well as detract from the presentation of the wine bottles and the aesthetic of ornamental wine racks.

It is necessary to have a good light in order to stack and organize the wines properly, select the bottles you need, read labels properly and find your way through the wine storage. For commercial purposes, a proper lighting system will enable you to optimally showcase your wine collection to your prospective customers, enhancing the wines’ visual appeal and the marketability of your product.

That’s why the selection of wine cellar lighting must be done with utmost care. So, here are some tips on how you can manage wine cellar lighting well and avoid spoiling/destroying the quality of your wine collection.

To be functional and effective, make sure that your cellar lighting only emits as little heat as possible, while still adequately lighting the space. You can do this by making use of incandescent bulbs or other products which have UV protective coating as they produce less UV lights over fluorescent lights and prevent harmful UV damage to your wine.

You could also use a recessed halogen lighting system with a frosted, tempered glass lens. This can add a dramatic flair to your wine cellar. Use a system with a 12V/20W bulb and a polished aluminum reflector.

Also another ideal wine cellar light is the phantom linear strips. This type of lights can be mounted in many different positions that produce both direct and indirect cove lighting effects such as on the rear interior of the doorway of the wine cellar. From the concealed strips, light then shines back into the room, creating a luminance that appears to grow out of the corridor and intensify as it reaches the bottles. Also, this type of light can function as the main light source in smaller wine cellars and in bigger cellars can be used to make ambient wine cellar lighting that adds an essential element to romance, mystique, and relaxation.

Overall, you must pay close attention to the lighting of your cellar or even your wine fridges. Too much light can actually cause heat, which can stimulate your wine's stable organic compounds thus damaging your wine.


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Taking Care of Your Wines and Your Cellar

In collecting wine, no matter what your motive is, either for pleasure or profit, the crucial aspect to consider is the storage of your wine anthology.

Whether your collection includes the world's most expensive wine for 2012, Penfolds’ 2004 Block 42 housed in 750-ml glass ampoules and priced at $168,000, or just wines from your favorite wine club, your wine collection needs to be protected not only to preserve your investment, no matter what the value, but also to ensure quality.

In wine collecting, you should strive to maintain a balance between building or having the most ideal wine storage such as wine fridge and maintaining not only your collection but also your wine cellar at best condition by taking care of them both every so often.

Not only will the wine diminish in quality or will not last at all, if not cared for, but so will your wine cooler or cellar. Even the most stately and durable wine cellars cannot ward off the termites, scorpions, ants, and other pests that tend to infest cellars if conditions that allow them to thrive exist.

So here are some pointers or good ways on how you can take good care of your wines and wine cellar. 

• Maintain proper cellar lighting. Your collection's exposure to light should be limited. It is best to store wine in a dark room. Do not use fluorescent light as this can be harmful. You can use incandescent bulbs which may be a bit safer than fluorescent bulbs, as they only emit very small amounts of ultraviolet light.

• Keep a stable environment for your wines. Vibration is harmful to wine, as it could possibly disturb the sediment in older wines and keep them from settling, potentially making them unpleasantly gritty. Also, keep the bottles in a horizontal position.

• Have a backup power supply. A sustained power outage could put your wine collection at risk. To protect your investment, try to have a permanent back-up generator.

• Don't let moisture in your cellar. This holds true especially for a wine cellar that is constructed mostly out of wood materials. This is because the cellulose content in the wood in your wine cellar is the food of termites and other pests. And combined with moisture, this will now create the perfect environment for these termites and other similar pests to thrive.

• Clean the wine cooling unit as well as the humidifier often. Check and clean your wine cooling units from time to time to ensure that they are in proper working condition. Also make sure that the unit is free from moisture as moisture can lead to the eventual rusting of your unit as well as be another major source of a termite attack. Also, ensure that your humidifiers should be cleaned out thoroughly and remove the dirt and other foreign elements before replacing them with clean water every day or every other day.

• Insure wine collection if available. Make sure to consider insuring your collection separately as wine collections increase in value. 

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Coping With Fibromyalgia through Massage Chairs

Are you suffering from muscle tension and stiffness?

This may be because of either polymyalgia, which is the cause of pain in your joints and muscles areas or fibromyalgia, which can cause stiffness in the ligaments and tendons.

But in the cause of Fibromyalgia, this is a far more painful condition which can cause fatigue and brittle tendons and ligaments in many different parts the body and with a tendency to become severe due to their size. Fibromyalgia can also have symptoms of spasms and a burning sensation.

Whichever may be the cause, both of these can cause muscle tension and stiffness and have massage chairs as the treatment of choice by a variety of chiropractic doctors.

The muscle tension and stiffness in fibromyalgia can be treated by a massage chair with its function of being able to stretch muscles and restore muscle flexibility. Massage chairs like those massage chair in Sydney can provide these types of therapeutic benefits, thereby helping those with fibromyalgia conditions with relief from pain and discomfort.

As one suffers from fibromyalgia, it is critical that you be able to restore flexibility to your joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments.

However, while attempting to stretch stiff muscles, it is expected that you will feel initial pain and discomfort in the aim to achieve the return of flexibility in these areas.

The basics in the fibromyalgia massage therapy treatment involve building up a routine that is sustainable. More importantly, it aims at restoring your muscle’s flexibility step by step. With a massage chair, being always available irrespective of circumstances, it can hence be very beneficial to the recovery process.

Likewise, these chairs can also be used as soon as the symptoms flare up, providing you a massage therapy to that specific location or others where needed.

Take note, before you start any new routines, you are advised to consult a health care professional, who can provide you with information such as diet, exercise, stretching, and massage chair therapy.

Also, when doing your routine, you must first do light stretching. This will assist the major muscles which are stiff as well as build endurance and strength. Once you are done performing light exercises, you can now let the massage chair therapy rejuvenate your muscles and joints along with giving you an overall feeling of relaxation and relief.

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Top 5 Guidelines for Designing a Wine Cellar

Collecting wine is not only about purchasing the best wine anthology but the crucial aspect to consider is the storage of the collection.

Aside from being perishable, wine is a sensitive responsive sentient-like entity. It goes through stages of infancy, maturity and old age and is strongly affected by environmental factors.

Not all wines are created equal. Some wines reach maturity very quickly while others get better and mature to their best taste with age. So ideally, wines should be cared for properly in a cool, damp storage area that is perfect for the aging of expensive wines, maximizing on the life, flavor, aroma and palatability of the wine.

Wine cellars are the perfect way to store all types of wine, enabling you the benefit of having control on the three important factors necessary for optimal storage such as the aging, temperature and humidity, that, when properly done, will let your wine to evolve to its full potential.

Intended to protect the wine, a wine cellar cannot only let you enjoy wine at the perfect temperature, with the perfect taste, aroma and flavor but also it can benefit you by having a tidy and stylish storage facility as well.

In designing you wine cellar, make sure it suits your space and your lifestyle.

Here are some Ideas and Guidelines to achieve a better looking and functional cellar.

1.   Know first where the cellar will be located including its dimension

Determine exactly where in your house is the ideal location to put your wine cellar. If you have the luxury of starting from scratch, choose a space that is not exposed directly to the sun or near the center part of your home. Make sure also to choose a space or room that has a space next to it that can handle the exhaust from the cooling unit. This means that the adjacent space should be large enough to dissipate the warm air that is discharged, and preferably has a source of fresh air.

Then, determine the planned finished dimensions of your wine room. Include the ceiling height and location of your wine cooling system and wine cellar door. Also, make an estimate of the number of bottles that you would like your wine cellar to hold.

2.   Prepare the best racking elements and fridges

Decide on the racking elements and features you want in your wine cellar. Wine racks can be made of metal or wood. Choosing wine racks, and the wine storage is primarily a matter of personal taste. Metal racks tend to be more flamboyant and stylish while the wood racks are oftentimes considered more classic and traditional in style. Though both kinds of rack are attractive to look at, it may be preferable to select racks that match the rest of the chosen wine storage solution. These final choices will be influenced to a certain degree by whether or not you intend to show off your wine cellar to friends and colleagues. If it is, then you need your wine cellars and elements to appear more coordinated and stylish. Don’t forget that racks should store the bottles on their sides and wooden racks are better in that they don’t permit ‘cold spots’ on your bottles.

3.   Plan a design that will compliment your house

Make sure that your cellar design is coordinated and suitable to your house. Your design should be stylish and elegant, adding beauty to your house. You can stamp your own personal touch in designing by choosing the perfect colors, accents and styles to make the cellar your own and to complement your house.

4.   Invest on the best wall and floor insulation

The decor theme of your cellar will determine the interior wall and ceiling design. The best choice is rot and mildew resistant walls such as drywall, green board or Redwood. Though the most resistant to moisture and mold; green board is the more expensive than standard drywall. You can also use good quality paint, like latex as will not only hold up through the years and not require the owner to repaint the walls; it can also be applied to create an "aged" effect.

Similarly with wall coverings, choose also flooring that match the overall decor colors of your wine cellar. The most commonly used types of flooring are slate, tile, marble, and vinyl. You can also use travertine with a few decorative tiles in the center. Don’t place carpet, as mold and mildew will show up very quickly in the cool, damp climate conditions of a cellar.

5.   Plan on a budget

Building a wine cellar could be expensive, so make sure to determine how much you’re willing to cash out.

There is also one other alternative to a traditional wine cellar that exists for those who want to protect their wines, but don't want to invest in the more expensive cellars or simply don’t have the space, and this is a wine fridge.

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Review on Different Wine Fridges for Australians

If you have a wine collection that you don't want to ruin but you don’t have the space or the money to build your own wine cellar, it is worthwhile to invest in a wine fridge as an alternative.

Designed to create the best long-term environment for storing wines, wine fridge or also known as wine chiller is intended to store dozens of bottles at selected temperatures.

Wine fridges are most useful for those who don't have a wine cellar, as these larger refrigerator style units can replicate temperature and humidity conditions that are ideal in storing wines. Wines are perishable beverages and are easily influenced by environment stresses, such as temperature change, sunlight, dryness and vibrations. Thus, it will enable fine wines to mature at a steady rate and also prevent them from spoiling.

Most units will enable you to choose their ideal temperature of wine and there are even some units that have options that will enable you to control two separate areas for different wines. There are also some units that are controlled by a thermostat.

Wine Fridges vary in STYLE and FEATURES. Here are some of them:

Dual Zone Wine Fridge (270 L and 450 L)

This type of wine refrigerator features two temperature compartments, which could create the ideal storage environment for both red and white wines. Any dual zone unit is primarily intended to have a section designated for service temperature. Most times, a dual zone wine chiller is made for white wine service (41-50 degrees), but there are certain units that can have a section for red wine service (57-65 degrees).  There are also those which you can use half for storage of all wines and the other half for service of usually whites. These units may come from 115 bottle capacity (based on 750ml bottles) for 270L fridge to up to 160 Bottles for 450L fridge.

Single Zone Wine Fridge (270 L and 450 L)

This type of wine refrigerator have only one temp unit compartment. Similar with the dual zone, these units also come in bottle capacity of 115 (based on 750ml bottles) for 270L fridge to up to 160 Bottles for 450L fridge. This type of fridge is ideal for those who are laying wines down for the long haul and aren’t really looking to utilize a service option.

70 L Wine Fridge

This type of wine refrigerator has up to a 28-bottle capacity based on 750ml bottles. This unit has only one temperature compartment.

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How Do Massage Chairs Relieve Back Pain?

Back pain is one of the most common and most frequent complaints why people go to the doctor or miss work.

Back pain can affect people of any age, but it is significantly more common among adults aged between 35 and 55 years. There are several factors that increase your risk of developing back pain. These include obesity, older age, smoking, being female, pregnancy, anxiety, depression, a sedentary lifestyle, a mentally stressful job and physically strenuous work.

According to some studies, it suggests that as many as 85% of back pain cases have no physical cause or the mechanisms by which these conditions might cause pain are not known.

There are also some studies that indicate that psychosocial factors such as on-the-job stress and dysfunctional family relationships may more closely have an association with back pain than structural abnormalities examined in x-rays and other medical imaging scans.

On the bright side, back pain does not usually require immediate medical intervention. There are some measures or alternative home treatment available that you can take to prevent or ease symptoms of most back pain episodes. And one of these well-known alternatives is a massage.

In fact, it is well-known that a good massage can do wonders not only for relieving tension but also for back pain.

However, a therapeutic massage is not always convenient or available and if done daily could be costly in the long run. Thus, while getting a massage from a licensed massage therapist is still best, there is now a much better substitute available in terms of convenience, cost-effectiveness, portability and efficiency and privacy yet still providing the benefits of the human touch, the massage chairs.

Through the study of the human body and analysis of feedback, massage chairs are designed to provide different types of massage strokes.

Typically, three basic types of massage are available in these chairs. These include the shiatsu massage, which makes use of a tapping and kneading method along the body’s acupressure points; the Swedish massage, which uses a longer stroke instead of tapping, but includes squeezing and kneading, with an addition of heat; and the Hawaiian massage, which is the gentlest that uses light tapping, sway, and stroking.

The manipulating, rubbing, and stroking of muscles in a rhythm of a massage chair are known to be largely responsible for better circulation. With better blood flow, it will generate more oxygen and nutrients that have a key role in aiding muscles to remove waste products like lactic acid that may collect in muscles from spasms resulting in pain. Thus, these chairs cannot only aid to your muscle spasm but also eases pain and tension on your muscles.

Comprehensive research has demonstrated that using a massage chair like a massage chair in Sydney on a regular basis will improve venous and lymphatic flow thus improving blood circulation, decrease and ease body tensions, ease body aches and pains, relieve mental stress, reduce high blood pressure, improves flexibility, and provide you a full and relaxing body massage whenever you feel you it is necessary.

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