WhisperKOOL Products and Product Families

WhisperKOOL Products and Product Families

WhisperKOOL produces world-class wine cellar cooling units. Many of our customers and distributors are familiar with individual WhisperKOOL products. However, they may be unaware that our products come in four different categories. In the following post, we’ll discuss these four product categories and their unique applications.

Self-Contained

Self-contained WhisperKOOL products are, as the name implies, self-contained units. Both the evaporator unit and condenser unit share a single housing. This product family includes our SC Series, Slimline, and non-ducted Extreme ti and tiR units.

Self-contained units are customarily mounted through a wall. The evaporator side of the unit is located in the wine cellar. The condenser side of the unit sits in an adjacent room, such as a utility room.

The advantage of self-contained units is that they are relatively easy to install. Customers don’t need a licensed HVAC tech to install a self-contained unit. They provide excellent cooling power in a compact package.

As with all cooling units, however, it is absolutely vital to have a properly constructed wine cellar. Wine cellars should have adequate insulation. R-13 is the recommended minimum; R-19 is best for interior cellar walls, and R-30 for ceilings and exterior walls. A cellar also needs a vapor barrier. This is a thin sheet of plastic or foam that fully encloses the cellar and prevents water vapor from entering or leaving the cellar. Self-contained units must also have adequate ventilation. Hot exhaust air must have room to dissipate. This will prevent the condenser side of the unit from overheating. WhisperKOOL recommends that self-contained units must have three feet of clearance on all sides. (Five feet is ideal.)

Fully Ducted Self-Contained

Our family of fully ducted self-contained units includes fully ducted Extreme tiR units and the Phantom (pictured).

Fully ducted self-contained units differ from regular self-contained units in one important aspect. Instead of being installed through the wall, they are installed in a remote location such as an attic. The cool air from the evaporator side of the system moves into the cellar via ducting. The warm exhaust air from the condenser moves to the outside of the house or into a utility room or garage, also via ducting.

The obvious advantage of ducting a self-contained unit is that cellar owners don’t have to install the unit in their cellar. This saves space for extra bottles. It also provides more versatile installation options. You can install the unit almost anywhere as long as the location does not exceed 25 duct feet from the cellar. (Fifty feet of ducting is the maximum.) Ducted units are generally quieter than units installed in the cellar.

Ductless Split System

A split system is a cooling system in which the evaporator unit and condensing unit are separate. WhisperKOOL’s line of split systems includes the Ceiling Mount (pictured), Twin Ceiling Mount, Mini Ceiling Mount, the Platinum Mini Split, and ductless versions of the Platinum Split and Twin Platinum Split.

Split systems have several advantages. The evaporator unit mounts to the wall of the cellar (except in the case of Ceiling Mounts, which are mounted in the ceiling). This provides maximum cooling power. The installing technician can install the condensing unit elsewhere, such as an attic or outdoors. This minimizes noise.

Also, in many cases, there’s no convenient, well-ventilated place for a self-contained unit to vent its hot exhaust air. Split systems solve that problem by enabling the condensing unit to be installed in a remote location.

Due to split systems’ technical complexity, however, a qualified HVAC technician must install them.

Ducted Split System

WhisperKOOL’s fully ducted split systems include ducted versions of the Platinum Split and Twin Platinum Split, as well as our Quantum series (pictured)

In some cases, cellar owners don’t want to see or hear their unit in the cellar. Sometimes cellar owners want to save as much wall space as possible for bottles, too. In cases like these, fully ducted split systems might be the best option.

The evaporator unit does not have to be mounted on the wall of the cellar. It can be installed in a remote location and cool air ducted into the cellar. Similarly, the condensing unit does not have to be installed in a convenient venting location such as an attic or a concrete pad outside the building. It can installed almost anywhere with adequate ventilation (as long as the line set does not exceed 100 feet).

These four product families make up WhisperKOOL’s entire product line. As we’ve seen, WhisperKOOL products come in many varieties and different applications. For more information about unit sizing, unit applications, and installation information, please get in touch with our capable sales team at 1 (800) 343-9463, ext. 802. You can also visit our Learning Center for more information.

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