What Drives the Cost of a Wine Cellar
Anyone who gives you a price per bottle before seeing the room is guessing. What we can do honestly is tell you which decisions move the number, and by how much, so you can steer the budget before the drawing is issued.
The six drivers, ranked
| Driver | Impact on cost | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Width and height | High — near-linear with size | Decide the wall first. Every 500 mm is real money. |
| Cooling | High — a step change, not a slope | One cooled zone costs far less than two. Cool what needs cooling. |
| Glass area | Medium to high | Solid panels at the back and sides save both glass and cooling load. |
| Finish | Medium — 63 surfaces span four price bands | A textured or multi-layer finish costs more than brushed. |
| Complexity | Medium — angles, curves, rakes | Every non-90° angle is a separate fold and a separate template. |
| Freight and install | Medium, and it varies by country | Flat-pack modules ship better than one welded unit. |
Why cooling is a step change
A cooled cabinet is not an uncooled cabinet plus a compressor. It adds double glazing, an insulated carcass, a heated perimeter, a controller, a condensate path and a service access panel — and each of those is engineered rather than bought.
It also changes the whole design: the back panel becomes an insulated panel, the plinth becomes a vent, and the plinth vent decides where the cabinet can stand in the room.
Where people overspend
- Cooling a whole wall when only 30 % of it holds wine that will keep.
- Two independent zones on a 60-bottle cabinet.
- A curved wall when a 45° mitre would have read the same.
- Magnum-pitch cradles throughout for four magnums.
- Freestanding glass boxes in rooms where a full-height run against the wall would have held more for less.
How our quoting works
Send three photos and a tape measure. You get your own photos back with the dimensions marked, a 3D drawing within 48 hours, and a fixed price against that drawing.
We do not publish a price list, because two cellars the same size can differ by a factor of two on cooling and glass alone, and a published number would be wrong for almost everyone who read it.
The detail behind the text
From this page to a delivered cabinet
- Made in
- Shunde, Foshan, China — frame, finish and assembly in one workshop
- Frame
- 18 mm stainless sightline, folded to the measured wall
- Materials
- Stainless steel, tempered or low-E glass, felt-lined bottle cradle
- Cooling
- Embraco compressor, 110 V / 60 Hz for the US, 220–240 V elsewhere
- Production
- 30 to 40 days after the 50% production deposit, quoted per project
- Delivery
- Crated, collected by your forwarder, with a numbered setting-out drawing
- Installation
- By your fitter, to our drawing; we dry-fit and inspect before crating
The questions that come up before an order
What is the smallest project you take?
A single under-counter drawer. There is no minimum order, though freight makes small orders proportionally more expensive.
Is it cheaper to build the room locally?
Sometimes. Your contractor forms and finishes the room and we supply the insulated walling, door, racking and cooling as a kit. That is usually the least expensive route and we recommend it when the local trades are competent.
Do you install?
We supply installation drawings and numbered modules. On larger projects we can send a supervisor, and we will tell you honestly which option your project needs.
Send the wall and the bottle count
Three photographs and a tape measure is enough for a scheme, a finish direction and a price. The drawing fee covers the CAD and the visuals.