Cellar Cooler for Walk-in?

Ok, so my old trusty True refrigerator that I use for my fermenters has either died or is about to. I have a closet in my garage that I am thinking about turning into a small walk-in cooler to use for fermentation and conditioning. Its plenty big enough once I clear all the junk out of it. I'm wondering if using a wine cellar cooling unit would work to maintain the temperature. They are about the same money as one of the portable air conditioners but can be set as low as 52* without having to rig up a ranco and bypass a thermostat. Anybody on here have a wine cellar or have any experience building a small walk-in out of a closet?

Have you read John Beere's thread? He's the absolute king of this kind of project. LOT of good informaiton in there.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11440

Thanks Bird. I'll give it a good read. I may call the Wine Enthusiast and ask some questions about the cooling units as well.

the_bird said:

Have you read John Beere's thread? He's the absolute king of this kind of project. LOT of good informaiton in there.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11440

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Wow! That is awesome!

Reidman said:

Wow! That is awesome!

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Why, thank you...

Hey John B,
I read your post and was quite impressed. I did a little math and figure I'm right at about 100 cubic feet with this closet. I do have a couple of questions for you though.

One, my floor is concrete. From what I read about the wine cellar coolers was that the floor should be insulated as it adds to moisture in the air. Did you add insulation to the floor or just a vapor barrier then plywood? Adding a sub-floor, insulation and then plywood will limit the amount of space greatly.

Two, my walls are already drywalled in the closet and adding 6 inches of insulation on either side of the closet and the ceiling will really make it very small and almost unusable. Could I just use a foam type of insulation instead that was thinner?

I'm thinking of adding a vapor barrier, then foam insulation, then another vapor barrier on top. Maybe, put a vapor barrier and plywood on the floor. I'll run a electric outlet to the back of the closet (it is wedge shaped as it is under a stair case and mount a small AC unit in the back that vents underneath the house.

Does this sound like a feasible idea?