Care · Wine
Leaving a Wine Unit Running While the House Is Empty
A wine cabinet and an ice machine want opposite things from an empty house. One is happiest left exactly as it is; the other should not be left making ice that nobody will lift out of the bin.
Written byElena Sandoval
- Role
- Refrigeration technician — cabinet, door and seal work
- In the trade
- 24 years in the trade
- Certification
- EPA 608 certified
Second homes and long trips are when these machines are most often switched off for the wrong reason, usually by somebody being careful with the electricity. The manufacturer’s guides are clear enough about which units that suits.
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Clean the condenser before you leave
A coil furred with dust is a poor thing to leave running in a shut-up house through a hot month. The 400 series wants that job every three to six months anyway, the integrated columns and the Classic cabinets every six to twelve.
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Leave the wine cabinet on
Sub-Zero's own instruction for the 400 series wine cabinets is to keep the power on unless the unit is being serviced. Nothing is gained by switching a cellar off and letting it climb to room temperature for a season.
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Anything you do switch off gets emptied and propped
For an extended absence the undercounter guide has you cut the power at the control panel, empty the cabinet, and block the door slightly open so air moves through it and the interior stays dry.
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Empty the ice bin
Ice left standing fuses into a block, so a machine left cycling into an unused bin is making a problem rather than ice. Discard what is in there and let it fill again when somebody is home.
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A long shutdown on the ice machine is not a one-person job
Sub-Zero's written procedure runs to nine steps: clean and sanitise, kill the supply, drain the reservoir, clear the lines. Disconnecting the supply line and the pump hose is where the owner's half of it ends.
While you are down there
Should the wine cabinet be left running while we are away?
In almost every case, yes. The 400 series guide says to keep power on unless the cabinet is being serviced, and a cellar that sits at room temperature for a season has gained nothing. If it must go off, empty it and prop the door. LA Sub-Zero Repair Pros, (310) 919-2538, will talk it through.
Where the figures come from
- Sub-Zero 400 Series Wine Storage Use and Care Guide — keeping power on unless the cabinet is being serviced, and the condenser interval
- Sub-Zero Undercounter Refrigeration Use and Care Guide — extended absences: power off at the control panel, empty the unit, prop the door
- Sub-Zero UC-15I(P) Ice Maker Use and Care Guide — ice fusing when it is not used, and the prolonged shutdown procedure in full