What’s the Difference between Thermoelectric and Compressor Wine Coolers?

a compressor wine cooler is on the ground

Figure 1: A compressor wine cooler is in the room.

When it comes to the wine cabinet, it is very familiar to us, and some families have one. How much do you know about the wine cabinet? Do you understand the difference between the thermoelectric wine cooler and the compressor wine cooler?

And this article will take you to look at the two types of wine coolers as well as their differences.

A wine cooler is an appliance that imitates the natural storage conditions of wine, and it can also be a small bionic wine cellar, which is different from the wine cabinet that is usually for the display of wine.

The wine cooler is used for storing wine. Because the wine cooler is in constant temperature, it is also called the constant temperature wine cabinet.

What is Electric Wine Cabinet?

The electric wine cabinet can be divided into the thermoelectric wine cooler and compressor wine cooler. And the compressor wine cooler includes the direct cooling wine cooler and air cooling wine cooler.

Working Principle of Thermoelectric Wine Coolers

The thermoelectric wine cooler is a wine cabinet with semiconductor cooling chip thermoelectric refrigeration as the refrigeration system.

Figure 2: A thermoelectric wine cooler for 8 bottles of wine.

There are three common refrigeration methods, including vapour-compression refrigeration, absorption refrigeration, and thermoelectric refrigeration. Thermoelectric wine coolers generally adopt vapour-compression refrigeration and thermoelectric refrigeration systems.

The DC thermoelectric cooler absorbs electric heat to cool inside the cabinet, and after a few minutes, there can be a small range on a layer of frost.

Working Principle of Compressor Wine Coolers

A compressor wine cooler is the electric wine cabinet cooled by the refrigeration compressor. The refrigeration system consists of four basic components, including a compressor, a condenser, throttling parts, and an evaporator. The four components are connected into a closed system by the copper pipe in order, and the system is filled with a certain amount of refrigerant.

Figure 3: The refrigeration system includes a compressor, a condenser, a expansion valve, and an evaporator.

Difference between Thermoelectric and Compressor Wine Coolers

Users

In general, if you need to store your wine of various kinds for a long time, you should choose the compressor wine cooler. But if you only want temporary storage, you can choose the thermoelectric wine cooler.

Storage Capacity

The thermoelectric wine cooler is generally in small volume and with small capacity, while the compressor wine cooler is in larger volume, and with multi-capacity storage. The thermoelectric wine cooler is delicate and light, while the compressor wine cooler is heavy and thick.

Refrigeration Effect

The thermoelectric wine cooler can only achieve the temperature control of 10-18 ℃. But the compressor wine cooler can achieve temperature control of 5-22 ℃. The compressor wine cooler is little affected by the external environment temperature, but the temperature difference between the surface and the interior of the thermoelectric wine cooler is limited.

Therefore, the compressor wine cooler is more suitable for storing all kinds of wine, which is more practical, within a more accurate controllable temperature scale, and less affected by the environment.

Refrigeration System

A compressor wine cooler applies a refrigeration compressor system. However, a thermoelectric wine cooler uses a thermoelectric cooling method, electrifying the refrigeration chip to produce air that separates the hot and cold air. As a result, the cold air remains in the wine cabinet, while the hot air is discharged to the outside through a fan.

Figure 4: A thermoelectric cooler.

We have summarized the difference between the thermoelectric wine cooler and the compressor wine cooler here. Besides, here is a table for you to check, which is clearer.

	Compressor wine cooler	Thermoelectric wine cooler	Comparison
Refrigeration mode	Compressor refrigeration	Semiconductor refrigeration	The thermoelectric wine cooler has no vibration, no noise, and no pollution. The compressor wine cooler can cool the wine fast with a good refrigeration effect, stable performance, and long service life.
Refrigeration efficiency	High	Low	The refrigeration time of the compressor is about 20% - 30% of the thermoelectric refrigeration.
Temperature range	5~22℃	10 ~ 18 ℃ or 12 ~ 22 ℃	The temperature control range of a compressor wine cooler is larger.
Service life	8-10 years	3-5 years	The service life of the compressor wine cooler is two to three times that of the thermoelectric wine cooler.
Temperature zone setting	Dual or multi-temperature zones	No	Generally, only the compressor wine cooler can be divided into dual temperature zones or multi-temperature zones.
Humidity control	≥65%	≥50%	Compressor wine cooler humidity control is superior to the thermoelectric wine cooler, more conducive to the storage of wine.
Weight	Heavy	Light	The compressor wine cooler is heavier and is not easy to move or transport.
Price	High	Low	The price of a compressor wine cooler is generally 1 ~ 2 times that of a thermoelectric wine cooler.
Vibration	Yes	No	The thermoelectric wine cooler has no vibration and has a superior shock absorption function. The compressor wine cooler has some vibration due to the operation of the compressor, which is acceptable.
Noise level	High	Low	Due to the operation of fans and compressors, the noise of the compressor wine cooler will be greater, but it will not affect the wine storage and people's life.