How to turn a mini-fridge into a wine refrigerator

This article explains how to turn your Mini-Fridge into a fully functional Wine Refrigerator. Specialty Wine Refrigerators can be expensive; they range anywhere from two hundred, to a few thousand dollars. So why buy one when you can convert mini-fridge into a perfectly functioning wine refrigerator.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 1 - Mini-Fridge (preferably used in college to store old pizza and beer)
• 1 - Heavy Duty Digital Appliance Timer ($13.98)
• 1 - Refrigerator Thermometer - Digital is best (Ours was $4.99)

1. 

   Buy Refrigerator Thermometer and Heavy Duty Digital Appliance Timer. You can find appliance timers in the appliance section at almost any hardware store. We found ours at Home Depot in the lighting section. Almost any appliance timer will due, although it needs 14 cycles and a three prong input. Refrigerator thermometers very easy to find, they can be found at most any grocery store. Digital thermometers are best, but any refrigerator thermometer will due.

2. 

   Plug the power cord of your mini-fridge into the appliance timer, then plug timer into outlet. Make sure the mini-fridge is at the lowest power setting, and place thermometer in Mini-Fridge. If the temperature gauge reads below ow 55 degrees F, move on to step 3.

3. 

   Set Appliance Timer: Getting the timing right for your mini-fridge will take a bit of trail and error. The appliance time will interchange on and off power settings, which will raise the temperature of the Mini-Fridge to the correct wine storage temp (55 degrees F). We set our timer for two hour increments (2 hours on/ 2 hours off). This raised the Mini-Fridge temperature to 56 degrees F, which is perfect for wine storage. Start with this interval, if the temperature reads too low; adjust intervals to allow longer "off" periods (maybe 1 ½ hours on/ 2 ½ hours off). If the temperature reads too high, adjust intervals to allow longer "on" periods (maybe 2 ½ hours on, 1 ½ hours off).