Springtime homes - I really really appreciate your feedback, however you are not entirely correct. I have been reading up on how to set this up and the upper 1/3 to 1/2 of the foundation needs to be insulated to prevent heat transferring from the upper parts of the soil and the exterior foundation. Unfortunately we are forced to either have this at the west or east side of the foundation (one wall) so that creates additional difficulties. It is the bottom portion of the wall and the floor itself that keeps the room cool. The room itself will be close to air tight due to a vapor barrier and a well insulated exterior door entering the room. The walls shared with the house and the ceiling will be VERY will insulated, to the highest R value that we can fit into the space! :) I'm really curious if there is anyone on GardenWeb who has built a passive wine cellar themselves and if they have any specific tips beyond what is standard. There are 3 main questions I have as well. 1. For instance. I wonder if there is a way to separate the concrete floor from the rest of the basement while the foundation is being laid so that there is not any heat transfer through the concrete in the rest of the basement? 2. If one (or two) of the exterior walls are completely under the house and not shared the the rest of the homes foundation, then would their be any difference in how you insulate the concrete from the exterior? 3. And, should I plan for two or three exterior walls? The problem with planning three is that it would make it very difficult to then add a cooling system if this didn't end up working.

The drawer openings into the garage would no doubt break fire codes. It would be a concern upon re-sale should you decide to go that route and would be rectified by removing the drawers and filling them back in to original. You mentioned a door, that would meet fire code regs if you used a solid core door and spring hinges all rated fire stop requirements, similar to a knee wall door to an attic access, drawers mounted behind te door.

I saw this on a friends FB page. I love the idea of the trap door in the floor for a wine cellar or pantry. This one eliminates all the cabinets/appliances you can put in the island though! Here I am making my island bigger and bigger to get more into it!

Our's is a 600lb iron door w/ clear glass. The wine room (frequently called The Blue Zone since it stores veggies and vino!) is under our front stoop. It is technically outdoors so requires an exterior door. The room is all concrete and so far remains about 64°f and 60%RH.. I was hoping for a bit cooler but this isn't too bad and the RH is perfect. We only have a very few bottles of collector level wine and it's all OK in these conditions. The bulk of our wine is $9-$60 daily drinker with an average cost of about $18 / bottle. Half is Cananou and half is a variety but heavy on French and Napa. It is all completely good with this temp. This is far from ideal as a root cellar. We don't typically store stuff for a very long so hopefully it's good enough.