I have a cold room in our finished basement. Primary use is as a wine cellar and for other food. In winter it gets too cold (40F) and in summer can hit mid 70's, which is not good for my wine collection. If I punch a hole on one side of the cinder block wall, just under the poured concrete pad, I will be at ground level outside. Does the cellar need to be vented to the outside and on one side or both? I was thinking of just using some 2-3" pipe, and use some elbows to create a snorkel to get the outside vent area above ground level.
Answer:
That takes too much trouble when you can core a 4" hole and use venting material on the market for your needs. Cold room should be fitted with four-inch ducts leading from the existing hole(s) in the upper walls to within six inches of the floor. These ducts should be fitted with appropriate dampers to control temperature in there. The ceiling could then be insulated with 2”, rigid foam and the same material applied to the exterior walls going down far enough to be roughly a foot below exterior grade level. Insulation in here should be rigid foam at least two inches thick on the ceiling and on all walls. The exterior walls would only need it to a depth equal to a foot lower than exterior grade level but the door and interior wall should have it all the way down to the floor. Do a tight-fitting job on the ceiling first and then the walls. You might want to consider two 4" ducts for a floor area that size.
