Okay, I’m now four days in on using a wine cooler as a cheese fridge and here is my take on it…
#1. it is not the perfect solution…..
It does keep the cheese at a lot better aging temperature than my regular fridge but as I said it’s not perfect.
The upper temp range of this particular fridge is about 50 degrees F. I know that is within the acceptable limit but I was hoping for at least a 55 - 60 degree F upper limit. The lower limit seems to be about 45 degrees F so it’s still better than my regular fridge which will not go above 41 degrees no matter what I do.

#2.  It is extremely difficult to control the humidity in the fridge.
If I have nothing but waxed cheeses in the fridge I run in the 75% humidity range but as soon as I introduce an unwaxed cheese the humidity flies up to over 99% and I have found no way to control this.

All in all I guess I am satisfied with this fridge in that I only paid $130.00 for it (shipping and tax included) and it will hold right around 23 of my 6” round cheeses. There’s no doubt that it’s better than what I had but I was just hoping for a little more.

By the way, if anyone is thinking about using one of these, the one I purchased is a Danby, 17 bottle cooler from Wal Mart. The selling price is $114.00 but of course taxes and shipping raise the price by a bit.

I think it will be perfect for long range aging of my waxed cheeses as long as I can figure out how to control the humidity level within the fridge. Right now I’m trying a bowl of water in the bottom of the fridge to see if it will get me into the 80% to 85% range.

Hope this information helps someone who is considering this low cost option.
Dave

Still would like to know how much it adds to the power bill, guess it depends on were u live. Thanks for the info

You could still use a thermostat to get the perfect temp; but that will add a bit to your cost.

Neil….
All I can tell you about the cost is that this unit is energy star compliant and in comparison to our normal family fridge, the run time is negligible. I’d guess that it might run once per hour at two minutes each time. Since we have very inexpensive electrical service (less than a penny a KWH) this does not concern me at all.
I’m used to running a pool pump during the summer months so this seems like nothing in comparison. Besides, what is cost when it comes to making good cheese?
Rich:
You do have a good idea with the thermostat. I’m not sure that I want to shell out another $60.00 + shipping to get the perfect temperature ( I know, this totally contradicts what I just said to Neil) but it is something to keep in mind for the future.
All in all, I am happy with this purchase and in fact just called a local seller to purchase a 17 bottle wine cooler for half the price of new. This way I can have one fridge for my regular waxed cheeses and another for my blues.
Thanks for the input.
Dave

I now have my second wine fridge up and running. In the first one I have all of my waxed cheeses and am keeping it at about 50 degrees F.
In the second I have my stilton and plan on also adding a couple of more over the next few weeks.
I plan on using one for my waxed cheeses and the other for my rind washed and mold type cheeses. I’m a little concerned about keeping say a Stilton and a Brie in the same fridge (especially since it’s in such a small space).
I might just put my brie in with my waxed cheeses since the likliehood of cross contamination would be minimal. The main thing I want to keep from happening is seeing one of my Goudas or Provolones with a blue coating.
I’m pretty happy with these little refrigerators. They aren’t perfect but they are much better than what I had before. Besides, the large, clear glass doors show off my wheels of cheese really well and has made them quite a conversation piece with visitors.
Dave

Looked at some at wallmart, 100$ for a nice bar fridge, no way I can afford it though :( will have to wait.