FAQ

A small electronic cartridge that drops into a wine fridge. It reads temperature and humidity 30× per minute, computes vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and actively cycles a built-in humidifier and the wine fridge itself to hold your target precisely. Think of it as the brain your wine fridge has been missing.

Yes. The cartridge handles humidity and air circulation; it relies on a wine fridge or thermoelectric cooler for temperature control. We recommend thermoelectric units (no compressor) for the smoothest temperature curve.

Any 6-bottle-or-larger wine fridge with the shelves removed. Tested in NewAir 12-bottle, Whynter 18-bottle, and Ivation 24-bottle units. If you tell us what model you have we can confirm before you order.

One assembled cartridge, USB-C power cable, quick-start card. You provide the wine fridge and (optionally) a TP-Link Kasa smart plug for fridge cycling.

Plug the cartridge into power. From your phone, join its WiFi network (named "KristiCart-XXXX"), pick your home network from the list, enter your WiFi password. Done. Total time: about 3 minutes.

No. The dashboard is a Progressive Web App served from the cartridge itself. You open it in any browser (Safari, Chrome, etc.) and can optionally "Add to Home Screen" so it looks and behaves like a native app.

No accounts, no cloud, no subscription. Everything runs on your local network. Your cure data never leaves your house unless you choose to forward alerts to a Discord or Slack webhook.

First small batch ships to early orders + waitlist signups in the coming weeks. We'll email you a tracking number when it leaves. Larger batches as we scale production up.

US only for now. International shipping adds enough customs/freight complexity that we want to nail the US launch first.

30 days. If the cartridge doesn't work for your setup, ship it back for a full refund (we cover return shipping). Full details on our Returns page.

Yes — 1-year manufacturer warranty on the cartridge electronics. If something fails through normal use, we repair or replace.

Yes. The same hardware works for cigar humidification (62-72% RH), charcuterie curing, mushroom fruiting, seed storage, and high-end coffee bean storage. Different default recipes, same chassis.

Yes. Save up to 6 named profiles (e.g. "Strain X dry → cure transition"). Export to JSON to share with friends. Import recipes others have shared.

The firmware is owner-flashable — you can read it, modify it, contribute back. Hardware design will be published once first batches ship.

Sensirion SHT45 for temperature and humidity (±0.1°C / ±1% RH accuracy, industry standard). ESP32-S2 microcontroller. SSD1306 OLED for on-cartridge status.

Via a TP-Link Kasa smart plug on the same WiFi network. The cartridge talks to the plug locally (no Kasa cloud) and cycles the fridge based on temperature, with a 5-minute minimum dwell time to protect the compressor.

Download a .bin file, drag-drop onto the dashboard. The cartridge safe-stops actuators, flashes itself, and reboots. About 30 seconds. No developer tools needed.