LG Innotek said Sunday it had begun mass production of thermoelectric modules for wine cellars, enabling production of smaller and lighter wine storage units that control temperatures without vibrations that often oxidize the wines.

The thermoelectric module is an electronic cooling and heating component that controls temperatures by supplying electricity to a semiconductor element. It uses the “Peltier effect” in which, when electricity flows to metals of different properties, one side is heated and the other side is cooled, the company explained.

The module has been applied to the recently launched Wine Cellar Mini by LG Electronics.

The width and height of the module are approximately half of those of an A4-sized paper with 8.5 centimeter thickness. Its volume is about 60 percent of the whole compressor volume.

LG’s Wine Cellar Mini, installed with this module, is thus small enough to take up minimum room in the kitchen and can store up to eight wine bottles, the company said.

The thermoelectric module does not use a separate refrigerant and does not cause vibration, it added.

LG Innotek has also used its proprietary high-performance thermoelectric device so that the temperatures can be lowered to 8 Celsius, the optimum temperature for sparking wine, it said.

The company said they will continue to provide purpose-optimized thermoelectric modules for home appliance manufacturers.

“LG Innotek plans to expand its applications to HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) of automobiles from home appliances,” a company official said.

According to research firm Transparency Market Research, the global thermoelectric modules market size is expected to grow from $441.7 million last year to 642.3 million by 2020.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)