Temp vs. RH

[pierce652]

Still working on stablizing my humidor but still have a few questions.

Ive been able to keep the RH between 68 and 70 by inserting and removing the credo. I definately over whetted the credo at first so it was unable to absorb moisture and besides that I used straight distilled water. I dried most of it with a hairdryer and rewhetted it with 50/50 solution without soaking it. Hopefully this will aliviate me having to put it in and take it out to keep the humidity stable.

However, the temp runs from 70 to 73 degrees since my office has the AC on at times and off at times. The owner of the local shop I frequent tells me not to worry too much. He says that textbook perfect is 70/70 and therefore if the temp goes to 72 and the RH is 68 I still have that balance. Im not sure if this is totally accurate and Im sure there is a cutoff point somewhere. Anyone have any feedback on this.

By the way its a 300 count glass top humi, kept out of direct sunlight and it has 90-100 cigars currently in it.

[RPB67]

65-73 degrees is fine I also like my humidity at around 65 and not the traditional 70. At 65 you will see that the cigars are not as moist and in my opinion smoke alot better.

[Roger Miller"]

Here is something you can read for your consideration:
http://www.cigargroup.com/faq/#5.0a

the main point to take away from this, imho, is that temperature is not the key variable to control -- it is the RH. what RH you chose is a personal preferrence i think. As long as it is in the 63% to 73% range you will be fine.

The effect of temperature is minimal as long as you control the RH. Now, that being said temperature should not reach extreme points. If you can keep it between 60 and 75 you should be just fine.

Temperatures in the 70's are reportedly the range in which beetle eggs will hatch. Though i have never had that problem, knock on wood, you should be aware of it. This thread pretty much covers it:
http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthr...rature+beetles

_____
rm

[poloboy7]

I just recently set up a new humi and have it running at around 68 degrees with 64% RH (stable). Crossing my fingers and hopes that the trend continues.

[Nely]

I agree with Roger Miller.

[Ninja Vanish]

Humidors are definitely not an exact science, most times, even despite your best efforts, the temperature is going to fluctuate as well as the RH, just as long as it stays within an acceptable range for your palate then you are doing fine. The overall norm for humidors is to keep the RH and Temp somewhere between 65/65 and 75/75, I would say that having the temp at 75 degrees is pushing it, in fact I try to keep mine below 73 at the most. The reason for this is because if the temperature gets too high (75+), you risk the chance of the tobacco beetle larva hatching and having them eat up all your smokes. Not a good thing obviously. Therefore I keep my humi at about 70 degrees. I do however like my RH to be a little higher, I like the RH in mine to run about 70-72% just because that is how I prefer my smokes, and it DOES make a difference. Alot of the folks here like their RH to stay around 65%. It's just a matter of preference. Cigars kept at 65% DO smoke differntly than cigars kept at 70%. I would recommend though that you don't ler the RH drop below 65%. Then your getting into the danger zone, most smokes can withstand a few days at an RH of 60% but you risk having the wrappers crack or become unraveled. You just have to experiment a little and decide for yourself what your personal preference is. I would reccomend that you get some "beads" as we call them around here, they are the absolute best for maintaining a consistent RH.