Are hygrometers obsolete?

[Will_S]

If you have beads and keep them humidified, but not over humidified so that they can't absorb water, and you have sufficient beads to cover the cubic area of your container, who needs a hygrometer?

I have a tupperdore, a container for longer term storage and an empty A. fuente cigar box that I am using as a desktop humi and all seems to stay properly humidified with just beads and a drymistat.

[NCRadioMan]

Alot of people rely on how the cigars feel so while, I think, they are not obsolete they are not always needed. And beads make it easier too.

[mustang1]

I have a digi hygrometer in the fridgedor along with my beads. You can't always tell the exact RH by looking at the beads. (If they are turning mostly white or clear) Overhumidification could be an issue too. My is always use a digi, think of it as inexpensive insurance.

And I'd rethink using an empty cigar box for a desktop. Those things don't seal like a real humi. You can get one for like $30, even the lesser quality ones will maintain RH much better than the A. Fuente box.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Originally Posted by Will_S

If you have beads and keep them humidified, but not over humidified so that they can't absorb water, and you have sufficient beads to cover the cubic area of your container, who needs a hygrometer?

I have a tupperdore, a container for longer term storage and an empty A. fuente cigar box that I am using as a desktop humi and all seems to stay properly humidified with just beads and a drymistat.

How do you know they are properly humidified ?

[montecristo#2]

I think it is going to depend on your climate and how anal you are.

I really don't go off of the color of my beads, so I depend on my hygrometers. Out here in San Francisco, the RH ranges from 60-70% depending on the time of year. So my 65% beads are almost completely dry these days and my humidors are still at 65-66% - since the RH in the room is around 65-70%. Normally I would add more water, but there is no need.

Of course, when the humidity ranges between 60-70%, you really don't need a humidor.

[dantzig]

1) That A. Fuente box might not be a suitable desktop humidor. The ones I have are nice boxes but definitely do not seal tight enough to use as a humidor.

2) Hygrometers add piece of mind. You can tell if something is wrong by what they read. Is your humidor not sealed well enough? Are your beads too wet or dry? Were those sticks you got from CI shipped dripping wet? I don't have a hygrometer in one of my humidors right now and it's fine. I do check it with a hygrometer from another humidor about once a week but so far it's always been stable and all of the cigars in it have smoked great.

[Will_S]

Originally Posted by mustang1

I have a digi hygrometer in the fridgedor along with my beads. You can't always tell the exact RH by looking at the beads. (If they are turning mostly white or clear) Overhumidification could be an issue too. My is always use a digi, think of it as inexpensive insurance.

And I'd rethink using an empty cigar box for a desktop. Those things don't seal like a real humi. You can get one for like $30, even the lesser quality ones will maintain RH much better than the A. Fuente box.

I don't worry too much about over humidification, I figure if I keep the beads about 3/4 saturated that will be plenty of margin for absorption.

I only keep about a weeks worth of smokes in the feunte box, the drimistat tube in the box is gradually losing volume so I think its humidifying. The clasp on the box is pretty tight too, so I think itll be ok.

All that said, when summer comes all my cigars will likely be over humidified, no way to avoid that in a non ac environment in cleveland oh in the summer. Tons of beads I guess

[Hammerhead]

I don't believe hygrometers are obsolete at all. Beads are the most sophisticated technology we have now to stabilize RH, but you still need a guide to tell you when they need replenishment. They're not self-sustaining.

[zmancbr]

Originally Posted by mustang1

I have a digi hygrometer in the fridgedor along with my beads. You can't always tell the exact RH by looking at the beads. (If they are turning mostly white or clear) Overhumidification could be an issue too. My is always use a digi, think of it as inexpensive insurance.

And I'd rethink using an empty cigar box for a desktop. Those things don't seal like a real humi. You can get one for like $30, even the lesser quality ones will maintain RH much better than the A. Fuente box.

I have to have a digital in both of mine just for piece of mind. Not to mention I have my beads in credos and they have a layer of pantyhose covering them so I can't always tell if they are white or clear. I tend to rely on my digi to let me know when the humidity is dropping then I know its time to re-wet the beads.

[gnukfu]

Because if you are an anal retentive engineer you get antsy without data. I was thinking of hooking up a web cam to monitor the interior of my cooler from work (that's a joke....I think).

[mustang1]

Originally Posted by gnukfu

Because if you are an anal retentive engineer you get antsy without data. I was thinking of hooking up a web cam to monitor the interior of my cooler from work (that's a joke....I think).

Let me know how this works out, I've often wondered what my sticks were doing when I was away.

[JohnnyFlake]

A decent hygrometer is just a tool to use in the never ending quest to keep your cigars properly humidified, for either short term storage, or longer term aging. The beads, or whatever you use for your oasis, is also a tool, as is an Oust Fan or something similar, and so on. There are far too many "ifs" and other factors, to ever be without a hygrometer or any of the other tools!

[Gizzy]

Originally Posted by gnukfu

Because if you are an anal retentive engineer you get antsy without data. I was thinking of hooking up a web cam to monitor the interior of my cooler from work (that's a joke....I think).

There are network dedicated temp/RH sensors with built in ethernet/lan interface and SMTP server hehe
http://thermoworks.com/index.html

they also make the amazing Thermapen...great for low & slow bbq'ing

But for everyone else one of those on sale for $20 oregon scientific Starck weatherstations is the best deal and really can't be beat.

[SUOrangeGuy]

I have two digital hygrometers in my main humi. They help me make sure that the humidity is evenly distributed.

If you have any amount of cigars spending approx $25.00 to help ensure their proper storage is a non-issue.

[gnukfu]

Originally Posted by Gizzy

There are network dedicated temp/RH sensors with built in ethernet/lan interface and SMTP server hehe
http://thermoworks.com/index.html

they also make the amazing Thermapen...great for low & slow bbq'ing

But for everyone else one of those on sale for $20 oregon scientific Starck weatherstations is the best deal and really can't be beat.

Oooh with a datalogger!