Is 74 degrees to high?

[floydpink]

I am also in Florida and never have my house below 76-78 degrees, nor do I know anyone or any shop that is the supposed required 70 degrees. I have never been in a tropical location where the shops are 70 degrees and see this subject come up a lot.

I guess it will take a herd of beetles for me to learn my lesson.

[Blueface]

Many will vary in opinion relative to temperature.
As with Funnymantrip and floydpink, I too would worry and try to control it but living in South Florida, there is just no way I can. Just not affordable. So I don't worry.
My home office where my humi is kept runs 76-77 degrees and so does my Aristocrat.
I have stored cigars this way for a while now, since living 11 years in Florida.
Doesn't seem to affect them any from my perspective.
What I do ensure is that I maintain the humidity at 65% as any higher, with that temperature, is not a good mix for my personal preference.

So.....if you can, certainly lower your temperature to the desired 70 or better. For me, that is just not an option 9 months out of the year.

P.S.
In Cuba, my dad would keep them in a nighttable, with a sea sponge, in his bedroom.
They didn't have A/C, just fans.
Florida is hot but Cuba is hotter.
He never had issues.
Go figure.

[garilla]

Tack another Floridian on this list who couldn't possibly afford to keep his house at the "perfect" 70 degrees. Humi reads 74 - 76 degrees with 67 - 68% RH and I've never had any issues.

Only place I can maintain near perfection is my Data Center at work. That humi stays almost exactly at 70/68 for 24x7x365, which is nice.

I've heard fairly consistently that 80 degrees is the real warning buzzer for bettles. Keep it below that, and drop RH a percent or two if you're getting above 76 and you should be fine.

- Garilla

[bobsaget24]

I live in texas and the thermostat usually reads around 75... so my humi varies from 74-76 and I've had no problems thus far.. I have a glass top humi so sometimes I'll place a damp towel on the glass and that will lower the temp 2-3 degrees.. I have 65% beads which work great..

Honestly, from all the reading I've done on this forum, most people are extremely anal about preventing a beetle attack and spend more time worrying about that than they do actually enjoying the hobby... I compare it to a car. Would you buy a nice new car if it even remotely had the chance of getting f'ed up? The answer is yes, you would still buy it because thats the risk you take when you take it out on the street. I view cigar buying the same way.. you can buy some expensive sticks and you may learn a lesson or two, but I mean, it's only money right?

[wharfrathoss]

the people that are "anal" about beetle outbreaks are usually the ones that have experienced it!-my solution is not to "worry" about it, just solve the problem-my house often reaches 80* to 90*, so i store my humis in a cooler w/a blue ice pack in the summer months-cheapest solution i could find (cooler=$20, 2 blue ice packs=$4)-i switch packs out in the AM, & my temp holds between 64* & 69*-i don't spend good $ on cigars to not be able to smoke them-now there's a lot of gorillas on here w/more experience than i have, & if they're comfortable w/their setups, that's what matters-i guess that's the biggest ?, are you comfortable w/yours?-to me the $24 was worth not having to think about it-YMMV

[Junior]

My humidor stays in the 73-74 range with no problems and the humidity stays in the 65% range. If you are really worried about it switch to a cooler mine stays rock solid at 69. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Throb]

Yet another Floridian. 72 during the day (wife controls the thermostat) while we are sleeping (I we both work nights) and 73-75 during the night while we are out. Never had a problem and my humi is jam packed.

If you sense a beetle problem...smoke faster. From what I have read, they only live in tobacco. They dont eat cedar. Smoke em when you get em and rotate stock!

[rgordin]

I wonder about your humidity control. If you have 65% beads, won't they keep sucking the humidity out of the air if you are running an Oasis at 68%?

Last summer I had my humidor at ranges from 73 to 78, with no ill-effects, though I certainly worried about it a lot. I kept the table-top humidor near a vent for the air conditioning. I thought about moving any ISOM cigars into a separate humidor because I had understood they are more prone to a beetle outbreak.

I just got an Aristocrat Mini (pictures soon) and plan to keep it in the basement because of the temperature issue. It certainly is attractive and I am tempted to move it upstairs (even though the basement is finished).

[floydpink]

I'd love to have a head count of the people who have actually suffered a beetle problem and feel it is due to the fact that their humidor was in the 76-80 degree range rather than the optimal 70 degree range.

[WyoBob]

In 18 years, I've never had a beetle problem. But, the pictures I've seen here and on other groups makes me go weak in the knees so I do a "beetle check" every once-in-awhile. I did have a few cigars with beetle holes in them years ago but they'd left the cigars before they came to me and none of my other cigars were infected. I don't blame folks for being concerned. A lot of folks in this group own a cigar collection worth thousands from what I've seen.

I'm lucky. The beads hold 65-66% and my basement seldom gets over 70 degrees.

WyoBob

[Ivory Tower]

I just worry about an adverse effect if the cigars are exposed to frequent, rapid temperature fluctuations. It is not recommended for most other goods that require aging.

[hova45]

That was my reason for buying a cooler and turning it into a coolerdor, I couldn't get the temp down and now that I found out you can use a wine cooler I am going to most def get one although I like my cooler just fine though. I put a pack of blue ice and wrap it in a towel and it keeps it cool.

[JohnnyFlake]

Originally Posted by rgordin

I wonder about your humidity control. If you have 65% beads, won't they keep sucking the humidity out of the air if you are running an Oasis at 68%?

Last summer I had my humidor at ranges from 73 to 78, with no ill-effects, though I certainly worried about it a lot. I kept the table-top humidor near a vent for the air conditioning. I thought about moving any ISOM cigars into a separate humidor because I had understood they are more prone to a beetle outbreak.

I just got an Aristocrat Mini (pictures soon) and plan to keep it in the basement because of the temperature issue. It certainly is attractive and I am tempted to move it upstairs (even though the basement is finished).

The above statement is not correct!!! Legitimate ISOMs are far less prone, to beetle infestation, than NCs from any country.

Johnny

[drawfour]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlake

The above statement is not correct!!! Legitimate ISOMs are far less prone, to beetle infestation, than NCs from any country.

Johnny

But moving them to another humidor could have saved them if the NC's were to have an outbreak.

[Mindflux]

My humidor has been sitting at 80 degrees (65% RH) for months now. I can't get it any cooler, even if the thermostat in the house is set low. I've got no problems with beetles or others that I'm aware of. I want it cooler, no doubt.. but the Texas heat isn't helping.