Is 74 degrees to high?

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Originally Posted by 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.

Some people try using those reusable cooling packs for keeping cans cold, etc... Wrap them in a towel, place a few on top of your humi. Maybe even inside, if it won't come in direct contact with the cigars.

Dunno how long they'll last, but it might be worth a shot.

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No. Just watch that the higher temps don't also raise the humidity; warm air holds more water, so the gauge will read the same RH for the greater quantity/volume. Then when things cool off, the humidity in the box and in the cigars goes up, perhaps soggily so.

It routinely gets 80-90 deg in the house in summer (I have a/c, but the occurrence of that sort of heat makes it unworth futzing with it or paying the juice bill), and my smaller boxes will track that somewhat, but the larger ones are for aging so don't get opened for more than swapouts and inspection, so they don't go up appreciably in the day and cool back down at night.

If your box(es) routinely go over 80 deg, check daily for beetles, esp. in new shipments, for several days until you're sure they're "clean." If you find any bugs or chewing, put /all/ the cigars from that box in the freezer for 24 hours without unwrapping the sticks or mazos (you'll only spread the eggs). Swab the humidor with a barely-damp sponge of white vinegar and leave it open (upside down) until you put the cigars back in. Brush off the bugs or not, the eggs are dead and can be ignored -- and you wouldn't find them anyway.

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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).

Any passive humidity regulator or dehumidifier (beads, gel, dry crystals, liquids) will suck up water until their system equals the surround. If "65%" beads are in the same box with a (powered, replenished) Oasis at 68%, the beads (passive) are sitting quite happily at 68%.

The Aristocrat, you place in the middle of the living room or in front of the TV -- and brag about it and point to it a lot.
"Basement"? Hang your head.

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Originally Posted by 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.

The number of households that drop largeish furniture on the boulevard continues to astonish me, but not so terribly that I don't drag the stuff home on occasion. This includes the so-handy, six-drawer, lowboy clothes bureau and five- or six-drawer vertical-inline dresser.

The lowboy fits under the TV, and there's almost always space in the bedroom, living room, or office for another vertical dresser.
And you don't even hafta use all the drawers for cigars.

If the thing has an open bottom (most don't), staple a heavy cardboard or oilcloth across the bottom -- or leave it on the boulevard and try the next block.
Get a large (4x6x2") cellulose sponge (kitchenwares or dish-soap aisle) and put it in a Tupper/Glad tub (open or with holes) or TV dinner tray in a (both, if necessary) center drawer(s).
Calibrate three-four large, cheap, dial hygrometers (I LUUUve the kind with the little temp dial at the bottom) and put them in the corner drawers on top of whatever fits where you can see 'em.

For cooling, do the same with a "Blue Pak" or two -- in drip-trays -- in the /top/ drawer(s), but if the temp is not pushing 80 deg, I wouldn't futz with it.

The sheer size of the thing resists daily temperature changes, and that big sponge(s) can be fed with "RV antifreeze (potable)," which is merely your 50/50 propylene glycol (NOT radiator antifreeze, ethylene glycol, RTFL!) Cigar Juce dyed pink for about four bucks/gallon.

Inspect routinely -- as always -- but esp. The Stuff You Never Look At.

Enjoy.