Another Humidor Temp Question

[Cliff-cl]

Hello everyone!! I have a quick question for those of you in the colder climates. Here in CT it would be out of the question to maintain a constant 70 degrees; unless I wanted to be in the poor house. The problem naturally is when the tempeture in my house drops to 63 degrees as well as my humidor the humidity level also drops. The question is does anyone use a heating device? Or would an electronic humidifier maintain the constant 65% (and don't worry about the low temp).....any suggestions? thanks

[karmaz00]

do you use beads...they make pre set beads...65%/ 70%...?
i also live in the cold country...summer time i use a/c.. but the winter my humis stay around 64-66 and 70%

[DBCcigar]

Get a small space heater and put that and your humidor(s) in a bedroom.

[Patron]

I use active humidifiers (Cigar Oasis) in 2 humidors. They work good in the winter when you're running the furnace as well as in the summer with air conditioning. A lot of the guys use "beads" but I've had an active system in the dry climate of El Paso as well as Chicago, where we get a lot of humidity in the summer. I've just found that the active systems works best for me in all situations and I haven't had any problems and a lot less hassels.

If you're using a set-back thermostat, the air temp in your house might drop to 63 deg. but I'll bet the temp in your humi doesn't fluctuate that much or drop that low. I just found that with the beads I could never get the right balance of moisture on the beads to keep the humidity up and there were very few instances where I had the condition of too much humidity, bearing in mind that I run the furnace and the air conditioning.

I know a lot of the guys swear by the beads and I'm certainly not knocking them....I just found I like the convenience of an active system and I haven't had any problems, I keep my humi's at 62% and they're rock steady, summer & winter.

[Cliff-cl]

Originally Posted by Patron

I use active humidifiers (Cigar Oasis) in 2 humidors. They work good in the winter when you're running the furnace as well as in the summer with air conditioning. A lot of the guys use "beads" but I've had an active system in the dry climate of El Paso as well as Chicago, where we get a lot of humidity in the summer. I've just found that the active systems works best for me in all situations and I haven't had any problems and a lot less hassels.

If you're using a set-back thermostat, the air temp in your house might drop to 63 deg. but I'll bet the temp in your humi doesn't fluctuate that much or drop that low. I just found that with the beads I could never get the right balance of moisture on the beads to keep the humidity up and there were very few instances where I had the condition of too much humidity, bearing in mind that I run the furnace and the air conditioning.

I know a lot of the guys swear by the beads and I'm certainly not knocking them....I just found I like the convenience of an active system and I haven't had any problems, I keep my humi's at 62% and they're rock steady, summer & winter.

The humidor does fluctuate that much according to my digi hydro/temp. I supplement my heat with a wood stove and that raises the temp downstairs in my house relatively fast. I light it when I get home from work (my wife's not very good with keeping it going) and of course it dies down when I go to sleep. So temp range in 24 hrs with it being as cold as it has, ranges from 59 in the middle of the night to 71+/- if the wood stove gets roaring in the evening. Humidity doesn't seem to be the overall prob, it seems to be my lack of being able to maintain a constant heat of 70 degrees. The reason I say it doesn't seem to be the problem is whe my temp does reach 70 degrees my humidity is spot on at 65% to 70% A space heater is out of the question; one) CT has the highest elec. generation rates in the country, two) it's way to hot for me anyway I wouldn't be able to sleep.

Would the active humidification work with the temp ranging as it does over such a short amount of time? Meaning will the humidity stay at 65% wether it's 68 degrees at 7:00 pm and 60 degrees at 1:30 am? And..... does anyone have one of the Humi-Care 79$ dollar jobs from CI? Or do you pay for what you get? THanks!!

[Snake Hips]

You don't need to worry about the temperature fluctuating or even getting to 60 degrees. That won't do anything bad. No, an active system won't maintain your humidity at 65% in differing temperatures, though your hygrometer would say it was. It will keep it at the same RH, but not the same humidity. It's called "relative humidity" because it's...relative. 65% relative humidity in 80 degrees is much more humid than 65% relative humidity in 60 degrees. It doesn't matter though, because I don't think you're planning on aging your cigars long-term.

[Cliff-cl]

Originally Posted by Snake Hips

You don't need to worry about the temperature fluctuating or even getting to 60 degrees. That won't do anything bad. No, an active system won't maintain your humidity at 65% in differing temperatures, though your hygrometer would say it was. It will keep it at the same RH, but not the same humidity. It's called "relative humidity" because it's...relative. 65% relative humidity in 80 degrees is much more humid than 65% relative humidity in 60 degrees. It doesn't matter though, because I don't think you're planning on aging your cigars long-term.

Thanks for the replies; sorry, when I was refering to humidity I should have specified "relative humidity", that 's what I meant. No I'm not looking for long term so to say, but I don't want them cracking or unwrapping when I light them after they've been in the humidor for 3 to 5 months.

So would that be a yes to the electronic humidifier keeping the RH at 65%?

[smakudwn]

Mine Humis are in the basement and it stays about 60-66 down there....i havent had a problem yet.

[Snake Hips]

Originally Posted by Cliff-cl

Thanks for the replies; sorry, when I was refering to humidity I should have specified "relative humidity", that 's what I meant. No I'm not looking for long term so to say, but I don't want them cracking or unwrapping when I light them after they've been in the humidor for 3 to 5 months.

So would that be a yes to the electronic humidifier keeping the RH at 65%?

To answer you simply, yes. But to answer it technically, no. Yes, it will keep it at 65% relative humidity just fine, but the actual humidity at any given time will change with the temperature fluctuations. But I still don't think you need to worry about it. Any system you use, be it beads or an active system will have that issue, and the temperature will be fluctuating in the time period of hours. The humidity won't change rapidly enough to affect your cigars quickly enough to damage anything or cause problems with your smoking.

[docruger]

just add a humi pack and cigars can as cold as freezing and be just fine just dont get over 72 and youll be fine


suck on a Churchill you'll be OK

[Legion]

Glad you asked this question. I have same problem. My house stays cold in the winter..my humi and my coolidor both sitting at around 63-65 degrees. So is a space heater for the room the best way to go?
How much does a low temp affect the aging?

[Snake Hips]

Originally Posted by Legion-cl

Glad you asked this question. I have same problem. My house stays cold in the winter..my humi and my coolidor both sitting at around 63-65 degrees. So is a space heater for the room the best way to go?
How much does a low temp affect the aging?

63-65 degrees is fine. Don't waste your electricity heating the room for that. Lower temperatures slow the aging process. Hard core collectors, particularly those of Habanos, store their cigars in the mid-50s for temperature and humidity when aging for decades.