Supplemental humidification

[BigCat]

So winter is reaking havoc on my big desktop humidor. I think it has an average-at-best seal on it and I usually struggle to keep it constant during the winter. Actually, I have to add water to the beads pretty regularly during the summer too, but it at least keeps the humidity up.

Anyway, I want to add something to it to keep humidity up. I have pretty much saturated the beads and put a shot glass of water in there, but haven't had much luck. I am considering one of the following options from CI:

CI Crystal Gel Humidity Bead Jar 2-Fer - Cigars International

Humi-Care HX10 Crystal Gel Rectangle Humidifier - Cigars International


Does anyone have any thoughts on the relative usefulness of these products for my purposes? I'd appreciate hearing any...

[Fortune500]

I'm interested to see the replies to this... I use an overload of Humidity Beads, but it's still hard to get up above about 63% in the winter, no matter what I do.

[shakespeare]

Try moving your humidor to a warmer place. It helps out quite a bit.

[trench123]

Originally Posted by shakespeare

Try moving your humidor to a warmer place. It helps out quite a bit.

I feel your pain. I have a glass top 50-75 count with a digital hygro and 70% RH Crystal Humidification device Xikar beads. I keep them pretty moist and I can't get my humidity above 60%. I too, have put in a shot glass of diastilled H2O hoping to see my humidity rise to above 60%. My humi is in a dark cool area and my temp hovers around 70% consistently. My smokes "seem" to be tolerating it okay but like so many others I'm never certain until I actually smoke them. I have the humi more than 70% filled with smokes which I hear folks say is important for proper humidification to work. stressful....stressful...stressful

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by shakespeare

Try moving your humidor to a warmer place. It helps out quite a bit.

Unfortunately, it is in the warmest part of my home as it is. Thanks for the advice though.

[d_day]

I'm assuming everyone here has done the salt test on their hygrometers. If not, you should probably do that now. You might running higher humidity than you think.

If the salt test has been done, then moving the humidor to a warmer place will help, as was said before.

The seals could certainly be an issue, letting the dry winter air steal all your moisture. I've heard that wetting the seal with distilled water will make it swell slightly, giving a better seal for a while. I'm not sure if this will work without eventually causing damage to your humidor, but other people here may have experience with it.

[zackly]

This time of year in cold weather states keeping r/h up in humidors can be difficult. The smaller the humi the more difficult it seems to be. If you keep your box pretty full of sticks you'll have less of a problem than if you just have a few in there. This year I bought a floor standing 500 stick (declared) capacity. I use a Cigar Oasis XL on the bottom shelf plus a jar of the beads on each of the other two shelves. This morning the box was @ 66%, perfect for me but as the anticipated cold spell deepens and the r/h in the house lessens I expect that number to decrease too. At that poing I can adjust adjust the Oasis upward.
One thing that might help is a humidifiedr for your room or house. I have forced hot air heating (very dry) from an oil burning furnace & I added a whole house humidifier to the furnace outflow for a few hundred bucks. That eliminated static electricity shocks,
helped my sinus condition, kept dust down & just improved the air quality
immensely. I think that would also help keeping your humidor r/h up.

[pimp3leet]

I'm using the CI two jar solution because I couldn't afford the heartfelt beeds at the time. I thought they weren't going to keep my humidity as well as I've heard about the heartfelt beeds.

I can say that I'm not disapointed one bet with the jars. My humidity has stayed a constant 67* since I've put them in there(about two weeks ago). They are still large and filled with water as well and they don't seem like they will need to be filled back up for another two weeks or more..

I would say go with the two jars because for the price, you can't beat them.

[trench123]

Originally Posted by d_day

If the salt test has been done, then moving the humidor to a warmer place will help, as was said before.

Sorry, I missed the "move the humi to a warmer place". I will try that. Appreciate the support.

- trench -

[tx_tuff]

Yes first make sure your hygrometers are reading right, you may be very surprised at what they are really reading compared to wait it really is.

If you have the beads and it isn't keeping it up then I really doubt that the gel will help any better. If the hygrometer reads are good then just try adding another shot glass of water. If you think your seals are not that good you can also some felt on them. I have never tried this but here it works. Good luck.

[BigCat]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I know my hygrometer is right. I may put a little weather stripping on the seal to see how it does, although that does lessen the asthetic value when opening it up. I'll probably give the jars a shot to see if they help. I figure it can't hurt to add another source of moisture.

[montecristo#2]

I actually keep a boveda packet in my glass-top desktop even though I have more than enough beads. If I forget to add water, the packet makes sure everything stays stable.

You might try getting one of the 72% packets to see if that helps raise the RH. I use the 65%, but I don't have humidity issues as my house is typically 55-60% RH, so I don't need to raise it much.

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by montecristo#2

I actually keep a boveda packet in my glass-top desktop even though I have more than enough beads. If I forget to add water, the packet makes sure everything stays stable.

You might try getting one of the 72% packets to see if that helps raise the RH. I use the 65%, but I don't have humidity issues as my house is typically 55-60% RH, so I don't need to raise it much.

I might pick up a boveda pack next time I'm at a b&m and see how that does. Thanks for the suggestion.