The 140 Principle and Beetles

[dirletra]

With warmer temperatures coming, the concern for those friendly beetles are at everyones mind. Ive been searching long and hard for the whole 'freezing process' to prevent any eggs/larvae to hatch and have just decided to watch the temp and humidity and only go to freezing if i see any signs of bugs. So I talked to the co-owner at my local B&M and asked him for advice and decided to post this. soo he mentions that you add up the temp and hum to get a cumulative of 140 (hence the standard 70/70). He said the ideal cumulative should be around 130-140. So if your temp is at at 68, your humidity should be in the 62%-72% range to stay with in the cumulative amount. Anywhere close to 150 would be too high and could promote beetles. Has anyone heard truth to this?
So, with this comes another question.. if my humidor is at perfect humidity but the temp is closer to 76, if I balance this by dropping the humidity some, will i be decently safe from beetles? And.. if not, and i can't control the temperature, (if there is no AC in college dorms) what can i do? Is it bad to keep my humidor at 76 degrees?
Thanks All

[SMOKE20]

I have always tried to keep a good 65/65 and everything is fine.

Try to find a cooler place to store your humidors too

[Rev2010]

There is no relative "cumulative" number. It's basically like this, the biggest threat for beetle hatching is temperature. Generally it's thought that keeping your humi no higher than 70° is best. Generally it's best to keep it in the 60's. Scientific studies have found beetles can still indeed hatch in temps that are in the 60's, but there's a heck of a lot less chance and the incubation period goes a whole lot slower. Of course, having too high humidity is the other factor, but temps are the bigger concern.

Now that the weather is warming up I'm going to be using the air conditioner to keep the whole house at no mor ethan 70° to keep both my dogs, and my humi cool.


Rev.

[dirletra]

I understand. If someone doesn't have AC, would the best solution be to freeze the sticks then keep the humidor on the floor bc it's probably coolest there?

[SMOKE20]

Find the coldest and darkest place and put the humidor there

[tx_tuff]

I have always heard that they can hatch if your cigars are stored above 75. I keep my house at 75 during the day, have been smoking cigars for a few years now and have some that have been in my humidors 4 or 5 years withy no problems what so ever. If your room stays at 76 and doesn't go any higher I would not worry about it unless I see a problem.

[karmaz00]

mines around 64-65.....hmmm 75 might be too high....

[dj1340]

Originally Posted by dirletra

With warmer temperatures coming, the concern for those friendly beetles are at everyones mind. Ive been searching long and hard for the whole 'freezing process' to prevent any eggs/larvae to hatch and have just decided to watch the temp and humidity and only go to freezing if i see any signs of bugs. So I talked to the co-owner at my local B&M and asked him for advice and decided to post this. soo he mentions that you add up the temp and hum to get a cumulative of 140 (hence the standard 70/70). He said the ideal cumulative should be around 130-140. So if your temp is at at 68, your humidity should be in the 62%-72% range to stay with in the cumulative amount. Anywhere close to 150 would be too high and could promote beetles. Has anyone heard truth to this?
So, with this comes another question.. if my humidor is at perfect humidity but the temp is closer to 76, if I balance this by dropping the humidity some, will i be decently safe from beetles? And.. if not, and i can't control the temperature, (if there is no AC in college dorms) what can i do? Is it bad to keep my humidor at 76 degrees?
Thanks All

I guess push come to shove you could get a small cooler and rotate small freezer packs through it. Maybe even wrap it in some cloth so as not to expose the cold pak directly. I'm sure there are other ways as well.

[dirletra]

That's an idea. I guess if I keep checking them and there are no problems it'll be good. Just checked the temp in the back bottom of my closet and it's around 73. That's better than 76 so I might just stick with that. As I'm getting more pricey sticks I just wanna store them properly.

[SMOKE20]

keep a good eye on it if you are worried

[uvacom]

Hmm, store your cigars at 110 degrees, 30% RH and let us know how they hold up.

I don't think there's any truth to a "140" rule, and the 70/70 thing is not up to most experienced smokers' preferences either. Actually, I don't think there's a solid RH rule to begin with, because 65% RH at 72 degrees is more moisture than 65% RH at 60 degrees. Absolute humidity would be a better parameter, but I think it must be harder to control/measure.

I suppose it's fair to say though that there is a tiny bit of truth the the rule, for the reasons described above - to keep the same amount of water in a humidor, you need a higher RH for lower temperatures and vice-versa. But that only makes sense within certain limits, obviously.

[Coop D]

now is there "too cold" of storage???

[wolfmonk]

Originally Posted by dj1340

I guess push come to shove you could get a small cooler and rotate small freezer packs through it. Maybe even wrap it in some cloth so as not to expose the cold pak directly. I'm sure there are other ways as well.

I don't have AC either and this idea seems like a good one. Does anyone else have any thoughts regarding how this might work out?

[Rev2010]

Originally Posted by wolfmonk

I don't have AC either and this idea seems like a good one. Does anyone else have any thoughts regarding how this might work out?

Just curious, AC's can be had for super cheap... why not just pick a small one up for $99?


Rev.

[jadeg001]

Originally Posted by Rev2010

Just curious, AC's can be had for super cheap... why not just pick a small one up for $99?


Rev.

The AC units themselves can be quite cheap, but the electricity bill after having them on all day can be quite expensive.