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Temp controlled humi

Jesuswept

Jesuswept

Oh, the horror!
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
146
Location
Michigan
I was looking around Avallo and was wondering about this. I remember seeing that if your cigars are kept cold they won't properly age. What would be the point of a cooled humidor? I wonder how cold that thing actually gets.

edt# spelln
 
The advantage of a temperature controlled humidor is that.....the temperature is controlled..!! (Cue the music.... :laugh: ).

Ok, seriously, low temps are usually not an issue as long as humidity is controlled properly. Aging may or may not slow down at lower temperatures; I think you can find plenty of opinions on that one. But, there is little doubt that as temperatures climb, the chances for a tobacco beetle hatch increase right along with them. It's generally considered that maintaining a temperature below 70F is important. I don't think this will absolutely prevent a beetle hatch, but it greatly minimizes it.

We don't have AC here in the Pacific Northwest because it never gets "hot" for more than a few weeks in the summer, and one of the benefits here is that it always cools way down at night. I made the investment in a Staebell Aristocrat cooled humidor to protect my smokes, and couldn't be happier. It runs a very steady 68F / 65% and all I do is check the humidifier wicks for any mold and add distilledwater every couple of months. I seem to have to replace the humidifier wicks every other water add, so that's not bad at all.

Love my cabinet - a solid investment to protect those tasty smokes:

full_humi.jpg


Cheers - B.B.S.
 
The people that invest in a cooled cabinet are generally fighting temperatures that are too high. I know that prior to building my cooled cabinet I could have temperatures that exceeded 80 degrees in my old cabinet and this is not really good for the cigars. Getting the temp back down to 70 was important for the well being of my cigars.
 
BlindedByScience said:
The advantage of a temperature controlled humidor is that.....the temperature is controlled..!! (Cue the music.... :laugh: ).

Ok, seriously, low temps are usually not an issue as long as humidity is controlled properly. Aging may or may not slow down at lower temperatures; I think you can find plenty of opinions on that one. But, there is little doubt that as temperatures climb, the chances for a tobacco beetle hatch increase right along with them. It's generally considered that maintaining a temperature below 70F is important. I don't think this will absolutely prevent a beetle hatch, but it greatly minimizes it.

We don't have AC here in the Pacific Northwest because it never gets "hot" for more than a few weeks in the summer, and one of the benefits here is that it always cools way down at night. I made the investment in a Staebell Aristocrat cooled humidor to protect my smokes, and couldn't be happier. It runs a very steady 68F / 65% and all I do is check the humidifier wicks for any mold and add distilledwater every couple of months. I seem to have to replace the humidifier wicks every other water add, so that's not bad at all.

Love my cabinet - a solid investment to protect those tasty smokes:

full_humi.jpg


Cheers - B.B.S.
Click to expand...

When is your sabbatical again? :whistling:

Road trip in order I think! :D
 
BBS- I see you still keep beads in your humidor... May I ask why?

PS: Sorry for the thread-jack!

Regards,

BT
 
BahamaTom said:
BBS- I see you still keep beads in your humidor... May I ask why?

PS: Sorry for the thread-jack!

Regards,

BT
Click to expand...
Buffers the humidity when the pelts run hard; only really need them in the dregs of summer. I had them in my cooler(s) so they were "free", basically.
 
Jesuswept said:
I was looking around Avallo and was wondering about this. I remember seeing that if your cigars are kept cold they won't properly age. What would be the point of a cooled humidor? I wonder how cold that thing actually gets.
Click to expand...


I use a wine refrigerator which is in essence a cooled humidor. I do it to fight summer temps in the low 80's in the upstairs of the house. We like to keep some of our money so while we do run the AC we set the summer daytime AC temp at about 80. 80 degrees is fine for humans, good for electric bills, fine for tobacco beetles, but very BAD for cigars. I have my fridge on a timer so while it runs and cools it stays in a range of 65 to 72 degrees. That keeps the condensation down....which is a whole different thread topic.

These cooled humidors don't keep your smokes at 38 degrees or anything like that. Those temps would make aging less effective but 99.99% of these things are there to keep the temps in the mid 60's to 70, which is perfect for your smokes.

Cheers.
 
I have one of Avallo's cooled cabinets and I originally got it because it was going upstairs on the second floor. I was worried about the temps upstairs and thought it was a wise investment. It ended going in the basement so the cooler only goes on when the temps outside are above 90 degrees for several days in a row. I did find out that I need to take out all source of humidity when the temps are high as Flyfish has alluded to in his post.

Yes that could be a completely different thread.
 
tone-ny said:
I have one of Avallo's cooled cabinets and I originally got it because it was going upstairs on the second floor. I was worried about the temps upstairs and thought it was a wise investment. It ended going in the basement so the cooler only goes on when the temps outside are above 90 degrees for several days in a row. I did find out that I need to take out all source of humidity when the temps are high as Flyfish has alluded to in his post.

Yes that could be a completely different thread.
Click to expand...
Same here, Anthony. During the summer months, I'll run with the humidifiers dry.
 
Living in Vegas, there's a few things.

With regular temps of 105 during the summer months, and peaks at about 115 for a few days, keeping them cool is kind of an issue. First of all, keeping your apartment or house at even 85 degrees during the day will generate an enormous electric bill, and finding a cool spot is prety much impossible.

I used to turn my AC to about 75 for the night, wake up, turn it off and go to work. By the time I'd get home the entire house was about 95 degrees, and I would be relieved to enter a 95 degree house, it felt cool. Not having AC in your car sucks, by the way.

So, running a cooled humidor (I'll be buying a small wine cooler I think) will keep the sticks healthy and be cheap, compared.
 
But in vegas it's a dry heat ;) ha. Well, that's what everyone always says. Dry or not 115 degrees I would die.
 
Jesuswept said:
But in vegas it's a dry heat ;) ha. Well, that's what everyone always says. Dry or not 115 degrees I would die.
Click to expand...

Dry blows. Although your sweat DOES evaporate (as opposed to a tropical climate where the air is already saturated) it dries you out super fast, same goes for my cigars. Running AC and having a normal inside RH level of about 10% does a number on my humi...

gotta recharge my beads two or three times a week.
 
I have a VinoTemp humidity and temp controlled unit that has been running for almost 8 years now. I keep the temp at 65-67 degrees and the humidity at about 60-62 percent. The reason I keep mine at the levels they are at, is because years ago I read an article about the tobacconists JJ Fox and Dunhill which are both in London. In the article they stated the temps and humidity levels that they store cigars at. These guys have been doing this for a lot of incredible collections along with their own stock.

I figured that if those levels are good enough for them, then they should be good enough for me.
 
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