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Humidity control preference for cabinet?

R

RyJ Smoker

Official Opus & Padron whore
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
430
Hey guys,

A friend of mine is building me a cabinet and I was wondering what people prefer for humidity control. Currently, I'm running beads in my humi's and coolidor, but have seen a lot of cabinets running either Oasis XL's or Moist-N-Aire's. Should I just stick with beads?

Dimensions will be approximately 72" x 23" x 17".


Jeffrey L.
 
I have a Staebell cabinet and have really grown to love the active humidification system in there.

Tough call on your new cabinet...it's definitely big enough for active humidification, but beads would probably work fine if you have enough of them.

If it were me, if you already have a bunch of beads, buy more and call it good. If you're starting from scratch, you might a look at the Avallo and Staebell systems. Avallo has a single humidifer system that would be pretty cool for your cabinet.

Avallo humidification.

Staebell humidification.

Regards - B.B.S.
 
I went with the Accumonitor system for my cabinet. I am still waiting for my basement to be done so I can properly set it up so unfortunately I can't attest to how it works, but it looks real nice!
 
I will add that I have the active humidification system in my Staebell, but maybe two pounds of beads as well. Why? I have a cooled humidor and when the pelt coolers run hard, the RH goes up a few points. The socks of beads I have around the cabinet provide some humidity "ballast" if you will, and keep things on a very even keel.

Bottom line: either will probably work fine, but both is better...!!...
wink.gif
 
I use the Avallo system (4 canisters) in my tower, along with a few bags of beads. This helps keep things stable and even. Have been using the Avallo humidifier for around 3 years now, and couldn't be happier.

I started out with the Cigar Oasis and had to get rid of it. Not only was it loud, but it didn't provide enough humidity, as the it was an all-in-one unit. The unit I had didn't seem to register proper RH either. The Avallo (and I believe the Staebell) both have canisters which you place throughout the humidor for even distribution of humidity.

Good luck!
 
Thank you all for your insight! I will take all recommendations into consideration and start my R&D process, now :)

I really appreciate the friendly advice!


Jeffrey L.
 
The other point about having active humidification and beads is....you never have to recharge the beads! The active humidification system will quickly and accurately maintain a minimum humidity level. Your beads are in a 65% (or whatever your setpoint is) environment, pretty much all the time.

Setpoints are another interesting topic. My cabinet is a tall, vertical unit:

gallery_1565_604_2926.jpg


...and the RH varies a couple of points, top to bottom. The RH controller is in the middle of the cabinet and is set at 65%. The bottom consistantly runs a point or two higher (~67%) and the top consistantly runs a point or two lower (~63%). Surely not enough to "freak out" about, and actually, it's pretty cool. I do long term storage in the bottom where the RH is a little higher, put my "ready to smoke" sticks in the top where the RH is a little lower. It works very, very well...!!

Best of luck - B.B.S.
 
Interesting point, B.B.S.! That'll be nice not to have to constantly check the beads to see if it's time to recharge.

If I have the same issue as you do (63%'ish on top, 67%'ish on the bottom), would you recommend my ISOM sticks/boxes be placed on the top half of the cabinet and my NC sticks/boxes be placed on the bottom half? I believe I read somewhere that ISOM's are best kept around 63% - 65% and NC's are best kept around 68% - 72%.


Jeffrey L.

Edit: Punctuation
 
I don't necessarily sort by brand (ISOM, NC, etc.) but rather by where they are in the aging cycle.

Now, discussions on this subject have often triggered religious wars....:p As I said, be they ISOM, NC, DR, whatever.....my sticks for aging go in the slightly higher RH environment, sticks for smoking go in the slightly lower RH environment. It's not much....just a couple of points. It may not make much difference at all; I think folks get far too spun up over a few points of RH. Lots of folks follow the guidelines you mention; it all about personal preference and what works best for you.

My real point was that it's not unusual for a big cabinet to show some RH variation, top to bottom. Rather than freak out about it, I chose to use it to my advantage....:thumbs:

Regards - B.B.S.
 
I've been using the Avallo 2 canister system for nearly 4 years and love it. I do not use any beads in my 3k stick humidor as i found I didn't need them. Rod has the same humidor that I do. :p
 
I've had an Aristocrat Plus with the Set and Forget system for over 9 years, but I also keep a couple pounds of dry 65% beads in it to control any seasonal humidity spikes. BTW, anyone I've known who's ever owned a Moist n Aire has had difficulty regulating it. You usually find Moist n Aire humidifiers in those liquor store cabinets with the moldy cigars.
 
Well I'm fairly new to the cabinet thing, but so far I have not had a bit of trouble out of my Moist-N-Aire. It stays around 65-67% at the bottom and 63-65% at the top. I also have a pound of beads split into 4 quarter pound bags (1 on each of the 4 shelves) . I haven't had any problems with it regulating. It kicks on maybe once a day for a minute or two.

But like I said I've only had it for a couple of weeks, so we'll see. No mold problems yet. I think those "liquor store guys" don't really have a lot of experience with them and just set and forget. My $0.02.
 
Mr Peat said:
I've been using the Avallo 2 canister system for nearly 4 years and love it. I do not use any beads in my 3k stick humidor as i found I didn't need them. Rod has the same humidor that I do. :p
Click to expand...

That's right! I almost forgot about that. Did you ever straighten out the wiring? :D
 
Rod said:
Mr Peat said:
I've been using the Avallo 2 canister system for nearly 4 years and love it. I do not use any beads in my 3k stick humidor as i found I didn't need them. Rod has the same humidor that I do. :p
Click to expand...

That's right! I almost forgot about that. Did you ever straighten out the wiring? :D
Click to expand...

Of course I didn't. LOL!!! Its currently in storage because the jack asses that unloaded the moving truck couldn't comprehend English. :laugh: So I have a 150 qt cooler with 1 lb of Heartfelt Beads. This current system is working but it doesn't leave much room. I'm going to see if I can get it out of storage and get it to the house.
 
Thanks for all of the great advice and ideas, everyone. I'll be coming back to this once my cab is finished!

Do you think it'd be a good idea to 'pin' this up top? This thread has answered all questions pertaining to humidity control for cabinets!

Thanks again!


Jeffrey L.
 
RyJ Smoker said:
Thanks for all of the great advice and ideas, everyone. I'll be coming back to this once my cab is finished!

Do you think it'd be a good idea to 'pin' this up top? This thread has answered all questions pertaining to humidity control for cabinets!

Thanks again!


Jeffrey L.
Click to expand...


These answers are already in the forum.
As there are realy only about 5 or 6 choices, pinning this may be just taking up space at the top.
A little 'search' will get folks what they need.
 
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