Humi Temp

[toliver]

Well, I received my new humidor about a week ago and have been in the process of stocking it and getting the RH and Temp right. The analog RH meter that came with it was reading 81 so I did three different salt test and all three were 91 so looks like the RH in the box is ok. I have since ordered a Taylor Wireless Digital Temp and Humidity. I am doing the salt test on it now to see how close it is.

My question is this....

I put the Taylor digital RH meter in the box for a while just to see what it was reading at. It was reading 63% RH and 75 degrees. The RH I can deal handle with beads, humidifier, etc. How do I get the temperature down and what is the desired temperature?

Thanks,
TO

 

[DevilsMilk]

Desired temp is 70

Put it on the ground, in the coolest room of the house, use a portable fan. convert to a fridge-a-dor.

 

[toliver]

I have an small Igloo frige that my brother gave me. I can get the temp right with it, but when a fridge cools, dosent it draw humidity out of the air?

 

[UTKhodgy]

I have an small Igloo frige that my brother gave me. I can get the temp right with it, but when a fridge cools, dosent it draw humidity out of the air?

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Right now I have my fridgidor on the ground upstairs in a poorly insulated bedroom above the garage. The fridgidor is NOT plugged in and the temperature reads between 70.5*F and 73.5*F each and every day so far. I am fine with this for now, as I will be able to get it to cooler areas once I am back at college.

I have found that my fridgidor doesn't need the entire half-pound of 65% beads, and in fact the entire 1/2lb. was increasing my humidity. So I took out on of the three trays I have in there and placed it in my room to release extra moisture while two are working away in the humi. Once one of the trays is about 75% clear beads, I simply swap out the extra tray and repeat.

 

[preembargo]

I am by no means an expert, but I've read that Temp, Rh, and Absolute humidity are relative, meaning that 70%Rh at 70 degrees is not the same as 70%Rh at 75 degrees.

Here's a nice table that I found on some site somewhere :whistling: Hmmm...that must be where I read it.

Although humidity levels are almost always referred in terms of Relative Humidity, the actual value that is important is the amount of water vapor present in a given volume of air, known as Absolute Humidity. As air will hold varying amounts of water vapor at different temperatures, no discussion of humidification would be complete without a discussion of temperature and it's effect on absolute humidity. Relative humidity is an easily measured value that relates the measured humidity to the maximum humidity that is possible at that temperature. Thus, 70% RH at 70 ºF is not the same as 70% RH at 80 ºF.

We are aiming to maintain the same amount of water (mgm/liter) around our cigars as seen at 70% RH at 70 degrees F (which is 13.15 mmHg water vapor pressure).

So, to be able to know what is happening with our cigars at temperatures other than 70 degrees F, we must use a table of adjusted relative humidity values to make sure that our humidors keep our cigars in the peak of condition.


Temperature, water vapor pressure and relative humidity required to equal 70% RH at 70 degrees (13.15mmHg).

Temp Water Vapor Pressure Relative Humidity

66 16.37 80.33%

67 16.95 77.58%

68 17.55 74.93%

69 18.17 72.37%

70 18.79 70.00%

71 19.45 67.61%

72 20.11 65.39%

73 20.81 63.19%

74 21.51 61.13%

75 22.25 59.10%

76 23.00 57.17%


It is not possible to attain an absolute humidity level that will keep cigars from drying out at temperatures below 60 degrees F. This observation will put to rest the fallacy that the refrigerator is a good place to store cigars. Not only do we have to worry about our premium cigars beginning to acquire the flavors from left over foods but the cigars will dry out and become essentially unsmokable. The freezer is an even worse place to store cigars. The humidity becomes virtually zero, and the loss of moisture from cigars will accelerate to produce a bone-dry smoke.

 

[lucasbuck]

Hogwash. Relative humidity is just that, relative. My stash smokes great at 60-65% RH regardless of the temp.

 

[Jeffro600]

Ill accept anything from 65-73 as long as the RH is in the green. I keep all my smokes at 67% for long term storage and 63% if they are going to be smoked within the next few weeks...temp usually is about 68 in my coolerdor, but it does fluctuate up to the low 70s when it gets REALLY hot outside. As long as your under 75 and your RH is within tollerance, youll be perfectly fine. Finding a RH that suits you is a matter of taste....i like my cigars a little dryer while smoking as ive found them to burn more consistantly.

As far as getting the temp down...well, that depends on where you keep your cigars and what you keep them in. Durring the blazing summer months, i keep mine in the living room where it gets no hotter than 70 degrees durring the daytime due to the A/C. Durring fall/winter/spring months, i keep them in a closet closest to the center of the house that is the coolest and has the least temp fluctuations. My upstairs walk-in closet in my "smoking/gun" room holds a fairly consistant 70 degrees durring that time of year and is where i keep them, inside my coolerdor. If you have a coolerdor you can use those blue ice packs, wrapped in a small towel as far away from tupperdor or humidor as possible to keep the temp down if your without AC. I did that for a while before i moved into a house with A/C and it worked very well. Id take the ice packs out every other night and re-freeze them and put them back in the next morning.

 

[The Master]

My cabinet is temp and humidity controlled. I keep the temp at 65-67 degrees and the humidity at 58-62 percent. I have been doing this for over 4 years ever since I bought the cabinet and my cigars smoke great and age very nicely.

That relative humidity chart is bogus,do not go by that.

 

[kro77]

Master can I ask what kind of cabinet you purchased? and approximate cost?

Thanks,

K

 

[The Master]

I bought the VinoTemp model 700. It is 88" high by 51" wide by 29" deep. It weighs 686 pounds empty and holds 6000 cigars. I bought it for 2995.00 plus 581 for shipping and set up. There is nothing on the market that compares, anything this size is well over 10 grand from every other mfg. I shopped for a year before I stumbled across this.

 

[JimK]

Master,

I had looked at that humidor from Vinotemp before I decided to go with an Aristocrat. I went with the Artistocrat basically because there was a vacuum of info about how this performed as a humidor. Can you give me the gory details, including:

How is the construction? Does it feel solid? How much is hardwood vs. veneer?
How noisy are the climate control systems from the outside?
What kind of cooling unit does it use? Peltier?
How does it hold humidity/temperature?
Is it made entirely at their facility in Long Beach, or in China?
Are your cigars smoking better?
Do you have any gripes/complaints/things you would change?

I'd like to know, cause if I ever get a huge cabinet, I would like to get this one. I just couldn't find any info on it from a cigar smoker's perspective. Kudos to you for taking a chance!

JK

 

[The Master]

Jim,

Construction is fine, the two front doors are solid oak, the rest is veneer. Completely lined with spanish cedar inside. The thing is rock solid.

You can barely hear the unit while it is running from the outside.

It does not have a Peltier cooler, it is a proprietary cooler which works great. They have been using it in their wine cellars for years. It has a condensation hose that runs from the cooler into the water resevoir at the bottom, and in over 4 years I have never seen any water in it.

It holds temperature great, mine stays at 65-67 degrees all year round. Humidity is also perfect, it does use a lot of water. Probably a gallon or so every ten days. It is tough to visualize how massive this thing really is.

I have no idea if it is made exclusively in Cali, but I find it hard to believe they would be shipping something that weighs 686 pounds from China.

My cigars smoke great and age great, it was the best investment I could have made for my cigars. I researched for over a year and looked at Staebell, Avallo, Penderghast, Vigilant, Liss, Beckworth, every maker of a large cabinet.
No one offered anything like the Vinotemp for under 10,000.00.

The only thing I would change is having a larger water resevoir, I wish it would hold more water because I am a lazy bastard. lol

 

[NorCalCigarLover]

When researching wine cellars I thought I read somewhere that Vinothèque is located in Stockton, CA and at one time you could actually buy from the factory. Not sure, and I can't find that information again.

Anywho, Vinothèque makes a quality wine cabinet and was my first choice until I found a friend of a friend of a friend who manufactures wine cabinets in my hometown. They are very similar to a Vinothèque unit, construction and cooling unit. Mine is a 450 bottle unit and is quite a large piece of furniture :laugh:

Similar to this:

 

[JimK]

Thanks for the details, M. It sounds like you got yourself a great cabinet!

I wonder about the water consumption. Is it really dry in your house? Or are you just tappin' that thing too often? :laugh:

JK

 

[The Master]

Jim, here in Florida the ac is running full time from May until the middle of October, so it is very dry in the house. In the fall and winter we don't run the ac so I am using much less water. Yeah it can be a pain in the ass adding water every ten days or so, but I have trained my 11 year old daughter to fill my humi. lol

 

[DevilsMilk]

Jim, here in Florida the ac is running full time from May until the middle of October, so it is very dry in the house. In the fall and winter we don't run the ac so I am using much less water. Yeah it can be a pain in the ass adding water every ten days or so, but I have trained my 11 year old daughter to fill my humi. lol

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Master,

Both Jim and I are in Florida as well. Yes the AC can really do a number on humidity Good to see another member from FL! Central here...