Humidifying a cabinet

[giannilibrizzi]

Hey guys....

I am in the final stages of building a cabinet humidor, 7 1/2 feet high, 3 feet wide, 14 inches deep. I used to have a smaller cabinet, which was humidified by a Cigar oasis XL plus. Worked wonders and still does, but isn't big enough for my new cabinet. Now, before I spend big bucks for another system, I was looking at other options. I saw a bionaire humidifier, model BCM5555, contains 1 gallon of water, antimicrobial protection, remote control, digital hygrometer. I am liking the fact that it works like a Cigar Oasis, dry air is passed trough a whick filter and comes out humidified, and that the fan would be powerfull enough for the cabinet. Also, size is ok for the space I left for the humidifier.

Do you guys see that as an option? Would it work? .. Anybody done it in a cabinet? (I knows it is being done in walk in humidors). I am not trying to cheap out on quality stuff, but if it works the same, costs alot less, it just leaves me more money for cigars!!!

please give me your input.

Gianni

 

[tmoney2007]

I imagine it would work, but with the thousands and thousands of dollars worth of cigars that you will be putting into this cabinet, I would rather spend the money on something made for the application.

It also looks big compared to the humidifiers made for humidors. That is made to humidify a whole room, not just a cabinet.

 

[sporkd2]

pm sent. I have a moist n aire that I dont need for my cabinet.

 

[Bob Staebell]

Gianni,
The biggest issue you may have humidifying your cabinet, may be getting sufficient moisture to the top of the humidor, without overhumidifying the bottom shelves. A generous space behind the shelves (2"+ or "corner" cut out air channels is helpful in giving the airflow an unobstructed path to the top. I have used the style of humidifier you are referring to (although not that specific model) & found when the cabinet was more narrow ie-16" or less I had to use some additional fans to move air to the top with the humidifier on the bottom.

The other alternative was to place a couple of smaller humidifiers on a middle shelf & one on the bottom. Still get a gallon of water, but spread out the humidification sources to even things out.

The other issue to look at is the ability of an "off the shelf" humidifier control to maintain a tight range of RH. It's been my experience the stock humidifier controls can have quite a bit of variation. They were designed with home or room humidification in mind, vs cigar storage & often had a 10%plus operating range vs 2-3% for digital devices designed for cigar storage.

If the Bionaire doesn't work out, there are quite a few choices these days from Cigar Oasis II, to digital Set & Forget systems. Any of them will work.

cheers,
Bob Staebell

 

[giannilibrizzi]

Thanks alot for the pointers guys, I think I have a better Idea of what I will do....

I bought the bionaire today. If it works out....good! If not, it's always a good thing to have one here in winter, where it gets quite dry inside because of heating. And for the price, it was a steal anyway.

I'll try the bionaire first, and see how it works out, with a couple digital hygro, before putting my cigars in. If I see trouble, I'll try putting a circulation fan or two, like I did I my last cabinet, rigged to a timer. I also have 2 pounds of beads I could separate to use on each shelve as a buffer.

All those things I have at home, and are worth a try in my opinion.

If it still isn't right, I'll go for another system like set and forget, or another Oasis xl plus (so one on the bottom of the cabinet, one on the middle shelf. Do you guys have some input on the Cigar oasis 2 xl?

Thanks again and I'll let you know how it works out.

Gianni