Humidor Temp.

[ree ree robusto]

I've been reading on humidor RH. I can't keep my humidor any cooler than 75ish degrees b/c of where I live. Phoenix, AZ has tempatures over 100 degrees. Will that be okay to store my sticks? Right now my hygrometer is reading 76 degrees tempature and 66% humidity. Is that about the right range I want them stored at?

Muchas Gracias,
Ree Ree Robusto

 

[CoventryCat86]

Turn you air conditioning up higher.

The chance of beetles increases as a function of ambient temperature. I like to keep the room at 65 degrees F, no higher than 70.

 

[ree ree robusto]

If I turn the temp to make it cooler in my home, my A/C bill will be $500 or more. Any other suggestions?

Ree Ree Robusto

 

[CoventryCat86]

Move to Wisconsin?

 

[bfreebern]

Move to Wisconsin?

LOL

 

[bryan_h]

I have heard of people who live in hotter areas keeping a coolidor within a cooler during the hottest months. They place those re-freezable ice packs in the outer cooler to keep the inner coolidor cooler. I am sure it is a pain keeping the ice packs changed out, but if you have alot of $$ worth of puros, you definately want to keep them in the correct temp and humidity.

 

[lucasbuck]

I have heard of people who live in hotter areas keeping a coolidor within a cooler during the hottest months. They place those re-freezable ice packs in the outer cooler to keep the inner coolidor cooler. I am sure it is a pain keeping the ice packs changed out, but if you have alot of $$ worth of puros, you definately want to keep them in the correct temp and humidity.

Definitely your best bet unless you can find a cooler spot in your house maybe close to a vent? And I think you will find if you get an igloo with a nice tight seal at 75f ambient temp you won't have to change the ice packs very often at all.

 

[texasaggie]

Or maybe even use a block of dry ice, it lasts quite a long time, and is cheap, most grocery stores around here carry it, it should be readily available.

 

[JOE.M.]

I have heard of people who live in hotter areas keeping a coolidor within a cooler during the hottest months. They place those re-freezable ice packs in the outer cooler to keep the inner coolidor cooler. I am sure it is a pain keeping the ice packs changed out, but if you have alot of $$ worth of puros, you definately want to keep them in the correct temp and humidity.

Definitely your best bet unless you can find a cooler spot in your house maybe close to a vent? And I think you will find if you get an igloo with a nice tight seal at 75f ambient temp you won't have to change the ice packs very often at all.

I was told to do that a couple of years ago and it was not such a good Idea, the Ice packs mix with the humidity = condensation Not a good mixture.

 

[CoventryCat86]

Send your cigars to me, I'll keep them stored JUST RIGHT 65 deg. F & 60-65 RH. My finished basement stays at these levels year round.

:sign:

 

[bryan_h]

I have heard of people who live in hotter areas keeping a coolidor within a cooler during the hottest months. They place those re-freezable ice packs in the outer cooler to keep the inner coolidor cooler. I am sure it is a pain keeping the ice packs changed out, but if you have alot of $$ worth of puros, you definately want to keep them in the correct temp and humidity.

Definitely your best bet unless you can find a cooler spot in your house maybe close to a vent? And I think you will find if you get an igloo with a nice tight seal at 75f ambient temp you won't have to change the ice packs very often at all.

I was told to do that a couple of years ago and it was not such a good Idea, the Ice packs mix with the humidity = condensation Not a good mixture.

The condensation was the main reason I chose to not do the double-coolidor. I placed mine in a cool, interior corner and have a fan blowing on it. I dont know that it helps it all that much, but its an added measure for peace-of-mind.

 

[frogger]

I have had the same problem... Try moving the location of your humidor to a lower level.. even a floor... or a closet.. or even to a basement.. I put my humidor ontop of a smell 4ft fridge and it seems to keep it a few degrees cooler.. which is all you probly need.

 

[Milton]

If I turn the temp to make it cooler in my home, my A/C bill will be $500 or more. Any other suggestions?

Ree Ree Robusto

Check with Joxxy. He lives in AZ and set up a wine fridge to keep his sticks cool.

 

[AVB]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that if you prep your boxes first it really doesn't matter (up to a point) if your humi is 70 or 80 degrees. I mean, do you think the truck is air conditioned when they ship cigars all over the country or the boat they arrived on?

To prep your boxes place in fridge for 24 hours, then in the freezer for 72 hours then in the fridge for another 48 hours. You can then place the box in your coolidor and not worry about beetles. I have 40 boxes now and hundreds over the years doing this without any problems ever. Right now it's 78 degrees in the room my humi is in.

 

[joxxy]

The thing you are trying to avoid is long periods at elevated temps. The only way to do that is to find a cool place. A cool place may or may not exist naturally in your home. Now, you may have a cool spot in your house. I don't. As Milton said, I use a wine coolerdor. This is a wine refrigerator that is set at its highest temp. It works pretty well, staying at about 68 usually.

There may be other solutions, but the wine coolerdor was the only practical way I found to solve my problem.

Oh - and as AVB said, freezing is an option. There are lots of threads on it, so if you're interested try a search.


Hope this helps.

 

[SFG75]

Right now my hygrometer is reading 76 degrees tempature and 66% humidity. Is that about the right range I want them stored at?

The holy grail for temp and humidity from what I've read is 70/70. However, your temp is just fine. I would obsess and try to push that 66% humidity closer to 70. Of course, some people swear to a wide range, from 60% to the mid 60s. If you're thinking of long storage, you want to hit 70 though. Don't worry too much- you won't get beetles, high taxes, audited, or called for jury duty at your current readings. What do you use for a hygrometer??? Hmmmmm??

 

[ree ree robusto]

I've got myself a digital hygrometer that reads both the humity level and the temp.

Ree

 

[SFG75]

I've got myself a digital hygrometer that reads both the humity level and the temp.

Ree

Check out my thermomoeter/hygrometer thread. Bought a $50.00 one at Radio Shack. Stores high and low memory, has an alarm should a pre-set high or low humidity reading occur. Can receive up to two other receivers, but the problem is finding other receivers, at least that's what I've heard. Then again, it's not too surprising since my digital temp/hygro was the display item and the last thing they had in the place. Lots of cigar buffs or people who spend an inordinate amount of time watching the weather channel.

Can you post about yours, I'd be curious to see what it's like.

 

[ree ree robusto]

I bought one at my local cigar shop. I believe I spent no more than $30 bucks or so on it. Madelaine, LLC. is the maker. They make solution for humidors, as well. It seems to work good enough for me. When the battery starts to wear low, the numbers on the digital read-out start to get lighter and possibly alarms you when the battery is going low. I havent gotten to that point yet. I do remember the shop owner informing me, though, the digits on the read-out would get lighter and harder to see. So far, so good. I seem to like it.

ree ree

 

[SFG75]

I bought one at my local cigar shop. I believe I spent no more than $30 bucks or so on it. Madelaine, LLC. is the maker. They make solution for humidors, as well. It seems to work good enough for me. When the battery starts to wear low, the numbers on the digital read-out start to get lighter and possibly alarms you when the battery is going low. I havent gotten to that point yet. I do remember the shop owner informing me, though, the digits on the read-out would get lighter and harder to see. So far, so good. I seem to like it.

ree ree

Sounds like you have a really good set up. :thumbs: I don't know how many times when I had a low-tech hygrometer that I would open up the humi and peer inside to see what the reading was. It truly got annoying as I set up my coolidor and had to move it back and forth a couple of weeks at a time to make sure things were o.k. I kept doing this when I had a high humidity reading in my coolidor. Of course, low humidity can make one paranoid. All the exchanging of air leads one to wonder if the humidity is too low for reasons other than opening it up constantly or if it's due to a lack of water on teh beads, etc. Now it's nice to just let the damn thing sit for a long time and not worry about it.

Getting back on topic-humidity still checking out o.k.?