Peter11216 Posted March 30, 2011 Posted March 30, 2011 I looked through 12 pages or so of the search results for "relative humidity", looking for this poll, but didn't find it. Apologies if I missed it. I noticed that members here have often(??) recommended storing cigars at 65%RH. I'm curious to know if there is an overall preferred RH and Temp among the FoH community. I've kept mine around 67% plus or minus, with pretty wide temperature swings from 67ºF to 72ºF, without refrigeration up to 76ºF in the summer. (B/t/w, was just checking out Piggy's humidor memoir for ideas about installing a cooling mechanism.) All the Best, Pete
Tarks Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 My aging humis are 60% and my smoking humis are 65%. All my humis are 18c.
BossHogg Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I have my humi set to 63/63. Sometimes it will be 62/62 just depends. I will usually pull my smokes out of the humi about 2-3 days before I smoke them, I guess that's my "dry box"
bc8436 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 65% because that's the type of beads I got from Heartfelt. I've found that it's a good RH for my cigars. Depending on the stick, I sometimes dry box them for a day. With my new cabinet humidor though, I may set it to 63% and see if I like the lower RH.
davidl Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Great Poll - I can't wait to see what the results look like in a few days
CohibaBehike Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Great poll and extremely accurate! 65% 67 degrees (My cooler broke so now the temp. is much higher than it used to be---I used to keep it at about 63 but I'm at the mercy of the old lady and her heater/air conditioning )
CohibaBehike Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 65% because that's the type of beads I got from Heartfelt. I've found that it's a good RH for my cigars. Depending on the stick, I sometimes dry box them for a day. With my new cabinet humidor though, I may set it to 63% and see if I like the lower RH. I use the 65% beads as well--- Do you find them to be extremely accurate no matter how much distilled water you fill them with? I only fill mine once every 6-8 weeks or so and my stock seems to be fine. I was just curious to see what situation you have and how often you fill them.
scinmyheart Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I keep my humidity at 65% since my cabinet is not temp controlled, I voted "I don't care as long as nothing is hatching"...I'm at the mercy of the house temp which usually keeps them below 74 degrees...haven't had a problem yet
bc8436 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I use the 65% beads as well--- Do you find them to be extremely accurate no matter how much distilled water you fill them with? I only fill mine once every 6-8 weeks or so and my stock seems to be fine. I was just curious to see what situation you have and how often you fill them. I overfilled the beads when I first received them and the humidity in my cooler was at 68% but eventually came down to 65% after a few weeks. I live in a pretty dry climate though. Since I tend to open my coolers once a week to grab cigars out of the boxes, I check the hygrometer and if the reading dips to 63-64%, I spray a little distilled water. This works out to about once every 2 months during the winter, and once every 3 months during the warmer months. I also calibrate my hygrometers whenever I refill the beads. Hope this helps.
CigarB Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I use the 65% beads and right now the house temperature is stable between 63-67 degrees. In the summer months, I'll have to move the humidor to the basement. I've found I have to add a little (small amount using a syringe) distilled water about once a week this time of year to keep things at 65%.
Peter11216 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Posted March 31, 2011 I keep my humidity at 65%since my cabinet is not temp controlled, I voted "I don't care as long as nothing is hatching"...I'm at the mercy of the house temp which usually keeps them below 74 degrees...haven't had a problem yet Yeah, I have a similar problem. I usually move the humidors (I only have a couple of desktops), into the basement during the summer. But even so, after a month or so of continuously hot Brooklyn days, the temp starts to get up to 75º. I think I will, maybe, modify a fridge to act as a cooler, this summer. Likewise, though, don't seem to have had any problems yet.
Peter11216 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Posted March 31, 2011 Great Poll - I can't wait to see what the results look like in a few days Thanks. It is interesting to see how quickly answers cluster at and around 65%RH. Wisdom of crowds or just conventional wisdom, I wonder.
Peter11216 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Posted March 31, 2011 My aging humis are 60% and my smoking humis are 65%. All my humis are 18c. Would you care to explain the theory? Is it to "slow" the aging, or does it result in a qualitatively different aging process? I was thinking of trying to add this question to the poll, about aging versus smoking, but there were not enough questions allowed, and it would have become cumbersome, anyways. My hunch would be that whatever happens flavour profile-wise, a slightly dryer environment would be safer for long term storage.
bc8436 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Thanks. It is interesting to see how quickly answers cluster at and around 65%RH. Wisdom of crowds or just conventional wisdom, I wonder. I wonder how much this has to do with the popularity of the beads.
dicko Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 65% -ive found i like this range, a little lower or higher is fine. 70 is too wet. some cigars smoke better 'wetter; though i have found. temp wise - i struggle to keep it under 20's celcius during summer and it does mess with the cigars. really need to upgrade to a wine fridge. dry boxing - chose 'sometimes' but thats just bad planning, im a big fan of dryboxing and try to do it all the time.
mmacleod Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 65% RH, and my basement stays at around 67 year round. Dry boxing requires too much planning, the wife would perhaps think I am starting to smoke too much if I plan on cigars, so straight from the humidor to the cutter for me.
Dbone Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Im in the 63 - 65 RH & 65F temp camp. This really has to be the most thorough poll I've seen on storage!! Good stuff
Peter11216 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Posted March 31, 2011 I wonder how much this has to do with the popularity of the beads. Good point!
qman22 Posted April 1, 2011 Posted April 1, 2011 I like to keep mine at 63-65% and 63-65F. I've found that if you keep them both at 65 or under dryboxing isn't usually necessary
Murri Posted April 1, 2011 Posted April 1, 2011 Voted temp of 66, my wineador runs between 65-66. Humidity around 65, that's the beads I ordered. Have not dry boxed but am thinking of experimenting with it. Bought my wife a decent humidor and will use her old 25 count one for dry boxing.
LeafLover Posted April 2, 2011 Posted April 2, 2011 58-60rh and 60-65F temp And I always chow box when i can
Torontonian Posted April 2, 2011 Posted April 2, 2011 65%. Not because of any trial-and-error process, but just because that's what most recommend.
almudawi Posted April 4, 2011 Posted April 4, 2011 - For my Humidor (180 count) %65-%68 - For my cabinet (long term storage) %65 I've not as obsessed with temperatures as i am about humidity though.. And as long as nothing hatches in my treasure chests, I am fine.. 2 years so far without uninvited guests (touching wood)
Firewiz25 Posted April 4, 2011 Posted April 4, 2011 My humidor stays at 65% rH and between 67-69 degrees.
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