A little bit of temperature control

[chr0nic]

Hi all

Just curious about something.

Since experimenting with beads I've managed to get my RH pretty stable though the daytime (65ish which is what I've found I like to smoke at)... though at night when the temp drops down, so does the RH (obviously, as it is relative to temp).

The humidor is a large desktop tower humidor (say 80cm x 40cm x 40cm) and it stands on a glass-top table. It is in a large lounge area and it's not efficient to heat the room every night. Does anyone someone knows if there is a heatpad or similar that I could place the humi on- perhaps on a timer- that would help increase the temp @ night?

Are there any other suggestions, besides move it, replace it etc I know I really need to invest in a proper temp\ humidity controlled humi (or wineador as some have been recommending) for maximum reliability and control, but is there any way of fixing this issue?

...or am I going about this all wrong, and should the beads be doing a better job at 'releasing' water at night and sucking it in through the day?

Thanks chaps!!!

[rfenst]

Hi all

Just curious about something.

Since experimenting with beads I've managed to get my RH pretty stable though the daytime (65ish which is what I've found I like to smoke at)... though at night when the temp drops down, so does the RH (obviously, as it is relative to temp).

The humidor is a large desktop tower humidor (say 80cm x 40cm x 40cm) and it stands on a glass-top table. It is in a large lounge area and it's not efficient to heat the room every night. Does anyone someone knows if there is a heatpad or similar that I could place the humi on- perhaps on a timer- that would help increase the temp @ night?

Are there any other suggestions, besides move it, replace it etc I know I really need to invest in a proper temp\ humidity controlled humi (or wineador as some have been recommending) for maximum reliability and control, but is there any way of fixing this issue?

...or am I going about this all wrong, and should the beads be doing a better job at 'releasing' water at night and sucking it in through the day?

Thanks chaps!!!

Unless they are smoking poorly due to temperature swing, I would leave things alone. Otherwise, I would move the humidor elsewhere before looking to heat it. And, if the tower is mostly glass, remember that it has poor insulating qualities and that a wood humidor instead would be better suited for that room.

[chr0nic]

Unless they are smoking poorly due to temperature swing, I would leave things alone. Otherwise, I would move the humidor elsewhere before looking to heat it. And, if the tower is mostly glass, remember that it has poor insulating qualities and that a wood humidor instead would be better suited for that room.

Ah, never thought about the glass on the tower being an issue- good point indeed...

They are smoking very well, I was worried about 'losing their natural oils'... every now and again I read an article that warns not to let RH drop too low, and sometimes at night I notice the digi hygrometer (calibrated last month) drop to approximately 59. I've never seen it drop lower than that.

Cheers for the reply

[Wil]

How big are the swings in humidity? I wouldn't worry too much, cigars are pretty resilient!

[chr0nic]

How big are the swings in humidity? I wouldn't worry too much, cigars are pretty resilient!

Generally the humidity drops from 64\65 through the day, to 59\60 at night...

I remember hearing about people freezing them- so I know temp isn't too bad. Also remember hearing heat can be an issue due to beetles... I figured too much moisture could be removed, but if I lost it it may never come back Talk of oils leaving etc. made me freak out a little lol.

Cheers for the reassurance!

[nikesupremedunk]

Ryan, I wouldn't worry at all. Most people store cigars around 60-65 anyway so I wouldn't sweat it especially since they are smoking very well. Mine is stored at around 84 degree ambient temp because I gave up on my wineador but it's smoking great. I worry more about the RH being around 63-65.

[deaconred]

You have to figure the humidity and temperature are never a constant during growing seasons but the plant still survives, so there is going to be some fluctuation, just keep the humidity and temperature within range and you should be okay. Of course I could be wrong, I grow more greenbeans and tomatos than tobacco.

[kodebusan]

I wouldn't be worry either, if my cigars smoke well.

RH tend to move all the time, it is important it doesn't stay too dry for weeks or months before the cigars lose their oil and 60% is not a very dry environment.

I smoke more moist around 68/70% and my cabinet move all day long between 64/65% to 73/74% and my cigars are good to my taste.

[Orion21]

A good old proper American saying:

"If it ain't broke don't fix it"

[chr0nic]

Thank you all for your advice! Much appreciated!

I worried a tad, mostly due to the amount of stock therein... I have some wonderful LGC's from '02 coming in that I *really* don't want to hurt.

That in mind, I'm going to smoke the hell out of them

Thanks again, guys!!

[rfenst]

One last thing: You wrote about swings in air temp and RH. They don't necessarily mean your cigars are suject to the same swings. Tobacco is much denser than air and I would even bet cigars are a good insulator/RH stabilizer all things considered.