need some help

[jangoman88]

Hey All, especially Pigfish I moved my humidors out of the basement because of temp and the RH was around 60-64...so I moved them into a spare bedroom temp is around 65-67 but the humidity dropped big time. It was around 59-62 for a while and then just checked it the other day and its down to 47%. I looked at the beads I had in there and added some of the fluid I got from my B&M to see if that would help. A few days later it went to 49% and has been holding there for about a week.

I'm not sure what to do, if i should put them back in the basement so the RH goes back up , but the temp would drop or try leaving a humidifier turned on in the bedroom to try and raise the humidity in that room.

probably an easy fix, but not sure what else to try and do.

[LordAnubis]

An easy way to get more humidty in the system you have is to put a glass of water or better yet a wet sponge in there (sponge on a tray ofcourse so as not to get anything wet).

As for whats going in with your fluctuating temp/rh... like Ray always says, they are both relative. I wouldn't have thought it would be that huge a drop in rh though!

This is a classic example of how the environment in which you setup your humidor is very important to how you run/maintain it!

[Marker]

For your climate in New England, the basement is generally 10-30% more humid than upstairs. Mine is like that in Minnesota. It depends on how the heat runs in your house. Mine is forced air so the basement it comes from the ceiling and the main floor it comes from the vents on the floor. The basement is around 10 degrees colder but the humidity in the winter stays 50-65%. So I have some beads in my end table I keep wet to make sure it stays above 60%.

In the summer I don't need beads except to take a little humidity out of the humidor. It goes up to 70% in the summer. We don't run air conditioning.

[Skyfall]

60F-64F is a perfect temp range and RH range. I would move back to the basement and be thankful you have those temps naturally. I've spent a lot of money to electronically maintain that temp and RH range.

[PigFish]

While no one tells you this, humidors are made for a specific set of circumstances, ambient conditions. I always tell folks to tell me what the ambient is before making suggesting, claims or adjustments to the humidor.

It sounds like, such as another poster suggested, that you basement is more humid than the rest of the house. Basements, typically not completely water proof and below grade have a reputation of being damp. This would explain why the humidor changed.

I also always ask why one changes something? Is it due to a whim, or a problem? Of course the easiest answer is, just put it back! Perhaps you cannot do that for some reason.

Settings are a personal thing. David appears to like the low 60's for temperature and some corresponding rH. I know he likes to box up his cigars separately, but he can better tell you about his system than I can. I find no reason to refrigerate cigars, that is my opinion, and there is no right or wrong about competing view points. Yes I use refrigeration, but not to lower my temps far below room temperature. I use it to control temperature for stability purposes and to dehumidify. We all have our reasons for our personal tastes and humidor settings.

The key is the ErH water content of your cigar and if you are pleased with it… That is a different story.

If the humidor is going to stay upstairs, you had better get a record of the conditions there, in order for you to make the proper adjustments. That is what I need to see, what your ambient conditions are, in order to develop a plan, automated or otherwise to cure your problem.

Typically early generation humidors, I am guessing that is what you are using, where they are dependent on a dryer ambient and a water supply, will run okay on either an active or passive water supply if the temp is not too low and the range of conditions are not too extreme.

A better description of the ambient AND that of your humidor is in order for authoritative help. Adding water is obvious! Further diagnostics may still be in order. You don't go to the dentist and say start pulling teeth until the pain stops!!! You find the right tooth, or the right problem and apply the proper fix.

What is your humidifier solution currently? What type of humidor do you use? Why have you changed if things are working. If things are not working, what is wrong. What are you thinking… and why???

Those are starters!

Cheers! -the Pig

[jangoman88]

hey all thank you for the great feedback. I actually moved it because I was nervous the temp was too low and I do not know how that would affect the cigars. So my basement held RH , especially in the humis, around 58-62% so far in the winter and the temp was low like 50 or so and I wanted to keep the temp at around 60+ so I put them in my spare bedroom. I have forced warm air (oil) and while I moved them upstairs keeps them at around 60 the RH dropped massively.

I guess my question would be if i move them back into the basement, how badly would the temp affect them being so cold? I dont have a way to heat the basement currently as its an unfinished basment. My guess at this too is keeping them warmer and that the air in the spare bedroom is getting the humidity sucked out of the humidor I would imagine the room RH is low and pulling that moisture out

[PigFish]

I would like to know more about your system to offer more specific help.

The general question regarding temperature and humidity is a good one. The question that you really need to be asking here, is not what temperature will do to your cigars, but what 60rH humidity at 50F will do to your cigars?

I don't refrigerate cigars! So in actuality here, I am the wrong guy to ask. I do know something about psychrometrics and tobacco isotherms and they indicate that open space does not support a large water vapor content at 50dF, while tobacco bond strengths at 50dF appears to be sufficient to easily over wet tobacco at that temperature.

I would be very leery about over humidifiying my cigars at this temperature and would not myself store cigars at this temperature. Of course I will not store cigars at 60dF either! I find many potential problems with storage conditions based in this temperature range, far too many to opine here.

You may consider a simple heater for your humidor, assuming that it is insulated and can maintain the temperature without excessive energy usage.

Since I am always building cutting edge cigars storage, I believe that heating is an important, but not always necessary feature. I allow my shop to fluctuate with the weather. I use a logic controller and a small heater to accomplish this task. It works quite well.

I could go on an on about humidor heating, but don't have the desire today! -Cheers

Piggy

[jangoman88]

haha thank you Pigfish! I guess I'll put them back in the basement so that the RH will go back to my norm which I like at 60RH, and figure out something for heating. My basement isn't finished so thats the hard part about heating and I dont have many outlets either down there.