Humidity in Hades!

[MangoMike]

It's summer in Tampa and the humidity is at it's normal high, and this is playing havoc with my humidor.

I have an Aristocrat End Table size humi, with both temp and humidity controls. The problem is the humi control only adds humidity, there is no internal way to reduce it. So I buy beads, 2 lbs worth, but that doesn't help much, so I add 3 containers of Damp Rid. That worked pretty well in the Spring, but now that summer is in full bloom, it isn't enough either.

Chuck (Tampa1257) suggested I go to a pet store and buy some kitty liter to help reduce the humidity. Trouble with that is, I have so much humidity control stuff in the humi that if I add anymore I'll have to take cigars out. Kinda defeats the purpose.

I then bought a small window a/c with sits right next to the humi. When that is running I open the humi door and the a/c sucks the humidity right out and drops it back into the 60's where I like it. Problem is, it gets so cold in the room that I turn it off, close the door, and bam, the humidity is right back up in the mid 70's!

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

[kilroy]

» Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Do like I'm doing and make a humidor out of a wine fridge. I've tried everything myself but in the end the only way I can guarantee perfect conditions for my smokes here in the bay area was to use insulation, electricity and humidity control.

Plus my fiancee has done all but put a lock box around the thermostat for the daytime and its never under 76. I NEEDED that fridge!

[Boston Mike]

The wine fridge is a great idea. If funds allow I would recommend this method. If not, I think it is more important to maintain some sort of consistent humidity. Wild swings make the cigars taste sick. If the RH is kind of high Try to smoke the ones that don't seem too tight. I notice that if the humidity rises kind of high, as long as it did not do it quickly, the cigars smoke great! I don't know if you have a basement or not but if you do, They stay more stable than the rest of the house. Also, try a cooler. They maintain temp and humidity very well. Hope this helps.

-Mike

[aavkk]

Hey Mango,

I am in the exact same situation as you only I have a slightly larger Aristocrat! 2 weeks ago I purchased a 150 qt igloo from walmart.com for $45, bought 2 oust fans online through amazon, and 2 lbs of beads from mark at cigarmony. This is what most ppl's cooler setup is but i took it a step further. I purchased a sheet of the frozen gel stuff you put in coolers that acts as ice. Like the frozen blocks only with these you can cut them up into several pieces, I did 4. Now I have 1/2 the sheet that is frozen in the cooler while the other 1/2 is in the freezer. I place 1 on each side of the humidor on top because cool air sinks. I rotate them every day. This is time consuming but I have actually stabilized the humidity AND TEMP in the igloo to 65% RH and 63 deg F. Problem solved! By the way I didnt do anything to season the cooler at all. More than 1/2 of my stock is cabs so I have plenty of cedar in the cooler. If most of your stuff is dress boxes I would suggest you pick up some cedar as it would probably help stabilize the humidity. Good luck!

[anacostiakat]

You really only have two options. Either run a/c to keep the temp down in the area or go to a wine cooler or upgrade to a cooled humi unit from Aristocrat or Avallo.

I have an endtable unit like yours that I purchased first before my Avallo Chilled DDD humi and I just have to run a/c sometimes during the night in order to keep the room it is in reasonable.

Especially when it is July and August. :-(

[asc]

I don't get it.

Aristocrat makes some great humi's...they're pretty much sealed when closed.

If you can get the humidity down with the AC...how is it spiking again as soon as the door is closed?

That sucks...makes me glad to live in the desert where I just have to keep adding moisture to my cooler.

[SmokinAl]

» If you can get the humidity down with the AC...how is it spiking again as

» soon as the door is closed?

It's the saturation of the wood, boxes and cigars. A quick blast in front of the air con wont make it. You need to drop the moisture in situ.

I know a lot of people use drysorb for this, but I still like plain table salt (a lot of it). It will stop dragging moisture out of the air at ~ 70% RH. (Think salt shakers clogging up in high humidity). It's a reverse "salt test".

Cheers,

Al.

[asc]

Doink!!!

That makes total sense...and great idea on the salt!

[Colt45]

Mango, I'm with the cooler and basement guys here. A cooler with beads or crystal cat litter

maintains a very stable environment, especially if you do have a basement.

It may lack the elegance of the humidor, but for short money, it makes for an easy short term solution.

[MangoMike]

Thanks for all the suggestions. My Aristocrat is cooled and temp is not a problem. I'm fighting humidity. I bought the Aristocrat after fighting the humidity problem with a wine cooler. Some fellow Floridians swear by Kitty Litter, and as soon as I can find the right kind I'll give that a try.

[aavkk]

cool idea al, I'll give it a shot. have you found it to be more effective than damprid?

[SmokinAl]

I really can't compare as I haven't used damprid. The bane of my existance as a humidor maker is clients doing something dumb, hence the salt thing. It's impossible to cock up. Damprid will keep sucking out moisture until it's saturated.

I can tell you that salt works well, is cheap, freely available and works quickly. Just remember to keep putting the salt in for a week or so after the humidity has dropped (how big is the humi) because the hygrometer will reflect a drop in moisture in the air, not in the wood and stock.

Hope this helps,

Al.