Heartfelt AND HCM

[pbibby]

I'm sure this has been covered, but it wasn't on the first couple pages of a search.

Does anyone use HCM or HF for their primary humidity, but balanced by the other. What I mean is, I use HCM beads and I don't have trouble with them at all, but I was wondering if I would benefit from having some HF beads in there as well. My HCM clay beads are set at 65%, so I was thinking of getting some 65% HF beads for some added humidity control.

Thanks for your thoughts, brothers!

 

[sofc]

If you don't have a problem with them, why would you mess with what is working?

 

[AdamJoshua]

The only thing its going to do is help your humidor (or whatever) recover faster from opening it up, same as if you had more HCM beads in it.

 

[MoJo]

In my wineador I use HCM beads and Boveda packs. works great so far, haven't had to adjust the hcm beads at all and I have a few backup boveda packs that I use to rotate them out so they can recharge. I don't use hf beads in my wineador because it's more of a pain to have to take the bottom drawer completely out just to recharge them (I have drawers from forrest, hcm beads at the bottom and boveda packs spread throughout the drawers/shelves), but I use hf beads in my desktops. In my coolers I use everything that's left over (whats left of my hcm beads, hf beads, spare boveda packs, empty boxes to take up space, etc.)

 

[njstone]

I use both. I think HCM keeps humidity a little more stable, but when it does go up or down (winter or humid climates), the HF beads bring the rH back up or down much quicker, because you can just spray them with water ... the HCM beads are passive only, so you have to put a little cup of water in there and wait a much longer time for the rH to get where you want it.

 

[pbibby]

If you don't have a problem with them, why would you mess with what is working?

I'm not sure I will change anything. Just looking for some thoughts! Thanks guys!

 

[TravelingJ]

I use both. I think HCM keeps humidity a little more stable, but when it does go up or down (winter or humid climates), the HF beads bring the rH back up or down much quicker, because you can just spray them with water ... the HCM beads are passive only, so you have to put a little cup of water in there and wait a much longer time for the rH to get where you want it.

I follow this logic. I am a huge fan of how flawlessly the HCM beads work, but I had plenty of HF beads left from the upgrade. Eventually, I decided to throw a bag in the humidor to help it recover faster and keep it much more stable as I travel. I don't feel that 60%, 65, or even 70% is BAD for cigars, but I just feel it can't be good when it's all over those 3 ranges in a short time. Using both has kept my % swing to a few % when I move-and I feel the cigars are more protected that way.

And because it also benefits us in general, we seasonally use either a humidifier or a dehumidifier. Keeping the ambient humidity closer to your own preferred % helps it to not bounce as far when you open the door-and it's more comfortable to us as well.

 

[Cigary43]

I'm sure if you listen to J he'll set you straight on Beads or KL or gels or any kind of media for that matter. His expertise in this area is amazing unless he's under duress or it's a certain time of the month as that tends to make him cranky. As a wise man once put it...use what you like and like what you use.