New Air: AW-321ED-BL (32 bottle) or CC-280E?

[derboesekoenig]

So I only have 2 desktop humidor, and i'm starting to get into boxes. I have 4 boxes on the way, with potentially 15-20 before the year's end. Should I just go ahead and go for it now and get the 32 bottle wine cooler? It has wood shelves already (spanish cedar?), and I was wondering, realistically, how many boxes can each side hold? I may just use one side for now, and wine in the other half. How long for seasoning and what is the best route? (i.e. easiest).
Or better to get the cc-280e? How many boxes can that hold? I was thinking of getting that for now...and finding a scratch and dent or good deal on a dual-zone thermoelectric wine cooler later on...
Main purpose: aging CCs
Thanks for your input. I will continue to research and weigh my options.

 

[ApeSmokes]

Do you need the cooling feature?
When you start talking about 20 boxes just this year, you're sort of removing yourself from the standard size wino market.

 

[derboesekoenig]

Yes, I'll definitely need the cooling. I was thinking I could fit 20-30 boxes in the wine cooler? That would be plenty for now

 

[ApeSmokes]

Well, general advice is to buy bigger than you need. 20 boxes might fit in a 32 bottle wine cooler, but not with the drawers and such that comes with the cc. I think the plain cooler would be better, since you'll have to just stack the boxes.
Grab an empty box and stroll down to Home Depot just to get a visual on the game of tetris your going to need to play.
It might work. Certainly don't want to talk you out of it, but just make sure you know what you're working with before committing.

 

[ApeSmokes]

Since you definitely need cooling and are talking long term storage of lots of cigars, there's another possibility...
Pick up a full size fridge or freezer off Craig's list and hook up an external thermostat.
Google "fridge mods" for home brewing. Lots of ways to do it, ranging from simple to complex. For your purposes you could keep it simple.
Then put your cigars in tupperdors inside the fridge.
Tons of room.
Temp control.
Tupperware keeps RH wonderfully.
By separating cigars into tupperdores, the seperate containers can have different RH for long term, short term, ready to smoke, NCs, etc.

This can be very cheap, depending on cost of the refrigerator.
If you want though, you can get a nice looking fridge... black, white, etc. Some freezers even have locks.
Just a thought.

 

[derboesekoenig]

So the downside is, I work overseas. I'll have someone taking care of the maintenance for me, but I want to have a cooler for that reason. I'm going to go with a 281E to start off with and some SC shelves, and maybe one drawer for singles. Wineadors.com the only place to get shelves for this unit?
On another note....can get 25% off for $500+ orders on Air N Water....hmmmmm. The 280-E is tempting also. Maybe fill em both half full, so I have room in the future.
Any other recommendations from y'all would be appreciated. Thanks for your input thus far

 

[Boudie]

I have both the refrigerator with "kegerator" thermostat and a NewAir. Trust me if you want no maintenance the refrigerator option is your best choice. When it warms up the New Air runs constantly and water pools in the bottom of the unit so I have to keep an eye on humidity levels. The tuperdores in the refrigerator are sealed and the refrigerator can run all day without it affecting their humidity or wetting cigars. The refrigerator is truly stabilize then forget.

I'm trying to talk my wife into changing out the kitchen refrigerator so I can re-purpose for more cigar storage.

 

[derboesekoenig]

Wouldn't an ETC solve that though?

 

[Boudie]

ETC Thermo Electric Cooling? If something is cold and damp air (65% humidity) is blown across it there will be condensation. The newair has channels formed into the back wall to route this moisture to the drain hole.

 

[ApeSmokes]

Depending on temp differential, there can be significant issues with condensation. My new air Thermoelectric had it bad until I put in extra fans that blew down across the plate.
Nothing that isn't solvable.

 

[mitetak]

ETC Thermo Electric Cooling? If something is cold and damp air (65% humidity) is blown across it there will be condensation. The newair has channels formed into the back wall to route this moisture to the drain hole.

nah an ETC is an electronic temperature control. You put a probe into the fridge, plug the power outlet from the fridge into the ETC and then the fridge (or newair - or whatever) only runs when it hits whatever temperature threshold you set on the ETC. ie the ETC turns the fridge on and off as needed (note im using fridge interchangeably with newair, refrigerator, etc)

 

[derboesekoenig]

I'll do some more research and find some fans to put in. I def do not want any condensation

 

[mitetak]

I'll do some more research and find some fans to put in. I def do not want any condensation

I'm doing something like this: http://www.botl.org/threads/wineador-active-and-passive-humidification.92427/#post-2011444

because I like tinkering I'm not going the same route as I'm not doing smart things. But the general idea will be the same. two port smart outlet. monitoring via those tags and automation to turn on my fans or the unit itself. The fans I'm going to run (same ones he uses in the post above actually):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZ6VNII/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It all depends on your comfort level. If you want to just get fans and put them on a timer - that'll work too!

 

[Boudie]

Well maybe I have to relocate my fans. I have two fans blowing from the bottom up to equalize the humidity You are saying to place a fan to blow across the cooling fan increasing the amount of air potentially moving across the cold plate. Simple enough and an option I haven't considered.

 

[ApeSmokes]

I'll do some more research and find some fans to put in. I def do not want any condensation

Most people use computer case fans.
I used 4 (overkill), mounted them to a couple strips of poplar, cut to length so that I could slide it into the slot cut for the shelves
Ran power up through the drain hole.



Then put the controls in a sampler box, just for fun.


Fans are mounted at an angle so they blow down across the cooling plate.
They're mounted with Velcro so I can easily remove/mess with them
They also only take up the last few inches of that slot, so I can put things in front of them.
After the pics, I secured the wires up and out of the way.
Hardest part was passing the power through the drain.
It's not straight, so use fishing line to pull the wires through and put a little food grade oil on them first.

 

[derboesekoenig]

Very cool! Thank you for sharing that. I think I'll try something similar. Maybe with 2 or 3 fans. Also, 65/65 good for aging? And I was thinking 72-74 degrees for a couple weeks, say every....3-4 months?

 

[ApeSmokes]

Very cool! Thank you for sharing that. I think I'll try something similar. Maybe with 2 or 3 fans. Also, 65/65 good for aging? And I was thinking 72-74 degrees for a couple weeks, say every....3-4 months?

Best place to ask about aging would probably be the CC forum. I only know what I've heard, no real experience of my own.
And after posting, I realized that I Did Not mount the fans at an angle. That was version 1.
It cost me to much vertical space.
Version 2, I split a 1"x1" piece of popular at a 60 degree angle. Mounted it on the inside of the poplar strip. It directed the air down at an angle at the plate.
In version 3 I cut the ramp into thirds, with different angles 45, 60, 45 . The 45s direct the air right down the back of the fridge behind the shelves, while the 60 points the center of the fans right at the plate. In the second picture, that's what those tiny screws are holding.
I like to tinker.

 

[Boudie]

Gonna have to smoke a bunch of cigars to free up the top shelf!!

 

[StogieNinja]

So I’m going to recommend something completely different.

If you are talking about long term maintenance often while you are away, and for large volume, I would suggest large food safe, airtight storage containers with Boveda packs inside. Store those in a manual defrost freezer with an electronic temperature controller.

This setup allows you to separate humidity control from temp control. Many here can tell you from experience that when you start needing to come 5-10*, you end up with wild rh swings and condensation issues. Separating the two things will make things a little more foolproof. Utilizing the freezer with an FTC will provide some significant insulation, and you could also use aquarium heaters to provide heat if desired.

I don’t utilize this myself because my stash is smaller and I keep my house cool enough, but I have a friend who keeps a substantial collection properly stored this way and he loves it.

 

[derboesekoenig]

Probably should've done this ^ , but I'm stuck on something that well....is more aesthetically pleasing. For the future. Something that will more or less be "displayed" in the house. I just ordered the 281e, drawers and shelves from Forrest, and will be getting a USB fan or two to circulate air and put it on a timer.