I have a 16 bottle wine cooler that I'm starting to fill up. I have a pound of 65% beads and the humidity is good and solid... Until I plug it in. As soon as I plug it in the humidity rapidly drops. It's not an issue now, but I'm thinking it could become one as it gets warmer here on phoenix. It is a thermoelectric unit and any suggestions would be appreciated.
problem with humidity in wine cooler
- Thread starter cba191
- Start date
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
Do you have a temperature you can set or just a Hi-Low setting? Mine has a thermostat and it's easy to keep the humidity right where I want it at 66-70 degrees, but when the power goes out and it auto resets to like 50 degrees my humidity goes nuts until I reset it. You may be too cold.
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
Not sure which brand you have but most including me have a 28 vinotemp. Make sure you have the temp all the way up at like 68. Even if it reads something hit the ^ button on the temp to make sure its at the highest. The vinos when plugged in start at the 56? give or take but it may actually read higher on the read out. Thats when you need to keep pressing ^ until it at its highest setting. This will stop the main fan from running most of the time except when your house gets in the 80s. Also go on ebay and buy a 7.00 Oust battery fan to help with air curculation.
the temp setting is just a dial. it's all the way up. when i get up in the morning it's about 60 degrees, but the humidity is at about 51 % i have a couple full boxes in there and the rest of the space is filled with empties. Is there something that i should be blocking off? it's an edgestar btw.
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
How do your cigars feel? Many store cigars for long aging well below 70/70 and most believe the colder you store them the dryer you should store them. If they don't act like they are drying out, you may not have any problem at all. I'm guessing if you let the temperature come up your humidity level is fine. We measure relative humidity not absolute humidity. Abolute humidity is the total amount of moisture in the air and is usualy measured in grams per cubic meter. BUT we measure relative humidity, air can hold different amounts of moisture depending on temperature, so when we say 70/70 we are saying 70% of the moisture that 70 degree air could hold.
You may be able to test this by taking your box of full cigars out at 50% and stick them in a ziplock bag with a hygromiter. If as temp comes up the humidity is fine, then don't wory.
If your cigars are fine and you just can't live with a number that low, look into getting a refridgerator thermostat from a home beer brewing company. They plug into the wall, your cooler would plug into it and you can then set the temperature for whatever you want.
It sounds like your cooler dosn't have a thermostat at all, just a low and high power settings, so you may always get 10 degrees below room temperature on one setting and 20 degrees below room temperature on another, but it will very with room temperature. A non fluctuating temperature is the way to go for storing your smokes, if you can't do that, look into adding a thermostat.
You may be able to test this by taking your box of full cigars out at 50% and stick them in a ziplock bag with a hygromiter. If as temp comes up the humidity is fine, then don't wory.
If your cigars are fine and you just can't live with a number that low, look into getting a refridgerator thermostat from a home beer brewing company. They plug into the wall, your cooler would plug into it and you can then set the temperature for whatever you want.
It sounds like your cooler dosn't have a thermostat at all, just a low and high power settings, so you may always get 10 degrees below room temperature on one setting and 20 degrees below room temperature on another, but it will very with room temperature. A non fluctuating temperature is the way to go for storing your smokes, if you can't do that, look into adding a thermostat.
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
Temperature control is the main weapon we have to fight off bettle infestations. at 78 degrees beetles can hatch and lay waste to your stash of prized smokes. General rule is if your smokes are stored at no more than 70 degrees they are safe against eggs hatching and your only concern is bringing a hatched bettle into your humidor from a purchase gift etc. But, if you are under 70 degrees the damage will be restriced to the damage of that bettle only because it's eggs can't hatch. If it's warm enough for eggs to hatch a single bettle can turn into tens of thousands in just a couple of very short life cycles.
Also remember that a humidor is full of decaying leaves, so like a compost pile, they can create a bit of heat themselves and your humidor could be running a few degrees higher than room temperature.
Not to argue with Mitch, we all know he is knowledgeable, but IMHO never adjust your humidity by the temp you store your smokes at. Below is a brief quote
"To help set the records straight, we're going to observe a fine treatise on the subject from The Cigar Smoker's FAQ. The section on The Variable Humidity Myth articulates how there are a number of authorities claiming that relative humidity should move in an inverse direction from temperature: i.e. if you're maintaining a 70% RH humidor at 70 degrees, and the temperature falls to 65 degrees, the humidity should be raised to 75% RH to compensate. In fact, the humidity should stay constant regardless of temperature.
This is primarily because the tobacco within a cigar needs just enough moisture to keep it elastic, but not so much as to create expansion. This level is always around 70% independent of temperature. Why? Because we're not talking about how much moisture is physically in the tobacco (to keep the absolute moisture the same if temperature dropped, you would have to raise the humidity). What we are talking about is the sweet spot between tobacco leaves getting too brittle (68% RH or lower) and tobacco leaves beginning to swell (73% or higher). This sweet spot is always around 70% RH."
I would argue that the sweet spot is lower around 64%, but 50 is too low no matter what. I know some people say 60 is the sweet spot, but like I said 50 is just too low no matter the temp.
As for the temp thing, I wont get to into that too much, but I believe cooled storage is overrated, beetles can live and hatch at 65+, and allthough they do accelerate a bit at higher temps, if your sticks are below 78 and above 60 I would not worry too much, however quick swings should be avoioded. However many maybe most seem to disagree.
"To help set the records straight, we're going to observe a fine treatise on the subject from The Cigar Smoker's FAQ. The section on The Variable Humidity Myth articulates how there are a number of authorities claiming that relative humidity should move in an inverse direction from temperature: i.e. if you're maintaining a 70% RH humidor at 70 degrees, and the temperature falls to 65 degrees, the humidity should be raised to 75% RH to compensate. In fact, the humidity should stay constant regardless of temperature.
This is primarily because the tobacco within a cigar needs just enough moisture to keep it elastic, but not so much as to create expansion. This level is always around 70% independent of temperature. Why? Because we're not talking about how much moisture is physically in the tobacco (to keep the absolute moisture the same if temperature dropped, you would have to raise the humidity). What we are talking about is the sweet spot between tobacco leaves getting too brittle (68% RH or lower) and tobacco leaves beginning to swell (73% or higher). This sweet spot is always around 70% RH."
I would argue that the sweet spot is lower around 64%, but 50 is too low no matter what. I know some people say 60 is the sweet spot, but like I said 50 is just too low no matter the temp.
As for the temp thing, I wont get to into that too much, but I believe cooled storage is overrated, beetles can live and hatch at 65+, and allthough they do accelerate a bit at higher temps, if your sticks are below 78 and above 60 I would not worry too much, however quick swings should be avoioded. However many maybe most seem to disagree.
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
First off I highly respect your oppinion, you've been doing this longer than I have, but for discussion:
I agree on the first part that you shouldn't be trying to raise humidity just because you are lowering your temperatures, but I don't agree with the second that 70% is always the golden number, or even 65 or 60 for that matter. I know of several experts that store there smokes well below 60% for decades, but advise to let them settle for a few weeks at higher before smoking. I don't think 50% will damage his smokes while he figures this out and if they feel OK, his problem may be how he is measuring the humididty not the humidity.
Many feel somewhere in the 60's is better period (I'm one of them), but what I'm saying is if they look good, feel good and smoke good, don't panic over a number.
IMO 50% is low at any temperature, but until he gets the temperature stabalized he will probably have a hard time getting the humidity to stablalize as well.
I also forgot to ask how the beads look, are they all white at 50% or still show some water stored?
I agree on the first part that you shouldn't be trying to raise humidity just because you are lowering your temperatures, but I don't agree with the second that 70% is always the golden number, or even 65 or 60 for that matter. I know of several experts that store there smokes well below 60% for decades, but advise to let them settle for a few weeks at higher before smoking. I don't think 50% will damage his smokes while he figures this out and if they feel OK, his problem may be how he is measuring the humididty not the humidity.
Many feel somewhere in the 60's is better period (I'm one of them), but what I'm saying is if they look good, feel good and smoke good, don't panic over a number.
IMO 50% is low at any temperature, but until he gets the temperature stabalized he will probably have a hard time getting the humidity to stablalize as well.
I also forgot to ask how the beads look, are they all white at 50% or still show some water stored?
I have not had any problems with my Vinotemp. I have 2 lbs of bead in mine. I set it at like 65-86 degrees, and yesh the humidity does drop for a little while. But once the temp is stable the humidity comes back up. You might have to add more beads to make up for the cooler temp.
Question to all Wine(ador) users, what do you use you wine(ador) for? I use mine for box storage, and I keep my singles in my desktop.
If you use your Wine(ador) for your box storage, remember this! If there is humidity loss or too much humidity it won't effect the cigars too much because they are in a box. So don't worry about it too much.
Question to all Wine(ador) users, what do you use you wine(ador) for? I use mine for box storage, and I keep my singles in my desktop.
If you use your Wine(ador) for your box storage, remember this! If there is humidity loss or too much humidity it won't effect the cigars too much because they are in a box. So don't worry about it too much.
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
I have a large cabinet with all my singles and some boxes and my Vino 28 is only for box storage. One pound of 65%, stays rock solid 64-67 and sits at 68 degrees. I open it maybe once or twice a week and have to add a couple ounces of water about every other month.
See i do the same with mine, I just plug in my fans once in a while. I have not had any problems with temp or humidity. I just let it do it's thing. Humidity will move around a bit. but the boxes maintain a solid 65% humidity. I have a wireless monitor in an empty box too. Incase you want to find out what the actual humidity is inside the cigar boxes.
interesting discussion. i've read it and reread it and i think i have the gist... i keep everything in my cooled wine-ador. this includes my desk tops and boxes. i notice when the cooler turns on, the humidity spikes about 15 above normal for 15-30 seconds, then drops about 10 below normal for 15-30 seconds, then evens out.
can anyone explain why this happens?
can anyone explain why this happens?
I have a 26 bottle, with a pound of kitty litter in the top and 1.5 lbs in the bottom. I use it for box and single storage. It get's opened several times a week. I use a johnson external temp controller to keep it a 65 degrees, and the RH sits steady at 64% . When the cooler kicks on in the summer, the RH drops about 10% until it turns off a few minutes later.
Stop spilling beer in your humi.:stretchgr
It is just the nature of the wine(ador) there is a balancing of humidity and temp. as the temp goes down the humidity drops too, then it will level out then begin to rise again. Hell I don't even have mine plugged in right now and it is maintaining 65% humidity and staying right at 60 degrees. I love my wine(ador)
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
My vino 28 has 20 boxes in it with 1 tray of bout 100 singles its opened every few days give or take 1 lb of beads and 1 oust fan. off most of the time except if I plug it in for half a day. 67% with 1 lb of beads rock solid. I think what helps is its full of smokes and thick cedar shelves and trays help the most. I have spayed the beads twice in 4 months thats it.