Storage Temperature

[VirginIslander]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here on BOTL (Don't beat me up too bad if its been covered repeatedly, I searched and didn't find an answer).

Anyway, I live in the Virgin Islands. My house doesn't get hot enough to warrant AC, but gets warm enough that my humi averages 79f. I noticed today that my sticks are starting to get quite soft. I immediately went to home depot and bought a wine cooler. All will be well, or so I thought. Soon after getting it home, plugging it in and fiddling with the controls, I find that 61f is the highest it will go. As long as I can get the humidity high enough, will this have any negative effects? Any solutions anyone can think of (short of returning it and buying a different one? -this was the only one I liked)? Any assistance is GREATLY appreciated.

Bill

 

[dpricenator]

Welcome...stop by the Intro forum and say hi.

Otherwise, i use a wine fridge as well. What you need is an external temperatur contoller. You plug you fridgeinto it and it will controll the power to your fridge. A small probe will be placed in side, whenit gets too warm it will turn the fridge on, when it cools off, the power to the fridge will turn off. Other than not being able to use the light when it's not running they work great.

Search Ebay for a JOhnson Temp controller I see one right now for $37

 

[Volusianator]

My basement is always cool, 61 degrees wont hurt a thing. Maybe let the stick sit out and acclimate for a few minutes before lighting it up just so it doesn't go from one extreme to another when lit. You're fine.

 

[Mitch]

Welcome aboard and I live in South Florida so we have some of the same issues. I tend to have problems with over humidification at times, if you want to dry out the sticks go get a tub of "Damp Rid" and leave it in your humidor until it drops to a reasonable level. You didn't say what your humidity is, do you have a way of checking it or do you just go by how your smokes feel? Anyway, good luck and again, welcome.

 

[VirginIslander]

Sorry, pre-winecooler, I was at 79f/72rh. I have a digital hygrometer, but its only been in the cooler for about 30 minutes now. I'm going to keep an eye on it. I did come across on ajaxcigars.com a table of *f/Rh that the equivalent to 70/70 at 61f is going to be about 94%rh. whats everyone's take on that?

Bill

 

[VirginIslander]

Also, (and I feel dumb asking) I put my entire humi in the cooler, this was correct, right?

Bill

 

[Mitch]

Sorry, pre-winecooler, I was at 79f/72rh. I have a digital hygrometer, but its only been in the cooler for about 30 minutes now. I'm going to keep an eye on it. I did come across on ajaxcigars.com a table of *f/Rh that the equivalent to 70/70 at 61f is going to be about 94%rh. whats everyone's take on that?

Bill

Ignore it, it's bad advice and well documented to be so. I wrote a cigar primer a while back that you can find here. http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php?t=24701

I'm hardly an expert and others here will chime in with great advice, but you may find some helpful points in it.

 

[dpricenator]

Sorry, pre-winecooler, I was at 79f/72rh. I have a digital hygrometer, but its only been in the cooler for about 30 minutes now. I'm going to keep an eye on it. I did come across on ajaxcigars.com a table of *f/Rh that the equivalent to 70/70 at 61f is going to be about 94%rh. whats everyone's take on that?

Bill

I agree with mitch that this is bad advice, you'll probaly find that your habanos smoke beter at say 65% rh, but that's a personal preference. I can't imagine a benefit to being over 70%. too much moisture is an issue.

Also, (and I feel dumb asking) I put my entire humi in the cooler, this was correct, right?

Bill

Yes and no. Your humidor takes up alot of room in there. But it won't hurt anything as long as the environment is no higher than 70/70. Personally i like 65-68 / 65%

 

[VirginIslander]

I've actually read that before (but read it again because its a great read!)

so if 61/94 is BS, what should be my goal for the RH? And I'm definately going to look into the johnson controller, only problems is a lot of ebay'ers don't want to ship here even if I pay extra....

Bill

 

[dpricenator]

There are companies that will ship to the VI, just google it. If it was my humidor, I would aim at 65-70 degrees, and no more than 65% RH, but I like my smokes a tad drier/less moist. And since you are in a very humid area, you may have to use someof thatr stuff Mitch mentioned to relieve some humidity.

 

[Hardcore]

:thumbsup:

 

[RonC]

Welcome...stop by the Intro forum and say hi.

Otherwise, i use a wine fridge as well. What you need is an external temperatur contoller. You plug you fridgeinto it and it will controll the power to your fridge. A small probe will be placed in side, whenit gets too warm it will turn the fridge on, when it cools off, the power to the fridge will turn off. Other than not being able to use the light when it's not running they work great.

Search Ebay for a JOhnson Temp controller I see one right now for $37

there is your best advice. get that temp up to about 69 degrees. it will make the humidity issues much easier to solve

 

[VirginIslander]

So my sticks have been in the fridge about a week now, and the temp in the actual humi is hold pretty steady at 65 degrees, and the humidity was at 72-73, so I put some damp rid in a plastic cup and its holding steady at 68%. I must say, its nice to not have to constantly worry about them anymore.

 

[dpricenator]

So my sticks have been in the fridge about a week now, and the temp in the actual humi is hold pretty steady at 65 degrees, and the humidity was at 72-73, so I put some damp rid in a plastic cup and its holding steady at 68%. I must say, its nice to not have to constantly worry about them anymore.

good neews.
65 degrees is just fine. Sounds like the damprid did the trick. I would suggest an OUST fan for a bit of circulation especially because of your humidity issue.