Keeping my coolidor cool

[Racmanjr]

So, I had an idea. I live in Hawaii, where it is regularly over 80 degrees, and I know that can mean beetles. I'm just now setting up a coolidor, got cigars on the way, and I thought "hey, what if I got some of those freezer pacs that people use to pack lunches?" You know the ones that are like a solid block and you put them in a lunch bag?
I was thinking about getting 4 and keeping 2 in the freezer and 2 in the humidor, and switching them out once a day. It is after all a cooler so i figure it should hold in the cool.
What do yall think?

 

[Dave]

I'd be interested in what temp you manage to get to most of the time with two cooler packs.

And, I think this is a perfect opportunity for a discussion about RH vs. temperature! I always enjoy those. I'll kick it off - if you get the temperature down to a fairly steady, say, 50% -- then what is the ideal RH for smoking? How about aging? Hang on.

 

[Racmanjr]

I'm not very well versed in the temp vs. Rh. I have some 65 heartfelt beads on the way though.

I figure using the packs should bring the cooler down like 10 degrees... at least I hope!

 

[r3db4r0n]

I would be worried about condensation regardless of whether they were in a ziplock bag or not, I suppose you could attempt to put it in a cloth to avoid this.

A better solution would be to put the cooler in a basement or air conditioned room, although based on the question at hand I gather this unfortunately isn't an option.

 

[Racmanjr]

Ya, I'm putting it in my closet but its not a big difference. We typically have the windows open because electricity here is high and we dont have a basement. I was thinking about wrapping them in a cloth too.

 

[GoingPostal]

i did this for a while. I live in CA and didn't do it on a daily basis just when the temp got in the 90's. Had 2 problems.

1) rh tough to keep down due to the condensation from the cool pack. had to start wrapping it in a towel helped out a bit.

2) driving myself crazy worring if the temp was cool enough? or too cold?

If your really that concerned about temp and beatles you might as well invest in a wineador, start saving now.

 

[dpricenator]

PM Jwintosh, he did this for years in the summer heat of San Diego. As I rmeber his cooler were set up in a vertical manner so the lid swung open like a door. He attached a couple of terry cloth pockets to the door, to put the ice packs in. the terry cloth caught the condensation, the beads soaked up the extra. He’s never reported an beetle issue, and the smokes I enjoyed from those coolers were just fine.

 

[Racmanjr]

I'm watching craigslist for a wine cooler, have been for a little while. When something good jumps up I'll bite.
For now though, I'm not too worried, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with keeping cigars and maintaining the proper conditions. I used to live in MD till 2 months ago where I had a great B&M 5 minutes from me and I could just get them when I wanted. Here in HI the shops are expensive and there are only like 5 of them, so I'm gonna keep my own stock. I just don't want to waste money and good cigars because I didn't maintain proper conditions, ya know?

EDIT:

PM Jwintosh, he did this for years in the summer heat of San Diego. As I rmeber his cooler were set up in a vertical manner so the lid swung open like a door. He attached a couple of terry cloth pockets to the door, to put the ice packs in. the terry cloth caught the condensation, the beads soaked up the extra. He’s never reported an beetle issue, and the smokes I enjoyed from those coolers were just fine.

Thats how mine is set up too! Glad to hear somebody got it to work. I shall go ahead and try it then.

 

[dpricenator]

Cool, it’ll take opening the door every day or everyother day, but you are new to keeping your own stash, so you’d be opening it everyday to make sure nothing changed anyway. MY humidor on the other hand opens maybe once a week, but I know it’s all good now. For the first year or so I was always in that thing.

 

[JNT]

I currently do this with just one small ice pack. I just lay it on top of my beads. I find it helps a little. All my sticks are in boxes, in the coolidor in hopes of them not being affected by any condensation or RH swings. So far have not seen any issues. Helps drop the temps by about 4-5 degrees C (not sure what that is in F).

I only do it on the hot days, when the wife is too cheap to turn on the AC.

 

[CWS]

When the temp got out of hand which is a couple of days a year...Ice pack wrapped in a towel with semi dry beads to pick up the moisture. It is a royal pain and a battle with the humidity swinging but works.

 

[Racmanjr]

k, well I picked up a couple ice packs on sale today, and my beads should be here tomorrow. So, I'm gonna give it a try without cigars in there and see how the Rh and temp turn out. I will report the results!

 

[La Chupacabra]

Turn on your AC.

 

[Racmanjr]

Turn on your AC.

Frankly, I live in Hawaii, and the weather is always perfect. Just not for cigars. Running the AC here is expensive as I've already stated, and just generally unnecessary.

 

[cmhicksusmc]

Pm sent!!! I live in kaneohe anything I can do to yep I will bit I've kept mine at an even 70 degrees with no issues.

 

[Racmanjr]

PM responded to!

 

[Racmanjr]

So, I tried it. And it works a little for like, 2 hours. Then the ice packs warm up and the temp goes back up :/

On this note, I have the beads in my coolerdor and its gone up to 76%, while im using 65% beads. Why would this be? I moistened about half the beads as advised and I have them spread out through the humi.

 

[weskimad]

I'm thinking that if I lived in an area where temp is a huge concern, I'd either maintain a much smaller stash, or keep my stash in a coolidor but in sealed cigar boxes. That way any beetles that did hatch would likely be contained within that individual box.

I've never had a beetle, but my brother in law did. He brought two Monte #2 to Myrtle beach, and when he opened his travel humidor I could see the beetle holes right away. He owns an Aristocrat armoire and when he got home the Monte #2 box had 6 damaged cigars, but no other boxes were affected.

 

[cmhicksusmc]

You should check out my setup when ya get a chancey. And its an excuse to smoke and imbibe LOL.

 

[Racmanjr]

I'm thinking that if I lived in an area where temp is a huge concern, I'd either maintain a much smaller stash, or keep my stash in a coolidor but in sealed cigar boxes. That way any beetles that did hatch would likely be contained within that individual box.

I've never had a beetle, but my brother in law did. He brought two Monte #2 to Myrtle beach, and when he opened his travel humidor I could see the beetle holes right away. He owns an Aristocrat armoire and when he got home the Monte #2 box had 6 damaged cigars, but no other boxes were affected.

I'm still in the "finding out what I like" stage, getting used to the differences in tobaccos and such, so I some samplers rather than boxes. I'm keeping them in trays in my humi.

cmhicksusmc, how do you have yours set up to keep it cool and properly humidified?