Bit of a technical question here, but it can be summed up as the following:
Which is the more important, the actual amount of water vapor in the humidor, or the amount of water vapor relative to the maximum density the air can hold (actual humidity or RH)?
This question arose because I decided to make a spreadsheet that shows the equvalent RH over a change in temperature for a closed system. (As a newbie I can't put in the link to the spreadsheet, or a similar table found at bonitasmokeshop).
So after being all proud of myself, I noticed that while I started with a 70 degree/ 70% humidity in the morning, when it warmed up to 76 degrees in the afternoon, the humidity did not drop anywhere near 58% as the calculations suggest it should. It dropped instead to about 68%.
So either I made a mistake in the math (which is possible), or there is something else going on.
While I might have a math mistake, the table at bonitasmokeshop also makes a similar mistake.
The other possibility is that the humidor is not really a closed system. The humidifier is an active system (in this case beads). I am guessing that these beads are designed to be neutral at 70 degrees. When the temperature goes up, the vapor pressure goes down, which to the bead appears as dry air. So the beads start kicking out a bunch of moisture as a result of temperature alone, not due to a change in how dry the air is.
This means when it gets hot, the actual amount of wator vapor in the humidor goes way up, even though the displayed RH might drop a point or two. The concern is that the humidor is getting over humidified.
It comes down to how cigars absorb moisture, either due to absolute moisture content, or moisture vapor pressure.
If it is vapor pressure that counts (RH), then everything is fine and dandy (though my chart is useless). The only lesson would be that if you are running your humidor hot, make sure you pick a humidifier system that is just as good at taking water out of the air as it is at putting it in, otherwise when the temperature drops back down the RH will go way high and stay that way, which would be bad.
If on the other hand cigars absorb moisture based on absolute moisture content, then my humidifying beads are being tricked, and I am over humidifying.
Ben
Which is the more important, the actual amount of water vapor in the humidor, or the amount of water vapor relative to the maximum density the air can hold (actual humidity or RH)?
This question arose because I decided to make a spreadsheet that shows the equvalent RH over a change in temperature for a closed system. (As a newbie I can't put in the link to the spreadsheet, or a similar table found at bonitasmokeshop).
So after being all proud of myself, I noticed that while I started with a 70 degree/ 70% humidity in the morning, when it warmed up to 76 degrees in the afternoon, the humidity did not drop anywhere near 58% as the calculations suggest it should. It dropped instead to about 68%.
So either I made a mistake in the math (which is possible), or there is something else going on.
While I might have a math mistake, the table at bonitasmokeshop also makes a similar mistake.
The other possibility is that the humidor is not really a closed system. The humidifier is an active system (in this case beads). I am guessing that these beads are designed to be neutral at 70 degrees. When the temperature goes up, the vapor pressure goes down, which to the bead appears as dry air. So the beads start kicking out a bunch of moisture as a result of temperature alone, not due to a change in how dry the air is.
This means when it gets hot, the actual amount of wator vapor in the humidor goes way up, even though the displayed RH might drop a point or two. The concern is that the humidor is getting over humidified.
It comes down to how cigars absorb moisture, either due to absolute moisture content, or moisture vapor pressure.
If it is vapor pressure that counts (RH), then everything is fine and dandy (though my chart is useless). The only lesson would be that if you are running your humidor hot, make sure you pick a humidifier system that is just as good at taking water out of the air as it is at putting it in, otherwise when the temperature drops back down the RH will go way high and stay that way, which would be bad.
If on the other hand cigars absorb moisture based on absolute moisture content, then my humidifying beads are being tricked, and I am over humidifying.
Ben
