Small Coolidor

[Monsterdg]

Small Coolidor

I was looking for a 100+ humidor as my collection of sticks keeps growing, but I’m not quite ready for the big leap into a cabinet (might be my Christmas present to myself :santa.

I wasn’t looking to store boxes, but just something to contain my growing singles collection. I wasn’t overly impressed with the humidors I was finding online for what I wanted to pay. I decided on a small coolidor might do the trick at the right price.

Having seen Spanish cedar trays readily available, I thought that would be the perfect start to the coolidor project and ordered several at $9.99 each with free shipping. Measurements of the trays in hand, I went looking for the cooler.

I found a 28 quart Igloo that seemed designed for this project. It perfectly fits 5 stacked trays. I’m using Bovia packs (69%) for humidification and added a digital hygrometer I already had.

Costs:
5 trays at $9.99 each, $49.95
Cooler (Walmart), $15.88
Boveda Packs, 12 pack box (ebay) $38.94 w/ shipping.
Total cost: $104.77

Trays hold ~30 sticks each, so I have storage for 150 sticks and humidification for a year+ for just about $100. I’ve had the set up for about a month, and the temp/humidity hold steady in the high 60’s in my home office just fine.

If you are looking for an inexpensive alternative to a regular humidor with lots of options to sort & stack a growing collection, I think this is a great idea.

 

[iCraig]

Nice work, you'll need at least double that in no time. Slippery slope my friend..

 

[sean]

Nice work, you'll need at least double that in no time. Slippery slope my friend..

I am now subscribed to the idea that this isn't a slippery slope we're dealing with here, but more like a cliff... a very tall cliff. :glassesgr

 

[Racmanjr]

Word of warning, the seal on the igloo "island breeze" coolers suck. I had one for my coolerdor, and ended up just trashing it and getting a regular igloo "family" cooler.

But, nonetheless, looks good! I hope it works out well for ya.

 

[danthebugman]

Nicely done :thumbsup:. Been toying with doing something similar, but with a bigger cooler for a while...just can't seem to admit I have that issue :laugh:.

Dan

 

[njstone]

Cool man! Those Boveda packs often work for LONGER than advertised, which is great for you. Basically, they're good unti they get totally hard and crunchy instead of soft and liquidy, if that makes sense. I've had one in a travel humi that's still working after a year! I'm sure it depends on how often you open it and other factors.

 

[aroma]

I have that exact same setup.

The seal on mine has been incredibly good.
Even during the dry east-coast winter, I only have to recharge my Heartfelt beads maybe once ever 2-3 months (as opposed to once every 2-3 DAYS for a couple of cheap wood humidors).

 

[Route 66]

I realize this is an old thread but I was hoping you could tell me how you went about initially seasoning your coolidor. I'm in the process of putting together a similar setup with only 4 cedar trays but I'm not sure how to season them.

 

[aroma]

I let coolers sit open until there is no plastic smell (could take days or weeks). Others have used techniques for accelerating this process - leave the cooler outside in bright sun, fill with newspaper, baking soda, etc.

Seasoning the trays is the same as seasoning any humidor - Wipe off manufacturing sawdust with a very slightly damp cloth. Put trays into cooler with hygrometer for a day and measure humidity. If less than your target humidity, use a wet sponge on a saucer to season. A quick search will yield 100 variations on this process.

 

[Monsterdg]

Exactly what I did Aroma; washed and dried the cooler and let it air out on the deck, smell was gone in a day and i wiped down the trays with a damp cloth. It was holding humidity pretty well, and filling the cooler with sticks and with the help of the Boveda packs puts it on auto pilot.

PS: I since have moved to a wineador, no kidding about the slippery slope!

 

[Ecks]

Exactly what I did Aroma; washed and dried the cooler and let it air out on the deck, smell was gone in a day and i wiped down the trays with a damp cloth. It was holding humidity pretty well, and filling the cooler with sticks and with the help of the Boveda packs puts it on auto pilot.

PS: I since have moved to a wineador, no kidding about the slippery slope!

What are your thoughts on the Wineador you have Monster? I've been debating between a cooler or a wineador recently. I am leaning more towards wineador due to easier temp regulation though.

 

[Route 66]

I like the idea of a wineador, but don't they keep your smokes too cool?

Also, they remove humidity, don't they?

 

[Tobacco Giant]

I like the idea of a wineador, but don't they keep your smokes too cool?

Also, they remove humidity, don't they?

ETC so the wineador only turns on when it reaches a certain temperature. When it turns on it will remove RH but as long as it doesn't turn on too often it should bounce right back.

That being said, if you're house is regularly over 75 degrees in the summer, I personally wouldn't recommend a wineador as it will be constantly running, constantly removing humidity. If you keep your house around 72 or lower, it won't have to run as much and works pretty well. My old AC unit wasn't working properly and temps in my house got pretty high and my wineador was always running, RH was around 50%. I got a new AC unit, kept my house at a reasonable temperature and the wineador runs like a dream.

 

[Route 66]

I wonder if I'd be able to compensate for the humidity that it would remove by using more beads...

 

[Treinenwj]

That would help. Or, switching to active humidification.

 

[Tobacco Giant]

I wonder if I'd be able to compensate for the humidity that it would remove by using more beads...

You will not. Beads are passive and they take time. Using more beads may help the RH to bounce back a bit faster, but if your wineador is running a lot throughout the day, expect a very low RH level.

Edit - I had my wineador stocked with 2 pounds of beads and about 10 Boveda packs. It would run every couple hours and the RH levels could never stabilize to an acceptable level.

I think it's great for keeping the cigars a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house, but if you're looking to keep them 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house, I don't think it's the best solution.

 

[aroma]

You can also use a wineador unplugged, if you have a space that's a good temperature year-round. A wineador looks better and is more convenient than a coolerdor, and it doesn't have to be much more expensive than a cooler, if you buy an "open box" or "scratch and dent" unit or find a good deal on a used one.

 

[Monsterdg]

I struggled with the same issues with temp/humidity. But living in Atlanta, in the summer the house would be comfortable but the sticks get too warm. I ended up getting the wineador and some drawers from Forrest (nice stuff). I have 70% beads, about 2# or so, and only run it for short times during the day when it gets too warm. I know some brothers have added timers and fans to the wineador but I just never felt the need

For most of the year I leave it unplugged and it holds humidity perfectly. I usually move sticks i'm going to smoke to a "dry box" humidor that as some 65% beads in it just in case. Seems to work for me pretty well.

 

[HarleyMark13]

Can you use a coolidor/Tuppidor for long term ( say 6+ months) storage? I have a tupidor going with beads and everything seems ok but will it hurt them? btw I only have boxes in there no solo's

 

[SurpriseMVP]

Can you use a coolidor/Tuppidor for long term ( say 6+ months) storage? I have a tupidor going with beads and everything seems ok but will it hurt them? btw I only have boxes in there no solo's

You could keep your smokes in there for years as long as you don't have big temp swings.
I use wine coolers for my storage to keep at a steady temp and rh. During the summer I keep my house at 81 degrees. Might seem warm, but when it's 110 outside and my Electric bill is $600, 81 feels comfortable. I keep the coolers at 69 degrees and 63%. I use beads and charge them 3 times a year. My coolers are jam packed with boxes and only have 1 32 bottle cooler with a few drawers. The other cooler is just boxes. The more boxes you stuff in them the more constant everything stays at least for me. I do have CPU fans set up on a timer to kick on for a few minutes every 75 minutes or so. This is a pic of my ready to smoke cooler.