Humidor humidity
 

I wanted to get the groups advise on an idea to see if this will work for a collider setup. I have been running two side by side for some time one with a cigar oasis and one with a combo of 65% heartfelt and 20 65% RH boveda bags. The thought being the overfilled beads would recharge the boveda and also the boveda would be able to react faster to the huge drop in RH when I open the cooler.

Does this thought process make sense, and if not what have you seen work? It is important to note that both seem to work but I wanted additional input before I move to one for both. These will be used for long term storage and aging for any box that needs to be laid down for two yrs or longer.

Since I’m transferring most of the stock to a cabinet, is there a better solution for long term aging that holds constant temp and RH.

Sorry for the long text, I greatly appreciate any of your input and/or thoughts!

Re: Humidor humidity
 

Hi Ed!

I hope that you are keeping a close eye on the Boveda packs. They aren't designed for long term storage and, in my experience, are relatively quick to go moldy. I haven't tried to use them long term for a long time, so perhaps they fixed that "feature".

I prefer active humidification and would recommend going with the cigar oasis matched to 65% RH beads. Cigarnut will likely jump in as he is wise in the ways of RH. He has his own bead company, so he needs to know this stuff well. He also knows Boveda packs way better than me.

Re: Humidor humidity
 

I think beads, regardless of manufacturer, might react faster than the boveda packs. Cigarnut can probably confirm if that is accurate or not.

I've personally not had much luck with mixed passive humidification systems. It's not that the humidor doesn't maintain humidity, it's just that in the end, only one of the elements does the work, the other just either dries out or gets overcharged.

Re: Humidor humidity
 

In a cabinet humidor, your best bet is an active system. I don't think beads are needed with an active system, but I know some folks use them together. For temp, best bet is to keep the cigars in an air conditioned room, but unless your house is really hot, it's probably not a big problem. Plenty of cigars have been stored for a decade or more in hot climates like Cuba without ill effects.

If you're aging cigars for VERY long times, you can buy temperature controlled humidors or wine coolers. If your temp concern is beetles, then freezing your cigars before they go into your humidor is imho an easier and more effective solution. Search the forum here and there are plenty of posts about the freezing process.

As for quick RH swings when you open your humidor, don't worry about them. They wont hurt your smokes.

Re: Humidor humidity
 

Thank you for all the replies as it helps to get others opinions and experiences. The coolers will only act as overflow once the Aristocrat comes in that my wife ordered as she got tired of coolers stacking up. She got a MxTHC to go downstairs and I will move the coolers to the basement.

So should I vacuum seal the boxes, put them in the coolers with beads and call it a day or is there a better way as this is new territory putting boxes down for the long term. Thanks again for all of the input it is greatly appreciated.

Re: Humidor humidity
 

Hover over the link for MxT on this page: http://www.aristocrathumidors.com/cabinetindex.html

The cabinet on the left is the one he made for me. The cherry has darkened some in the last 8 years.

Re: Humidor humidity
 

How do you find that it holds humidity from bottom to top, is there much variation?

Re: Humidor humidity
 

about 2%