Combating High Humidity

T

TU09

Lowland Gorilla
I have been smoking cigars for a couple years but just recently bought a humidor and started buying in quantity. The past couple weeks I have noticed that the RH in my humidor has been around 70-72% without a credo having been in the box for about a month. Short of a wine cooler, what is the best way to bring down the humidity to around 65% given the high ambient humidity (I live in NOLA)?

Also, as punch listed in a recent post, both Cuban temperature and humidity is often considerably higher than what most people claim is appropriate to store cigars. How does this affect the cigars? What about beetles? :confused:

I'm probably just paranoid but I'm getting a little concerned as the temperatures and humidity down here work up to their summer levels. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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Temperature and humidity are bosom buddies. First, try to get the temperature down by moving your box to a central location of your house. Try that and call me in the morning.

Doc
 
Dr. Stogie Fresh said:
Temperature and humidity are bosom buddies. First, try to get the temperature down by moving your box to a central location of your house. Try that and call me in the morning.

Doc
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I'm afraid I really can't move the humidor. I live in a very small space and don't have access to a basement. The temperature is going to have to remain around 75. Also, wouldn't decreasing the temperature but leaving everything else constant (including absolute moisture content) increase the RH?
 
TU09 said:
I have been smoking cigars for a couple years but just recently bought a humidor and started buying in quantity. The past couple weeks I have noticed that the RH in my humidor has been around 70-72% without a credo having been in the box for about a month. Short of a wine cooler, what is the best way to bring down the humidity to around 65% given the high ambient humidity (I live in NOLA)?

Also, as punch listed in a recent post, both Cuban temperature and humidity is often considerably higher than what most people claim is appropriate to store cigars. How does this affect the cigars? What about beetles? :confused:

I'm probably just paranoid but I'm getting a little concerned as the temperatures and humidity down here work up to their summer levels. Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

1. Best thing for bringing down humidity is beads. Check the search function for all you want to know about these. I find beads to be far better at lowering humidity than raising it.

2. The manufacturers of quality cigars take a lot of pains to keep beetles out of your cigars. In addition, the better mail order houses also freeze the cigars to kill the beetles and eggs. Stay away from cheap cigars and buy from reputable dealers and you should have no problems.

3. You are probably being paranoid. Don't worry about it. So is everyone else on this list. You are in good company.
 
beads will hold a constant rh. do a search for all the gory details...
 
TU09 said:
I'm afraid I really can't move the humidor. I live in a very small space and don't have access to a basement. The temperature is going to have to remain around 75. Also, wouldn't decreasing the temperature but leaving everything else constant (including absolute moisture content) increase the RH?
Click to expand...

Yes. Personally, I would worry more about what you can correct - - humidity. Get some 65% beads from Viper and don't fret about the 75 degF. Beetles become active at anything over 65 deg F, so if you have them you are screwed anyway. Keeping the RH lower than 70% will make most brands of cigars more smokable.
 
Thanks for the advice. I just put in an order for the beads. Seems like a good solution.
 
Beads will bring the RH down. Polymer gel brings the RH up. I use both at the same time to keep the RH at 69-71%. The beads will handle most RH spikes due to tempurature changes. Hope this helps. :2
 
Dr. Stogie Fresh said:
Temperature and humidity are bosom buddies. First, try to get the temperature down by moving your box to a central location of your house. Try that and call me in the morning.

Doc
Click to expand...

That is a good start. When my humidor is too humid, I just leave the lid open for a day or two and that will bring it down.
 
In Maryland we have had a lot of rain recently, and my basement gets very damp. I keep my tupperdor and a coupla humi's in the basement. So, I setup my dehimidifier and ran it as usual when it gets damp. The DH dries things out quite a bit. The normal temp in my basement is a steady 70 degrees.
 
TU09 said:
I'm afraid I really can't move the humidor. I live in a very small space and don't have access to a basement. The temperature is going to have to remain around 75. Also, wouldn't decreasing the temperature but leaving everything else constant (including absolute moisture content) increase the RH?
Click to expand...
If the temperature will remain at 75 degrees, I would opt for the 60% or 65% beads.

The ABSOLUTE moisture content doesn't stay constant: it usually fluctuates up and down along with the temperature. Since warmer air has a higher moisture carrying capacity (the converse is true for cooler air), a humidor at 75 degrees and 70% RH has a much higher moisture content than a humi at 70 degrees and 70% RH. Though both conditions are the same relative humidity, the warmer condition has more absolute moisture. Thus, to compensate for consistently warm temperatures, I would recommend that you choose a lower RH setpoint.

Doc
 
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