I have been puzzled by reports of coolers employing storage trays and maintaining steady and favorable humidity conditions for cigars. If this is the case I must assume that the cooler never actually cycles "on" or that rh is monitored not from an open tray but from within a closed cigar box. Or I’ve missed something else... Which is it?
Observations show modest temperature changes can,
predictably(cliky), cause considerable fluctuations in relative humidity. At the lower limit temperature changes are quite sufficient to condense water inside a cooler. You do not want a puddle in a cooler and you don't have to have one.
After a few months of fiddling with a 49-bottle cooler and reading others reports I have come to my own conclusions:
a) Locate a cooler in the lowest ambient temperature location possible no matter how slick a location you have to give up;
b) if it's situated in a place so cool (like in a basement) that the refrigeration never runs, you're in great shape;
c) if you have a place cool enough to avoid refrigeration cycling and you bought an expensive airtight refrigerated box you might have more money than brains;
d) if your cooler will be cycling, keep cigars inside closed boxes or they will be busy making humidity changes;
e) I can't say it's bad for cigars to experience wide rh swings that may average to a desired number - but they'll be busy either way;
f) use of a temperature controller (like the A419) is needed if a cooler must cycle but won't stay warm enough with its own thermostat;
g) location of a controller temperature sensor matters greatly if the cooler doesn't have a circulating fan;
h) a 1-degree differential setting means a 1-degree change in the cooler temp if a fan is operating and change of 5-degrees (or more) with no fan;
i) rh established at 68% can swing from 74% to 55% in a cooler as refrigeration cycles to meet a 1-degree temperature differential;
j) all-in-all, a good circulating fan is a good idea to reduce all kinds of problems, like bumping into the dew point and pooling water;
k) a cooler full of boxes (full or empty) aids stability - the more temperature and moisture holding mass, the better;
l) mass in the cooler (boxes, bricks, rocks, whatever) occupies otherwise troublesome voids and will smooth out temperature and humidity crests and troughs.
(It would seem that a quick-reacting active humidification system is reduced to pointlessness in a place where the temperature varies enough to provoke condensation; if temperature varies from above to below the dew point then active humidification can't provide much advantage - it's going to get stupid and get things wet - unless you can set it very low.)
For moisture management I find an oasis foam slab with a lot of surface area showing (wetted with h20/PG) works well. Perfectly, in fact, if rh is being measured from within a closed cigar box AND stasis is first achieved when refrigeration is not cycling. The trick with foam/water is to not over wet the foam which subsequently elevates rh above a desired target. It is easy to over wet foam as most credo lovers discover sooner or later. When credo foam is saturated there follows a cycle of "dry out the foam" and "leave the humi lid open" until things get back under 70% and you start all over again. Rather than create a soggy mess with lots of cigars and cigar boxes in a cooler, just move along slowly from the outset. Remember, you're starting with an effectively airtight box; unless you leave the door open all the time then making significant humidity changes inside the box actually takes some work.
I have used three methods that keep a cooler very much in balance (65% - my target). One (The Giant Credo) is easy and detail oriented while the other (Hairspray) is easy and lacks details. Third is the Mutant, or Hybrid which is a little of each.
1) Giant Credo. Add water to a slab of slightly wetted foam at a measured rate of not more than two ounces per 48-72hours for a large cooler (1-ounce for a smaller one). My 49-bottle cooler is well serviced by a single block of oasis foam (about the size of a common brick) parked on a tupperware lid. After adding water and returning the foam to the cooler for a couple of days you'll soon see the moisture level climb slowly. As rh elevates to the desired level inside a monitored cigar box you'll find your equilibrium point. If you over shoot the desired moisture level, it shouldn't be by much. Initially target a level a few points lower than your desired rh - that way if you over shoot, none the worse. You may ultimately add one additional ounce to accommodate frequent opening of the cooler door if you're that way. Finally, you can weigh the block (and the tray it sits on, if you want) and you'll know thereafter exactly how much water is required, by weight or by liquid measure, to keep your system stable. I found that, starting from 68% rh, each two-ounces of water added to (or removed from) the foam raised (or lowered) rh by about 1%. If you go through this simple exercise without the troubles caused by ongoing refrigeration cycles, you'll now be fine (give or take a point or two inside the cigar boxes) when the cooler is running. If, over a few weeks of cooler operation and door-openings you see rh% falling, weigh the block and add water accordingly - or just add the requisite ounces to elevate rh to the desired level. It is quite predictable.
2) Idiot Easy Hairspray Method - The cooler is just an airtight box until you open the door (more or less), right? Are you putting boxes into the cooler that are already correctly humidified? That's good. Clean a spray bottle of any contamination; fill it with distilled water; spray a fine mist inside the full cooler, 10 squirts maybe, each time you open/close the door. If rh stays good after a week or two, keeping doing that when you open the door. If rh is moving too high quit squirting for a while. If rh is getting too low... you'll figure it out. The idiot hairspray squirt method works very well but it is not for obsessive-compulsive types. If you're casual about rh%, it works fine. If you're anal about rh in your humi, this method will make you very uncomfortable.
As I was trying to get the Giant Credo method figured out I was using a sprayer to get things in balance. In the end, a fine mist sprayer is probably all you need unless you're in and out of the humi 10-times day. I thought I'd settled for the Giant Credo. Set it; forget it. What I finally did (really) was to employ a Giant Credo/Hairspray Mutant Hybrid Method. After I had things smooth with the Credo for a few weeks (without, then with refrigeration) I started spraying instead of measuring. If rh ever drops below 63% I'll spray harder; if it ever goes above 68%... well, I just won't give the bastiche the pleasure.
Here is an untried notion, but one that is textile-ly and theoretically sound – I call it the Dew Point Insurance Policy for People Already Puddling. Affix with Velcro to the cooler wall hiding the refrigeration coil a panel of fine denier, tightly woven 100% polyester. Not cotton. Not nylon. Not polypropylene. Not acrylic . Ok – maybe acrylic. But not knitted – gotta be woven. Don’t know what this is or where to get it? Try any fabric store, ask your wife, mother or ask your neighbors wife (or mother). Fine filament, tightly woven polyester will cool quickly, wick and distribute condensate, and (best of all – woo hoo) release moisture quickly as it warms a degree above the dew point. This process should prevent moisture from condensing on the back wall of your cooler.
In fact, moisture does not condense on my cooler interior – at least not enough to accumulate and puddle. I attribute this to effective* air circulation throughout the cooler and, consequentially, over the temperature controller sensor. A small (1-degree) differential setting probably helps, too.
I suggest the Giant Credo Method, Hairspray Method, or Credo/Hairspray Hybrid. I have no beads - they might be the greatest thing since sliced bread for a winecooler - but I didn't have beads and didn't need them. I had a $3.00 piece of foam, some water, little PG and a clean hairsprayer and it worked just right. So far.
And a Johnson A419. And the cooler, of course. And the little fan.
And a lot of cigars.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
*Hawaiian Breeze Personal Fan (110VAC), Target, $5.99
