Ice Chest(Cooler) vs Wine Cooler

M

Mindflux

Lowland Gorilla
The texas heat is taking a toll on my cigars. The apartment thermostat is set just above 70 yet the cigars near (or hit 80) during the day.

They're just in a humidor right now. Would moving these to a Cooler help? I know, obviously a Wine Cooler will, because it's powered and chills with a Thermo Electric unit (or compressor, bleh).

Those of you that went from a desktop humi to a Plastic cooler, what sort (if any) temperature changes did you see once you did so? Did your hygrometer show a vast difference?
 
Gotya. I do use one as a backup and as a temp while I was building this. It's not bad in my basement but usually it is close to room temp.
 
There won't be any difference in temps with an Igloo cooler placed at the same location as your humidor. Unless---you place an ice pack in the cooler. Some gorillas have used this method. Takes some time to rotate packs but it would be cheaper than a plug-in cooler.

WyoBob
 
I used both methods and ended up eventually buying a cooled humidor. Although I wasn't exactly using a cooler (that's another story) I used ice packs for a summer. You will usually have to swap out the ice pack once a day. This didn't always work if I was away from home for a day or two. Also, condensation from the ice packs will probably add to your RH.

I then got an Avanti 28 wine cooler which is thermal electric. The Avanti worked great with an external temp. controller and a pound of beads. The temp. stayed at 68 and the RH varied very little. I just eventually ran out of room and upgraded to the cooled humidor.
 
the coolers that keep ice for 5 days will reduce your temp a little, blue ice pks work well-added RH isn't a problem if you wrap them in a tshirt
 
rockyr said:
I used both methods and ended up eventually buying a cooled humidor. Although I wasn't exactly using a cooler (that's another story) I used ice packs for a summer. You will usually have to swap out the ice pack once a day. This didn't always work if I was away from home for a day or two. Also, condensation from the ice packs will probably add to your RH.

I then got an Avanti 28 wine cooler which is thermal electric. The Avanti worked great with an external temp. controller and a pound of beads. The temp. stayed at 68 and the RH varied very little. I just eventually ran out of room and upgraded to the cooled humidor.
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Hmm? Aside from the condensation that is frozen on the packs already from the freezer, any condensation that occurs on them will be humidity from the air that it's cooling. Assuming you have a good seal, that means the condensation should be from within the cooler, thus dropping the RH, until the beads do something about it.

Unless I'm missing something... :) (Happens QUITE often!)
 
I picked up a Vinotemp 28 bottle cooler today at target for 199

The tstat is set at 60 but my hygrometer is reading 70. it's been plugged in and running for 3 hrs. How long does it take to really get cold?
 
Wired up two muffin fans and tossed them in the cooler. I had let the unit warm up to clean it of it's stink, so when I closed it up and plugged it in it was sitting at 74*, it got down to 68 in about 30 minutes with the additional fans (remember, this is thermoelectric). It's sitting at 66 right now, I'd like to see it get as cold as it did the other day (thermo read 63).
 
P.S is it ok for these fans to run full time? If not what can I do to make them run only a bit per day, or a few minutes each hour?
 
Alright I'm getting stuff lined up. I have my oregon scientific with 3 remote sensors, although none of them are reading in ranges that would be good for cigars.

Furthermore my trusty western caliber hygrometer is reading 59% inside of an empty cigar box, while outside of it it reads 63%. I thought the boxes would eventually even out with the rest of the cooler? Since they are wood and should be absorbing humidity?
 
Mindflux said:
Alright I'm getting stuff lined up. I have my oregon scientific with 3 remote sensors, although none of them are reading in ranges that would be good for cigars.

Furthermore my trusty western caliber hygrometer is reading 59% inside of an empty cigar box, while outside of it it reads 63%. I thought the boxes would eventually even out with the rest of the cooler? Since they are wood and should be absorbing humidity?
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Did you season everything, how many beads do you have in the cooler
 
hova45 said:
Did you season everything, how many beads do you have in the cooler
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just over a pound of beads in there. everything's been sitting inside the cooler for a week (no cigars)..

things are looking up. the oregon sci hygrometer's are reading in the 60's now, I guess they just take a while..
 
It will react completely different when you get it full of boxes. I wouldn't worry about it too much more until you fill it up. Set the thermostat to the warmest setting, keep the beads damp and quit opening the door so much to look at the cigars and you'll be fine. :ss
 
During the summer, my Avanti set-up floats between 63-69 RH, but I don't sweat it too much. The more important factor for me is for the temp. to be less than 70 degrees. In fall, winter and spring, I usually unplug my cooler, and the box is a rock solid 65-67 RH.

Mindflux, good decision on the wine cooler purchase :tu
 
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