Any humidor/cigar experts?

[UTH]

Recently spent a fair bit of money on a humidor for my wine store, but I'm struggling to get my head around how to get it set up properly.

I've followed the instructions and left a shot glass filled with distilled water inside for a few days (to 'season' the box apparently??)

I've now left the lid propped open for a day but the dial is still reading over 80%? The gold thing (not sure what you call it) I filled with a bit of distilled water, but have closed the mini slats. What else am I meant to be doing to get it to settle around 70%? At the moment my cigars are not in there as my friend told me I'd ruin them at 80%?

Any help much appreciated, I didn't realise a humidor would be complicated!

[randlemarcus]

Not a humidor expert, but wouldn't that suggest that the wine store is high humidity overall? If you've closed the slats, and propped the top up, it should reduce the humidity in the humidor, surely? Does sir prefer his Cotes du Rhone a bit sweaty?

[UTH]

randlemarcus said:

Not a humidor expert, but wouldn't that suggest that the wine store is high humidity overall? If you've closed the slats, and propped the top up, it should reduce the humidity in the humidor, surely? Does sir prefer his Cotes du Rhone a bit sweaty?

That logic should be the answer, but the thing is the wine store is by no means a perfectly sealed space - in fact there is still one piece of glass yet to go in, as per photo below. So the store itself is pretty much the same temperature and humidity as the rest of the house.....unless of course my house is over 80% humid as standard? Does that sound possible?

[anonymous-user]

For reference, most properly ventilated UK homes fluctuate around 50-60% during summer and 40-50% during the winter, so it is fairly unlikely that your house is at 80%.

I have a couple of friends who have humidors similar to the one you have there, and they strongly recommend Boveda bags. You simply put them in your humidor and they regulate the humidity for you. Takes the hassle out of it.

https://www.simplycigars.co.uk/boveda-one-year-hum...

Boveda even do a 84% humidity bag specially for seasoning a humidor. To be used for 14 days.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 13th September 13:24

[akirk]

When I ran a humidor, I used to store a clay pot filled with salt and saturated with water (sitting in a little dish) - it magically kept humidity exactly right and need refilling every now and again...

[UTH]

Lord Marylebone said:

For reference, most properly ventilated UK homes fluctuate around 50-60% during summer and 40-50% during the winter, so it is fairly unlikely that your house is at 80%.

I have a couple of friends who have humidors similar to the one you have there, and they strongly recommend Boveda bags. You simply put them in your humidor and they regulate the humidity for you. Takes the hassle out of it.

https://www.simplycigars.co.uk/boveda-one-year-hum...

Hmmmmmm.......I don't want to sound wky, but I thought the whole idea of spending (way too much) money on this one that I've bought would mean I wouldn't need what is quite an unattractive looking bag sitting in with the cigars.

[anonymous-user]

UTH said:

Hmmmmmm.......I don't want to sound wky, but I thought the whole idea of spending (way too much) money on this one that I've bought would mean I wouldn't need what is quite an unattractive looking bag sitting in with the cigars.

I totally get that, but you need some kind of device or material that will regulate the humidity, otherwise you will be fiddling with it constantly trying to get it to the right levels.

That control mechanism can be either an electronic sensor system which opens and closes a reservoir of distilled water as and when required, or it can be by chemical means, such as the Boveda bag. (The Boveda bags are filled with a salt mixture that either absorbs or releases moisture to keep the air at 70%)

If you have no form of automated humidity control, like at present, then you will have to attend to it daily yourself, and in some cases, might be unable to make it work.

You have essentially bought a large, and attractive, wooden box, which will not regulate itself. This is perfectly normal, but now you need to decide how you want to regulate it, and you aren't alone in deciding that fiddling with a brass water container with vents in it is not ideal.

I have watched friends mess on with humidors for ages and get frustrated that they can't keep them at a constant 69%, or even anywhere close, and once they switched to Boveda bags they had zero hassle.

Other option for you: Spend a bit more and get an electronic humidifier, and get the whole of your sealed wine store up to 69-70% and simply leave the lid open on your humidor

https://www.simplycigars.co.uk/cigar-humidors-elec...

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 13th September 13:41

[UTH]

Lord Marylebone said:

I totally get that, but you need some kind of device or material that will regulate the humidity, otherwise you will be fiddling with it constantly trying to get it to the right levels.

That control mechanism can be either an electronic sensor system which opens and closes a reservoir of distilled water as and when required, or it can be by chemical means, such as the Boveda bag. (The Boveda bags are filled with a salt mixture that either absorbs or releases moisture to keep the air at 70%)

If you have no form of automated humidity control, like at present, then you will have to attend to it daily yourself, and in some cases, might be unable to make it work.

You have essentially bought a large, and attractive, wooden box, which will not regulate itself. This is perfectly normal, but now you need to decide how you want to regulate it, and you aren't alone in deciding that fiddling with a brass water container with vents in it is not ideal.

Hmmmm yeah this all makes sense.
I've just gone and taken the brass thing out and also opened the lid further. Bit confused as to why it would stay above 80% if there's nothing in there providing the moisture, so I'll see if it drops.

[akirk]

have you checked that it is measuring correctly?

[UTH]

akirk said:

have you checked that it is measuring correctly?

Not sure how I would do that? The dial does move as it was at a different level when I first got it.

[anonymous-user]

UTH said:

Hmmmm yeah this all makes sense.
I've just gone and taken the brass thing out and also opened the lid further. Bit confused as to why it would stay above 80% if there's nothing in there providing the moisture, so I'll see if it drops.

Just keep an eye on it for a day or so.

If you are doubting the inbuilt humidity gauge, then maybe buy a small digital one from Amazon or wherever for a few quid, and pop it in to see if they both show the same. It is entirely possible your built in gauge is showing a false reading that is far too high.

It is worth getting all this right, as you really don't want to ruin your cigar collection.

Generally, you want to get the box perfectly stable at 69-70% for a week before filling it with your cigars.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 13th September 15:13

[UTH]

Lord Marylebone said:

UTH said:

Hmmmm yeah this all makes sense.
I've just gone and taken the brass thing out and also opened the lid further. Bit confused as to why it would stay above 80% if there's nothing in there providing the moisture, so I'll see if it drops.

Just keep an eye on it for a day or so.

If you are doubting the inbuilt humidity gauge, then maybe buy a small digital one from Amazon or wherever for a few quid, and pop it in to see if they both show the same. It is entirely possible your built in gauge is showing a flare reading that is far too high.

It is worth getting all this right, as you really don't want to ruin your cigar collection.

Generally, you want to get the box perfectly stable at 69-70% for a week before filling it with your cigars.

It's edging towards 80% in the last 20 mins or so since I've opened it up further, so hopefully the dial is working. Will keep an eye over the next day or so.

[Comacchio]

I’d definitely get a digital hygrometer. The analogue one that came with my tabletop humidor is out by some margin.





And since it’s out, current lowly collection.

[UTH]

Hmmmm, quite disappointed at the price I paid for this thing it might not be up to the job!

[Comacchio]

UTH said:

Hmmmm, quite disappointed at the price I paid for this thing it might not be up to the job!

It takes some time for the humidity levels to settle - if its reading high it needs to dry out a bit first but once you get it down to 62-65 and keep the lid closed it should retain the moisture as long as you keep a boveda or 2 in - you can always hide them in the brass container with the vents open?

It took my small tabletop one a good 3 weeks for it to hold a consistent reading - i try not to open it often.

It may also be possible to adjust the reading on your analogue hygrometer after comparing with a digital one - cant say for sure though but there's sometimes a cog on the back you can use to adjust the dials round to where they should be.

[UTH]

Comacchio said:

UTH said:

Hmmmm, quite disappointed at the price I paid for this thing it might not be up to the job!

It takes some time for the humidity levels to settle - if its reading high it needs to dry out a bit first but once you get it down to 62-65 and keep the lid closed it should retain the moisture as long as you keep a boveda or 2 in - you can always hide them in the brass container with the vents open?

It took my small tabletop one a good 3 weeks for it to hold a consistent reading - i try not to open it often.

It may also be possible to adjust the reading on your analogue hygrometer after comparing with a digital one - cant say for sure though but there's sometimes a cog on the back you can use to adjust the dials round to where they should be.

Ok thanks, I'm going to leave it with the lid open, nothing in it at all for a few days and see if it drops then go from there. At the moment it's still way too high with nothing in it, so hopefully it's just taking its time to drop down.

[Royal Jelly]

Analogue hygrometers are like BBQ thermometers. It’s probably perfectly functional but maybe not properly calibrated. Get a Boveda bag in there for a week and see.

[UTH]

I'll be honest, I'm not actually a massive cigar connoisseur, I just get given them every so often and smoke the odd one with a few drinks. So I guess I'm on not really in desperate need of the most accurate storage in the world, and it certainly won't be housing hundreds of them, so maybe I don't need to be too anal about it.

[anonymous-user]

UTH said:

I'll be honest, I'm not actually a massive cigar connoisseur, I just get given them every so often and smoke the odd one with a few drinks. So I guess I'm on not really in desperate need of the most accurate storage in the world, and it certainly won't be housing hundreds of them, so maybe I don't need to be too anal about it.

Honestly, this is a really simple fix using Boveda bags. They cost about £6 and you just change them every 6-12 months. Easy.

Even if you only have a few cigars in there, it is well worth getting the humidity correct because if it's wrong, your cigars will quickly deteriorate. Would be a shame to waste them!

I know you feel that buying something 'additional' to a pricy humidor is annoying, but think of it like buying a nice car and having to buy tyres for it every so often, it is simply part and parcel of the ownership.

[UTH]

Yeah fair play, I've ordered one, arrives end of the week.