The winter humidification battle - humidity vs central heating

[nicwing]

I now have two very nice desk top humidors and a tuppador for boxes.

The Desk tops are nice looking laminated units and look just dandy on the top of my Grannies old bureau in the sitting room. All are equipped with a mixture of gel and Hartfelt tubes which should give a humidity of 65 - 70%.

However at this time of year, other members of the family feel the cold and with everyone being at home the central heating is on for long periods during the day. To top it all we have an open fire which is lit most evenings.

The result of this is I am constantly battling to keep any hummidity in my cigars. I have just checked and the natural 'background' humidity in the sitting room is 41% so there is a huge discrepancy which I don't think I can cope with without some form of electronic humidification.

The only solution is to take my cigars out to my office where the heat is considerably lower.

Any thoughts?

[Puff Scotty]

Hi Nic,
I had the same problem with my venture into beads & gel on a daily use humidor.
I'm aware a lot of people 'rave' about them but my limited experience & limited knowledge of how they work tells me they will not be any good for your situation.
I went back to using Diamond Crown humidifiers & of course monitoring them daily.
All I can say is "it works for me"...
Regards
Puff

[snooky]

Maybe smoke the lot before the winter sets in and restock in the spring.

[TJCoro]

London Fog!

I suspect you need some type of electronic humidification system that can keep up with the dry air. In my experience, passive devices can only do so much before they are overmatched.








Fun Fact, BB! It never fogs in London!

[jibjob79]

Gels and beads are designed to give out moisture slowly so unless you put lots more of them in your humidors it won't help. A simple solution is to put a shot glass of distilled water in your humidor. The surface area of the water will control the rate of evaporation so if it isn't doing the job you need another glass or a bigger one. Simply filling the glass with more water won't help. If you want to speed thing up try adding luke warm (not hot or boiling) water. Just be careful not to knock the glass over in your humi.

Temperature shouldn't be an issue if you are keeping you central heating on all day but when I get problems with RH% I cover my humis with a towel or blanket.

Also try over filling your beads to the max.

If your humi has been dry for a while the cedar will also soak up the moisture so overkill isn't such a bad thing.

Also try to resist opening the humidor and take a few smoke out for the week and store in a zip lock bag if you can resist temptation.


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[spacemonkey_no9]

The cabinet that I keep my boxes in has dropped to RH of low 60's over the last month (heating has been on a lot since start of Dec). Got a small but wide bowl of distilled water sitting in there to try to raise the %. My singles cabinet, which sits on top, is its usual 65-67%.

[daverave999]

If the tupperdor is fine, have you considered putting the humidors themselves in large Tupperware? Maybe wrap them in clingfilm or something? Rest something airtight over it?

[SeanP]

You can also try to up the humidity in room where you keep your humidors. It can be as simple as a part filled pan on the radiator or even a wet tea towel draped over the side. Or if you want to be a bit more fancy they have relatively inexpensive electric models that will add some needed humidity to the whole house. Try to keep the indoor RH around 50%-60% and limit the opening of the humidors and you should get better results.

[TJCoro]

Attention Humi Owners!

Just be careful not to knock the glass over in your humi.

Good point! Let me write that down!

... I cover my humis with a towel or blanket.

Gee-Wiz! I wish you were my dad... nobody tucks me in!






Umm! Names Head, Crack Head, and why don't we all put on dresses and dance around the maypole!

[Puff Scotty]

I now have two very nice desk top humidors and a tuppador for boxes.

The Desk tops are nice looking laminated units and look just dandy on the top of my Grannies old bureau in the sitting room. All are equipped with a mixture of gel and Hartfelt tubes which should give a humidity of 65 - 70%.

However at this time of year, other members of the family feel the cold and with everyone being at home the central heating is on for long periods during the day. To top it all we have an open fire which is lit most evenings.

The result of this is I am constantly battling to keep any hummidity in my cigars. I have just checked and the natural 'background' humidity in the sitting room is 41% so there is a huge discrepancy which I don't think I can cope with without some form of electronic humidification.

The only solution is to take my cigars out to my office where the heat is considerably lower.

Any thoughts?

Just out of interest: I just checked our ambient & much the same as yours we're sitting at 40% @ 68F.

[JOAO LA PEZ]

my solution has been to put the humidor on the floor where it is cooler and hopefully the RH is higher

[nicwing]

Boys, just back from watching Saracens a's vs Exeter (isn't it great when your Dad remembers to bring a hip flask!!) and I find a vast amount of useful information, including from TJ (which could well be a first). So thanks for that!

I really like having the humidors in the house and I like being able to check them daily so I am off to find a shot glass to stand in the larger humidor to see if I can get that up.

One other question which occurred to me was to ask whether you keep your gel/crystal tubes in the top or bottom of the humidor. I have mine at the bottom but it's occurs to me that they might be better located at the top (as in many of the flashier humidors I have seen have humidification mounted inside the lid)

Any more thoughts welcome, and come on TJ keep them positive helpful vibes going (if you dare)

[jibjob79]

Humidity does rise being less dense than air but unless you have a 6 foot high humidor you wont really notice a difference and even then it will only be 1-2RH%. If you keep them at the bottom then the air will be slightly dryer which will suck the humidity out of them faster which is better. I think they only put the devices under the lids to save space but i always thought they where a drip hazard if filled to much. Best to put them somewhere where they aren't closed in as if the air can't freely circulate to the devices the water vapour can't get around the humidor.

[TJCoro]

Facts can be wrong.

... come on TJ keep them positive helpful vibes going (if you dare)

Umm. No idea what yer talkin' about, chico

Humidity does rise being less dense than air but unless you have a 6 foot high humidor you wont really notice a difference and even then it will only be 1-2RH%.

I've heard this before (CLICK HERE), but it belies my own scientific tests. My digital hygrometers (all calibrated) consistently show higher humidity in the bottom of my 8' tall cabinet, which has a sophisticated fan-driven humidifying system.

Word to your mama!

[bopmachine]

This is the exact reason why I abandoned beads and have gone to all electronic humidification. Now i dont worry about any of my humis at all - every time i open them im at a solid 65 or 62 (i keep different humis at different humidities).