wine fridge humidor
Has anyone made a humi out of a wine fridge and if so how is it working and did you line the inside with spanish cedar, what are you using for humidity control ect. I am thinking of making a humidor out of a wine fridge roughly 45 bottle size worth of space but would like some info before I start investing in the materials and the fridge any advice, plans, experience ect with one of these would be appreciated.
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I would also say if you're looking at something bigger than a vinotemp you'll probably need a combo of the oasis and beeds. The Oasis Plus is rated for 8 - 10 cubic feet but I'd use beads as well to help stabilize. I know some people also use the crystalline cat litter. I can find the exact brand if you're interested.
As far as lining the entire inside with Cedar, I think that might be over kill but I can't imagine it would harm anything.
a thermoelectric does not use a compressor compressors tend to dry the air out is my understanding and that is bad for wine as well as cigars since it can cause problems with the corks.
Now I have a compressor driven wine fridge but I use it only for temperature control I place my humidors inside of the fridge. I have a 48 count wine fridge with a coolerdor and a desktop humi inside.
Speaking of opening... I also have a timer that only allows the compressor to run for about 45 seconds a shot max and then waits 5 minutes before allowing it to run again... This is in case I'd open it on a really hot day... Keeps the compressor from running long enough to get too cold and start condensing...
In my personal opinion, I don't see how thermoelectric can be any better... With everything I know about electricity and physics (no Maddy, I'm actually in the I.T. field, but do have a pretty extensive background in electrical engineering and physics) I just can't see why there would be any difference between the two...
EXCEPT of course that a peltier typically doesn't generate as much of a temperature difference across it's plates as a condensor unit can... Nor can it do so nearly as fast... So without precise controls, yes, it's entirely possible you could ruin a batch of cigars... So in that sense it's probably a better choice simply because it's much more forgiving...
There's one other advantage I can think of as well... I don't know if the wine fridges are already set up like this or not, but it doesn't sound like it...
You could very easily set up a set of thermometers and tie them to a relay... A "high" and "low" as it were... You could then set the high at 71 and low at 69.. In this way the relay could be used to reverse polarity across the peltier... In other words, providing both warmth or cooling depending on which was needed in one simple unit...
Thanks for your post, please let me know the guy who makes the drawers! I am very interested in doing the vinotemp thing, as temperature controlled humidors appear to be much more expensive than a Vinotemp.
BTW, my main reason for wanting temperature control is so that I don't have to regulate my house to be at 74 degrees when we are gone during the day, it would be much more ecomomical to be able to keep the house at 80degrees when we are out of the house in the summer months. If this is not a big deal for cigars, let me know. I have heard the beetles like to come out and play when it is warmer... ??
As long as my Humidor is at 70% humidity then it should be fine in the wine fridge around 65 degrees?