How to keep humidity up in humidor???

jkallen83

hey yall, been a while since i been on the forum. been without internet for a while. which has also resulted in my humidor only having VERY few smokes left in it. im hoping around tax time to maybe refill both of the humidors. my question is..............during all the summer, once i got my humidors properly set, i didnt have to do anything to either one of them. they stayed perfect. but since winter has came along, i heat with a woodburning heater and apparently it has dried the air out really bad. i CANNOT keep humidity up in these humidors during the winter. i can add water or spray everyday and its useless. i know the humidity is there enough to keep them safe because they smoke great, but its alot of work. ive got the humidifying packs from cigar.com, got a jar of gel, and cigar mechanic humidifiers......... anyone have this issue and if so, how do you keep the humidity up?

ddubridge

this Thread really helped with my winter humidity issues. Might wanna give it a read.

Vision

ddubridge:

this Thread really helped with my winter humidity issues. Might wanna give it a read.

Agreed!

jkallen83

hey, thanks for that...i read over that. i think i may try a large ziplock bag trick since i have only 2 smaller humidors. ok well, may need a bigger bag for my largest humidor but its still small...but that makes perfect sense. i heat with a wood burning heater and it does dry out everything. wrapped in plastic should preserve them better for at least the winter months. my cigars are worth the extra effort to take care of them but it would be nice to have them more stable in case something happens and i miss a day or something.

The_Kid

Step 1. check/recalibrate hygrometer. Good luck

bbass2

The Kid:

Step 1. check/recalibrate hygrometer. Good luck

I would start here. I thought mine was having problems until I put a new hygro in it.

Glock1975

I have noticed mine had been bouncing back and fourth between 60 and 70 this winter. I have been keeping more water in the kitty litter lately. so u r not the only 1

Lee.mcglynn

Check hygro as stated and if your confident the what you have can remove excess moisture I might put a small container of distilled water in there

jkallen83

i have checked the hydro's. even swapped them to see if i could get different readings if they were in another humidor. same thing. so they are reading correct. oh yeah, while im on the subject. i had some cigars that i bought and just kinda held onto and had them for a little over a year. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Oliva Serie O and Oliva Serie V, Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 and Gurkha Centurian.. OMG, these were EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VERY smooth...

yleekyot

Glad u enjoyed the older smokes. Last year, I moved my humidors to my basement from upstairs. It was just to warm upstairs to control the temp. Therefore, all my smokes were difficult to draw no matter how much I turned the humidity down inside the box. Living in Michigan, we have dry winters and humid summers. I purchased cigar oasis ultra's for my boxes. Now, I have purchased an infra red heater to help control the heat in the basement in the winter months. What a difference that made. In the summer, I just retrieve the de-humidifier to keep closer controls of the humidity in the boxes. I can also use the water from de-humifier to keep the electronic humidifiers running year round.

jgibv

@ jkallen83 :
Since your hygrometer's seem to be ok, I'd suggest placing a small dish (shot glasses work well) with distilled water inside your humidor. I have to do this with my glass top in the winter to keep the RH high enough. Try that for a week or so, and see if your RH creeps back up.



And glad to hear you got your humidors under control, yleekyot.
I like your "recycling water" approach, but personally --- I'd be extremely careful when doing this:

yleekyot:

I can also use the water from de-humifier to keep the electronic humidifiers running year round.

Whenever I empty the dehumidifier at our house it always has "junk" in with the water --- idk if it's dust, dirt, or mold from the dehumidifier bucket, but needless to say, I wouldn't feel comfortable using that water in my humidor.
But to each their own, and as long as you haven't had a problem with this method then keep on keepin' on. Maybe your dehumidifier's cleaner than ours, idk ...

blurr

I thought the same thing. Unless you are VERY confident of that dehumidifier's waste collection bucket being thouroughly clean and sanitary, and for that matter the entire thing being clean I would stay clear of reusing the waste collection water from it. I understand its basically distilled, but who knows what germs and bacteria are crawling in the waste bucket of that thing.

Also on topic, in the winter I always have to place a few small glasses of open distilled water in my humis. When I see them drop below 65 I just place a container in there for a few days. Always brings the humidity up to 68 or so. In fact this is how I charge my beads and litter pearls now. Works well for me so give that a try.

raisindot

blurr:

Also on topic, in the winter I always have to place a few small glasses of open distilled water in my humis. When I see them drop below 65 I just place a container in there for a few days. Always brings the humidity up to 68 or so. In fact this is how I charge my beads and litter pearls now. Works well for me so give that a try.

Good tip, although the last time I tried that I forgot it was in there and when I picked up the humi the shot glass tipped over, drenching everything, LOL. Needless to say, that was one OVERSEASONED humidor.

KCW

Lee.mcglynn:

Check hygro as stated and if your confident the what you have can remove excess moisture I might put a small container of distilled water in there

This is what I do.

jgibv

raisindot:

blurr:

Also on topic, in the winter I always have to place a few small glasses of open distilled water in my humis. When I see them drop below 65 I just place a container in there for a few days. Always brings the humidity up to 68 or so. In fact this is how I charge my beads and litter pearls now. Works well for me so give that a try.

Good tip, although the last time I tried that I forgot it was in there and when I picked up the humi the shot glass tipped over, drenching everything, LOL. Needless to say, that was one OVERSEASONED humidor.

Almost did that too, luckily the container wasn't that full ---- but I now put a big orange post it on the top of my humi that says "OPEN WATER CONTAINER, DON'T MOVE"

Give that a try ;-)

gio164

Boveda packs, easy as pie.

Rhamlin

This time of year is always a pain where I live. When i got home from the boat the other day I had to add a extra water pillow to my small humi and my other gel humidifier to my big one. They both got down to around 60-63 rh which is to low for me. Now they are both back to the 68-71 RH range.