More winter humidor humidity complaints than usual?

Bob_Luken

I've not been here a whole year yet so I wondered if the number of low humidity problem questions that were posted here this winter was above average or about normal for any winter. I know it's been colder than any winter in ages and that could mean more home heating is used possibly lowering the indoor RH more than in previous years thus making it harder for wooden humis with poor seals to keep up appearances. So for all you guys that have been here a few years,......were the number of these complaints above average or about normal for any winter?

blurr

I have only lurked on and off, so wasn't around to see how many, however I know I had to pay more attention to my humis this winter with the furnace running so much. Sure seemed like I was putting cups of distilled in way more often for my pearls to suck up. In fact in my wineador and bigger tupperdor I just basically left an open cup of distilled water in for the last few months. (change it out and wash it every 2 weeks at least, or don't try this at home!)

webmost

I know I was checking and re-filling humidor units daily by November. Then I wised up, pulled the room humidifier out of the attic, and set it to work. It lives on the landing just outside my office where the humidors are kept. The jug on the room humidifier prolly holds about a gallon and a half. I have been re-filling two jugs of water first thing in the morning, another two when I return from work, and one or more each night before bed. Thirsty as a two week camel after a good bricking. So, those who don't use a room humidifier, yeah, they got to see dried out stickage in their box. I know Bearswatter's been dry. She dumps oil in the jacuzzi/tubby, and when I step in for a shower, I like to slide into the next dimension, it's so slipperous. Some day gonna break my leg. Me, I got that oily olive skin of the brown master race; but she's a speckled red-head, skin dry as Death Valley roadkill on the third day.

jgibv

My humis are kept in the basement and we have a dehumidifer down there set to 40%
It's been a cold & dry winter so the dehumidifier hasn't kicked on as much as it has in past years...(we kept it set at 40 at our previous houses too).
I've still had to recharge my humis with distilled water more frequently than summer months. But it doesn't seem as bad as past winters.

Also, at this house we have a whole home humidifier attached to the furnace, works pretty good...whenever the blower kicks on, the humidifier kicks on and sends extra humidity throughout the house, got it set right around 55% humidity. Works pretty dang good because my skin hasn't felt as dry in this house as it was at our last couple places.

So no, overall I'd say less complaints from me.
But then again it's not my humidors' first winter, so I had a good idea of what to expect .....

jd50ae

I have just been going crazy with the humidor humidity problems. Nothing stays stable. Way too many dry wrappers (all cello) and I have to be very careful when I pull my daily ration. That was a very good question BOB.

kaspera79

Bob Luken:

I've not been here a whole year yet so I wondered if the number of low humidity problem questions that were posted here this winter was above average or about normal for any winter. I know it's been colder than any winter in ages and that could mean more home heating is used possibly lowering the indoor RH more than in previous years thus making it harder for wooden humis with poor seals to keep up appearances. So for all you guys that have been here a few years,......were the number of these complaints above average or about normal for any winter?

I would say the number of discussions about humidity was at an all time high, but that may just be a result of the number of new members, in addition to the season.

No_one21

My first winter but I've barely adjusted anything. Filled some distilled water every once in a while but my humidity values have stayed within acceptable ranges almost all the time. I have one 50ct and one cooler with black ice in the 50 and beads + bovedas.

ckrddsmke

In VA has been a very dry winter with a lot of outdoor humidity in the 16-20%. I seem to also be working a little harder than past years to keep above 64.

Lee.mcglynn

Since I've gone cooler this really hasn't been a issue at all for me... But the humis I do have have been pretty stable since I keep them around62 anyways

LiquidChaos66

Late to the game here... But my humi was holding 61-63 for the last few months. It's finally pulled up into the 64-65. My first winter with a humidor so I was poopin bricks worrying bout my sticks. Lol I recalibrated my hygrometer twice, reseason end it once and almost bought new humi jars! lol

PAtoNH

I noticed a drop of a few % and then "overwatered"... aired things out and it's back to normal.

Rhamlin

This has been a pretty harsh winter. I've had to add water aquite a but more often than the last few.

dr_frankenstein56

I had a great humi year... not an issue at all.

Thank you BOVEDA

Aj

PAtoNH

dr_frankenstein56:

I had a great humi year... not an issue at all.

Thank you BOVEDA

Aj

AJ, a bunch of questions... how many Boveda packs do you use? What capacity is your humi? What rh% do you aim for and which rh% Bovedas do you use? Do you recharge them? How often do you replace them? - Thanks!

dr_frankenstein56

PAtoNH:

dr_frankenstein56:

I had a great humi year... not an issue at all.

Thank you BOVEDA

Aj

AJ, a bunch of questions... how many Boveda packs do you use? What capacity is your humi? What rh% do you aim for and which rh% Bovedas do you use? Do you recharge them? How often do you replace them? - Thanks!

Okay

I have:

1x100 count. 4 bovedas
1X 75 count. 2 bovedas
4 X 50 Count. 2 bovedas
1X 20 count. 1 boveda.
12x gallon Pickle jars approxmently 35-45 stick capacity. 1 Boveda per jar.

All Humis use the large size 72% Boveda packets. In the Pickle jars I use 65% packets. I shoot for 69 to 71% on my hygro. I change them when there corners are pretty crusty or i see a drop in RH over a course of 48 hours. I do recharge them in an ice cream container filled with distilled water. There rotation is on average... about every 40 days or so. The key is to just buy 2 cases of Bovedas right out. thats 24 packets and yes right around 100 dollars. but this will set you up with enough to where you can start a fairly regular rotation of the packets and provides ample time for recharge.

Things i have learned about recharge. Try to avoid handling the packets with bare hands... I use medical gloves. Since you will be regularly tossing these packets in water the odds of mold goes up and its best to be as clean as possible to avoid outbreaks. Inspection of packets is important and I always give the packets a 2 week quarentine period after recharge in a jar before they move to my humi just in case mold is present the 2 weeks is enough time for mold to grow and show itself if its there. Every 3 recharge rotations the boveda recharge containers and storage area are sanitized with bleach.

My climate is very very dry so mold naturally present in the air is at a minimum and thus I can run my humis as hard as i do. I would experament with the same system a few months before commiting to a complete change over just so you can develop a rotation schedule and if there will be any issues with mold. Testing is a very important part to have an effective and efficent sytem. I know it sounds a little over kill and obsessive but I come from working in a labratory setting and believe in using these procedures to minimize risk and promote sucess. And so far, I have been very happy with my results and infact, reduction on overall maintence. Getting it all started is hard at first... but once established you will be amazed at how little work it will really be.

Aj

PAtoNH

Wow! Thanks for the input. It's all about keeping the smokes happy
nicely done!!