controlling humidor temperature

adrianzamudio55@gmail.com

I live in California in the high deserts and its that time of year where it gets so hot that nobody wants to do anything and complains that it's hot. My question to the cigar community is in the past few days the temperatures have been high in the 90s almost 100 degrees and my humidors are reading 85 degrees Fahrenheit. I know if they are kept at the temperatures and the humidity I have a higher chance to get beetles or mold. So I would like the cigar communitys help to solve this problem. I might also add that my humidors are in the coolest area in my house and at a constant 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

jimmyv723

It's definitely the more expensive route but the temp control is the exact reason I went with a Wineador. If you're going to pay the money to have a nice collection than you gotta pay the price to keep it safe. For me I have no AC in my Apt building so having the temp control was a huge factor.

Bob_Luken

My first thought is to freeze them, and keep the RH at about 65% but this situation does bring to my mind  two follow-up questions for everyone on this situation that relates to your first question.

1. If cigars were treated by proper freezing methods so that beetles were of no concern, and assuming the RH was controlled to a consistent 65%, how would higher than normal storage temperatures of 85 to 90 degree affect cigar flavor and performance short term, say, less than a year verses long term, maybe two years and up. And, would these higher temps alone still create a greater risk for mold under these same conditions, 65% RH and 85 to 90 degrees temperature? 
2. In an 85 to 90 degree indoor operating environment, would using a thermoelectric type wine cooler put a higher burden on the unit than if the indoor temperatures were in the mid 70 degree range? And, would this possibly shorten it's lifespan? 

Lee.mcglynn

Bob_Luken said:

My first thought is to freeze them, and keep the RH at about 65% but this situation does bring to my mind  two follow-up questions for everyone on this situation that relates to your first question.

1. If cigars were treated by proper freezing methods so that beetles were of no concern, and assuming the RH was controlled to a consistent 65%, how would higher than normal storage temperatures of 85 to 90 degree affect cigar flavor and performance short term, say, less than a year verses long term, maybe two years and up. And, would these higher temps alone still create a greater risk for mold under these same conditions, 65% RH and 85 to 90 degrees temperature? 
2. In an 85 to 90 degree indoor operating environment, would using a thermoelectric type wine cooler put a higher burden on the unit than if the indoor temperatures were in the mid 70 degree range? And, would this possibly shorten it's lifespan? 

Yes and yes! In there are a lot of variables to the first question but in short I've noticed in cooler months I get barely any burn issues in hotter months I get a lot of touch ups. I forget what the scale is but I'll look it up later. It has to do with temp and rh and it's not fun looking. As far as the thermo question I thinks it's pretty simple. Yes it will work harder and longer and when that happens it will shorten the life span. For the whole heat thing though it really depends how long it stays at 85. I've had weeks at 85 and I lowered my rh and all is well. But if for the whole season your in 85 I would consider a wineador

jsnblnchrd

Man!!  How are YOU living in an 85 degree place?  I'd be miserable.  And apparently, so are your sticks.  My suggestion is to get either a window A/C unit or a portable A/C unit and cool just one room in your place.  Just make sure it's NOT an "evaporative" unit.  An added bonus would be if you can actually smoke in the room.  If you're not open to those, then you need to go the wineador route.  I agree with jimmyv.

The3Stogies

jsnblnchrd said:

Man!!  How are YOU living in an 85 degree place?  I'd be miserable.  And apparently, so are your sticks.  My suggestion is to get either a window A/C unit or a portable A/C unit and cool just one room in your place.  Just make sure it's NOT an "evaporative" unit.  An added bonus would be if you can actually smoke in the room.  If you're not open to those, then you need to go the wineador route.  I agree with jimmyv.

That's what I did, bought a small window AC from Walmart for my manhole for about $120.  Hot as hell in the summer, cold and dry up here in the winter so I humidify the room in the winter months too.  My humi's needed their own comfortable room so my wife gave me a lease on the spare bedroom, lol.  Exhaust fans work well for a while to draw cooler night air but during the summer used to end up toting them down cellar for a few months.  

First_Warrior

Here in the NC mountains it gets to maybe 80 on a very hot day. The nights are in the low 60's. My humidors were runing a little over 70 degrees and i wanted to drop the temp 5 degrees. I have a section of floor in my studio that is concrete that I have my stationary tools on. The concrete stays cool so I just put the humidors on the concrete floor. Worked like a charm and dropped the temps 5 degrees.

bigharpoon

Sounds like you solved your problem. For the record, though, temperature does not cause mold so that would have been fine anyway. The beetles could have been dealt with by freezing your cigars and killing the larvae that way. You are better off with an AC unit as I believe high temperatures do affect flavor negatively.