Nice setup for the desert @Trish, a few big Boveda's so you can rotate out for recharge and you have it made. The seals on those coolers are incredible, don't need a huge investment in humidity.
That said you appear to be low, have you got this month's newsletter?
Thanks @dirtdude, yes norcal hooked a sista up lol
With my NewAir, I've noticed it raises in RH whenever the house gets above 60% humidity, but with the Whynter it doesn't seem to be affected. The NewAir is smaller, probably sucking in the humid air, I don't know. Anyway, I have been using 4 or 5 Boveda packs (60gram) in the NewAir, and 7 packs in the larger Whynter. All Boveda packs I use are 65%.
To "solve" my issue with the NewAir, I just unplugged the darn thing and let the Boveda do what it does. I plug it back in after the crazy humidity passes. Working so far. Might have to dehumidify my room, oh joy.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the NewAir raises to 78% RH, and that was enough to make my britches uncomfortable. While I have it unplugged, it keeps cool since the room is at 69 degrees F and the RH does drop to safer levels. Freaking NewAir. I dunno.
Gotta love Pennsylvania. I do miss the desert...
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
You know, it's times like these which really humbles a man. I have gone weeks during this humid and hot season, I'm not sure exactly how long, worrying about this NewAir coolio-fun-machine. I think it's because it arrived all dented and banged up by Fedex, so I assigned a bad label to this thing from the start, whereas the Whynter was double boxed and delivered by UPS, who I trust to deliver my many Cigar.com shipments and he knows me well but despite this still announces himself and asks me not to shoot him. *twitch*
Anyway, I FIXED the problem. You see, I'm stubborn. Yeah. So, even though the temperature of the NewAir clearly says 66 and the internal is somewhere around 67 or 68, I just figured all was well despite the fact that cooler temperatures will help lower the RH and I know this. Long story short, I LOWERED the temp of the NewAir to 58 and the humidity is now a comfortable 65-70 where it ought to be.
Learning something new every day. I like this.
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
On my Newair I use 65% beads and 66 temp and everything was perfect ( 64-65 rh ) for months no matter what the house temp was.....Then 2 weeks ago I readjusted the temp up to 68 temp ( Just so it didn't run so much. ) Well the rh dropped down to 57% over the next couple of days. So I set it at 66 temp again and the rh slowly went up to 64-65. Lesson learned.....Don't monkey with it if the rh is good.
You just experienced why it's called relative humidity, Julian The amount of moisture didn't change, but when the temperature changed, so did the *relative* humidity.
So a 2 degree change in temperature affects the Rh that much? 64.5 Rh to 57 Rh? Shouldn't the 65% beads maintain a 65% Rh? If you allowed the temperature setting to stay at 68 degrees, do you think the Rh would have returned to 65 Rh?
Perhaps if you wish to change the temperature, you should do it in smaller increments. Maybe you need more beads to respond to temperature changes quicker.
I know, You're a big dog and I'm on the list. Let's eat, GrandMa. / Let's eat GrandMa. -- Punctuation saves lives
Gah! Humidity in this portion of the house rising to 72% again. The Whynter is unaffected, but NewAir is in the 80% ++RH. I left it overnight on the cooler setting, that didn't help it seems.
On my Newair I use 65% beads and 66 temp and everything was perfect ( 64-65 rh ) for months no matter what the house temp was.....Then 2 weeks ago I readjusted the temp up to 68 temp ( Just so it didn't run so much. ) Well the rh dropped down to 57% over the next couple of days. So I set it at 66 temp again and the rh slowly went up to 64-65. Lesson learned.....Don't monkey with it if the rh is good.
YES. Also, I moved the NewAir out of the room where the air conditioner is to another which is stable at 72F and only 57% humidity, so I am thinking back to 66 setting on the little NewAir, all will be well. (crosses fingers)
I don't get it, though. The Whynter is fine. I can go days without opening either, they have nothing different except size, and the same Boveda arrangement only more in the larger one.
If this doesn't fix the issue, I may have to just go back to my box humidors until this humidity passes. My air conditioner is like a giant humidifier that cools...
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
Warmer air can hold more moisture without condensing (further away from dew point) so the moisture present (not %) at 65 F will be a lower rh% at 68 F.
The Bovedas SHOULD catch up at 68 F, but it may take time for things to stabilize.
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I thought gauges read the absolute humidity. So I guess that means finding and keeping the correct temp is how to keep the rh range your looking for. I guess I got lucky the first time when setting it up.
Warmer air can hold more moisture without condensing (further away from dew point) so the moisture present (not %) at 65 F will be a lower rh% at 68 F.
The Bovedas SHOULD catch up at 68 F, but it may take time for things to stabilize.
Yes, Sir. That's been my general guess, anyway. The only thing that sucks is having sticks inside while checking it all out. I do blame myself, not the equipment at this stage. I've taken all the cigars OUT and have only one Boveda inside with the setting on 66F to see how it fairs. If I need to add more packs, (and I should) I will do so. At this stage, nothing is at risk.
I thought gauges read the absolute humidity. So I guess that means finding and keeping the correct temp is how to keep the rh range your looking for. I guess I got lucky the first time when setting it up.
Exactly! It's nice having another cooler present to act as a control, too. And, I will wait until I have tried everything before I contact the NewAir team to see what they may have to say. It's still within the warranty period, but if I have to drop $60 to get her fixed up, it's not going to make me irate or anything.
I really do appreciate all your feedback, gentlemen. Let's see what happens over the next few days. (I do have about 100 sticks on the way...due to the ever-tempting sprint sales)
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
I can find the dew point as long as I have the RH and temp, which I do. Nice.
Maybe this little tool will help me figure out a few things. This image depicts the current situation, but when it gets to be 72% RH indoors like it did last night, well...it gets ugly.
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
I do believe...I have found a solution. With this situation, I can adequately store up to 90, perhaps 120 cigars. I have figured out a way to maintain absolutely perfect RH and temperature without figuring out the NewAir issues at all. The unit cools perfectly well, it is a cooler. Maybe my experience is a fluke, maybe not. I do know one thing: there's no way I am bothering with shipping this dented thing to California on a return. And so, I give you the triple tupperware NewAir cooler, patent pending, all rights probably not reserved.
Atop the venerable Whynter monster, stands the world's very first triple tupperware, self contained, Boveda 65% and cedar plank attached to the lid with an affixed hygrometer...uh...humidor. Yes. I can easily fit around 30 to 40 sticks per container, they are airtight and snap together nicely, and maintain temperature of 64-66F as well as a beautiful - steady - RH of 65-67. WOOO!
In a day or two I will add the sticks and we shall see if I am off to the races.
I bought these Tupperware units ate the local K-Mart for about $9 each. All three appear to just be too tall, but they snap together and hold firm as I tilt and gently push them in past the LED light on the top. I still have plenty of room for air to circulate so the temperature can remain even, but no longer shall I worry about humidity.
This is how we make the world better...we adapt and improvise!
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
I use similar hygrometers, found mine on eBay. Did you calibrate them? Mine are off up to 6%. It's no big deal if they're off, as long as you know how much.
I use similar hygrometers, found mine on eBay. Did you calibrate them? Mine are off up to 6%. It's no big deal if they're off, as long as you know how much.
Nice work, BTW.
No, I bought mine through Amazon, and the seller is really nice. These come calibrated, I tested them out with several control hygrometers. The nice thing is that they don't require recalibration and are accurate to within just a few %. All 6 or 7 that I own are within 1 or 2% of each other, and the temperature is pretty much spot-on. If you do shop Amazon, check out any of these sold by EEEKit. fast shipping, also.
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
@BKDog have you considered going worry free and switching over to coolers? Not as pretty but they work great here in our humid climate.
“Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman – or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” – George Burns
@BKDog have you considered going worry free and switching over to coolers? Not as pretty but they work great here in our humid climate.
I have two coolers, the NewAir CC-100 (the problematic one), and a Whynter CHC 251-S, much larger and so far, worry free. Are you referring to something else?
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
Ooooh. Never thought of that. A standard beer cooler. But, what to cool it with?
I know in the Middle East we had them and they can become heaters as much as coolers, so a constant cooling situation needs to be implemented. I suppose if it's in a well air conditioned room it would suffice, but if the power goes out, boom.
I've got these coolidors on a backup system right now.
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
I can't speak for everyone but I don't actually use any cooling. I just keep it in the most temp stable room in the house. Summer runs about 70 and winter runs about 60. I obsessively checked it for a while and determined that micro environment is pretty stable on its own
Take advantage of your pre existing conditions. An interior room on the lower level of the house, perhaps on the northern half of the house (if in the northern hemisphere) if the orientation and floor layout allows for it, should naturally be cooler than a room with the opposite of all those characteristics. Humidity control is as simple as chucking in a case of bovedas of your desired rh and keeping it sealed up as much as you can. If they dry up faster than you like, add more or seal it up better or both. Then buy twice as many as it takes to regulate so you have some to rotate in and out as they need recharged. And who knows, maybe I'm commiting cigar storage sacrilege.
@Captain_Call Yeah, good planning helps. Unfortunately, I am in the coolest and most stable room, the problem is the huge variances in weather which comes with living up in the northeast in certain times of the year. We can go from 100F days to near freezing overnight, from dry and normal to massively humid in no time. This week we're getting a huge system rolling through and so much rain we've got flooding in many areas. I live in a safe zone well above flood stage, but the humidity doesn't care. I have calculated to the best of my abilities, and keeping cigars up here between 66 and 70 degrees is best for me, that gives me the most stable RH zone. Getting there is easy with a coolidor that works, and one of mine does work exceptionally well thus far. The other coolidor doesn't. I've read elsewhere online people have a similar problem with the NewAir CC-100, so at least I know it's not likely to be just me. That has to count for something. Anyway, my tupperware idea inside the unit is working like a charm! I have 60 cigars doing very well, perfectly stable and happy.
@peter4jc I found a picture of my digital hygrometers when I first got them. Pretty decent. Your mileage may vary.
"Love is a dung heap, Betty and I am but a c.o.c.k. that climbs upon it to crow."
Yeah, mine were all very close to each other, but were at the same time +4 to +6 percent high after calibrating w/ a Boveda calibration kit.
Without being too persickety, let me offer the distinction between a coolidor and wineador... you have the latter, @Captain_Call was suggesting the latter. One is made out of a cooler, one is made from a wine cooler. Unless you never run the a/c and your coolest room regularly exceeds 80 or 85 degrees, you probably don't need the cooling function of a wineador. Coolers do well in regulating temps, and they do very very well in maintaining humidity.
None of this is to tell you what to do, or to say what you're doing is wrong, just to keep the thread clear of misunderstanding.
Yeah I was referring to a standard camping/tailgating igloo cooler buddy. Best $15 I ever spent. I personally keep it in my office which is air conditioned at 68 all summer. If you don't have the luxury of AC you could always store it in a basement room.
Fortunately we're in an area that doesn't lose power for more tgat a few minutes at most, although the cooler made it through last summer without AC just fine. While the room itself got into the 90s the interior never got above 75.
“Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman – or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” – George Burns
As far as I know, The reason for keeping the temp at or below 70 is to keep the beetles from hatching. If you freeze the sticks it kills the the eggs and you not need to worry about keeping everything at 70. Or you can be paranoid like me and do both.
Answers
Lesson learned.....Don't monkey with it if the rh is good.
Perhaps if you wish to change the temperature, you should do it in smaller increments. Maybe you need more beads to respond to temperature changes quicker.
I know, You're a big dog and I'm on the list.
Let's eat, GrandMa. / Let's eat GrandMa. -- Punctuation saves lives
It'll be fine once the swelling goes down.
The Bovedas SHOULD catch up at 68 F, but it may take time for things to stabilize.
I thought gauges read the absolute humidity.
So I guess that means finding and keeping the correct temp is how to keep the rh range your looking for.
I guess I got lucky the first time when setting it up.
Nice work, BTW.
Fortunately we're in an area that doesn't lose power for more tgat a few minutes at most, although the cooler made it through last summer without AC just fine. While the room itself got into the 90s the interior never got above 75.
Or you can be paranoid like me and do both.