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Humidification Qs
Second time poster here, still somewhat new to the cigar scene.
I've got two somewhat packed humidors in my office, both seasoned reasonably, for at least a week, before I put any smokes in them. At first I was using a some of those great green foam hockey pucks with PG solution to keep humidified. I noticed that the humidification element only kept the box humidified for a couple weeks, so I decided to supplement with DryMistat tubes. This kept things stable a little longer. After a while I took out the pucks and did only gel tubes. This kept things at 70% +/- 2% depending on the temperature in my office. (One day the AC was not functioning and things got a little steamy). I was looking to get the humidity down to the 67-68% range, so I purchased some Boveda packets. I'm now operating with three gel tubes and a couple Boveda packets geared for the 65-69% range and I have been getting the RH to about 68% consistently.
I guess my question is based in whether a mix and match approach to humidifying my humi's has any pitfalls, other than less space in the box. I have just ordered a couple elements that will hold plenty of beads(@65%) to humidify both boxes. These will theoretically will keep things at my lowest preferred threshold (65%). What about mixing and matching with beads. I was thinking of using tubes to bring the effective RH up to that sweet spot for me...67%.
I've got two somewhat packed humidors in my office, both seasoned reasonably, for at least a week, before I put any smokes in them. At first I was using a some of those great green foam hockey pucks with PG solution to keep humidified. I noticed that the humidification element only kept the box humidified for a couple weeks, so I decided to supplement with DryMistat tubes. This kept things stable a little longer. After a while I took out the pucks and did only gel tubes. This kept things at 70% +/- 2% depending on the temperature in my office. (One day the AC was not functioning and things got a little steamy). I was looking to get the humidity down to the 67-68% range, so I purchased some Boveda packets. I'm now operating with three gel tubes and a couple Boveda packets geared for the 65-69% range and I have been getting the RH to about 68% consistently.
I guess my question is based in whether a mix and match approach to humidifying my humi's has any pitfalls, other than less space in the box. I have just ordered a couple elements that will hold plenty of beads(@65%) to humidify both boxes. These will theoretically will keep things at my lowest preferred threshold (65%). What about mixing and matching with beads. I was thinking of using tubes to bring the effective RH up to that sweet spot for me...67%.
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i would relax a bit about your RH though. small fluctuations arent a big deal.
Seriously, though, let's consider the above scenario within the context of the theory of beads. First off, the idea is that, when the ambient humidity is below the target humidity for the bead, it will release moisture until the ambient humidity reaches that target. Likewise, the idea is that if the ambient humidity is greater than the target rH, the beads will absorb moisture until the humidity reaches the target.
So, let's stick those two tubes of beads in a humidor that is currently at 67% (and let's assume the beads have an infinite capacity to absorb and/or release moisture, and that the humidity inside the humidor was not affected by my opening and closing it). Let's stick the 65% tube on the left side, and the 70% tube on the right side.
In this scenario, the 70% beads will release moisture in an effort to bring the rH up to 70%. Likewise, the 65% beads will absorb moisture in an effort to bring the rH down to 65%. What you would then have is a flow of moisture from right to left within the humidor. If we acknowledge that the moisture capacity of the beads is limited, this flow of moisture will continue until one of the following conditions is reached:
1. The 70% beads become fully de-charged.
2. The 65% beads become fully saturated.
For conclusion 1, the humidity would reach 65% as the beads absorb the remaining ambient moisture without the injection of new moisture into the environment from the 70% beads (or until they are full). For conclusion 2, the humidity would reach 70% as the 70% beads would cease releasing moisture once the rH reached 70% (or technically, when they dried out), and the 65% beads would be too full to absorb any more moisture.
dang.. I need a cigar.