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Humidification Thread: FAQ and Fun Facts

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Here's a question I'll pick the collective brains with. Not something that concerns me, but something I've wondered about.
It seems humidity will rise, so the top of a humidor will see a slightly higher RH. It would make sense that placing humidifier devices, for this example we'll stick to Boveda packs, on the floor of the humidor and stack sticks on top would be a smart choice. It also seems that Boveda humidifies the air, the air then humidifies the wood of the humidor and cigars within. I would think that the effectiveness of the Boveda would be reduced since the packs would be sitting on the flat wood surface and also covered with cigars, therefore setting up a far reduced pack surface to air ratio. Any thoughts on that?
BTW, Hello (again), my name is Andy and I'm (still) an over-thinker :D
 

SDShark

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I'll try and field this one, with Ara's (and Ara's) blessing if I may...

I know guys who use computer fans in their wineadors to circulate the air and humidity for the cigars. You can experiment by using more Bovedas on each level without fans month to month and see if there are any fluctuations. Or, you can try using fans (for circulations) and less Bovedas to keep the air evenly distributed. It really comes down to personal preference. You can always rehydrate your Boveda packs if price is a concern buying Bovedas all the time. There is a thread here somewhere about rehydrating Bovedas. Would this be something you'd like to experiment with?

Personally, I don't use fans. I just open my wine fridge door maybe once every couple days and fan the air in and out briefly. My cigars taste great. Hope this helps.
 
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Hmmm, re-reading my post, I don't think I understand either! I'll try to explain a different way. If less surface area of a Boveda pack is exposed to air, like laying flat on a humidor floor with cigars also on top, as opposed to just sitting on top of a row of cigars, will it reduce its effectiveness? For example, will a humidor that holds strong and steady with 2 Boveda on top need say, 3 if they are on the bottom?
Dang I don't think that helped. Sometimes I'm not a master wordsmith with the putting together of words of different letters. o_O
 

sofc

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Hmmm, re-reading my post, I don't think I understand either! I'll try to explain a different way. If less surface area of a Boveda pack is exposed to air, like laying flat on a humidor floor with cigars also on top, as opposed to just sitting on top of a row of cigars, will it reduce its effectiveness? For example, will a humidor that holds strong and steady with 2 Boveda on top need say, 3 if they are on the bottom?
Dang I don't think that helped. Sometimes I'm not a master wordsmith with the putting together of words of different letters. o_O
No, that made sense. I usually put them on the side of the cigars or on top. But no reason for doing so.
 
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I'll try and field this one, with Ara's (and Ara's) blessing if I may...

I know guys who use computer fans in their wineadors to circulate the air and humidity for the cigars. You can experiment by using more Bovedas on each level without fans month to month and see if there are any fluctuations. Or, you can try using fans (for circulations) and less Bovedas to keep the air evenly distributed. It really comes down to personal preference. You can always rehydrate your Boveda packs if price is a concern buying Bovedas all the time. There is a thread here somewhere about rehydrating Bovedas. Would this be something you'd like to experiment with?

Personally, I don't use fans. I just open my wine fridge door maybe once every couple days and fan the air in and out briefly. My cigars taste great. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the reply! I actually don't use many Bovedas, and certainly don't need fans in the small Tupperware containers where I do have them. I feel I have my coolers down pat with Heartfelt beads, no fans. Just one of those questions that keep me up at night, like Mickey is a mouse, Donald is a duck, Pluto's a dog, but what the hell is Goofy? And did Lard Ass have to pay to get in to the contest?

Sorry to go so far off base, it's been a long day, feel free to ignore my questions ;)
 

Jfire

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If u place a boveda packet on a wood shelf in your winodor. Unless the shelf is new, it will be close to the same RH as the boveda. Thus not drawing much humidity out of the boveda. It's a enclosed space. Everything likes to try a maintain homeostasis. Kind of like BOTL.
 

Ducttapegonewild

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Oh wise Ara (and not wise Ara to boot) my question is a packaging question on boxes. The hermetically sealed plastic on certain boxes, is it better to open them or leave them sealed? I am sure this is a cello vs no cello question, but I have to ask.
 
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I had three 8 gram 69% Bovedas in my 5L tupperdor. One on the left side, one on the right side of my sticks, and one in front of my sticks. The humidity has crept up to 71% and stabilized there. However, when I pop the top to get a cigar the humidity drops to 65% in less than a minute. I took the Boveda in front of the sticks out in an attempt to drop the RH. It is now stabilized at 70%. However when I open my container to get a cigar the RH plummets to 60% in less than a minute. If I'm taking time to decide which cigar to smoke it drops into the 50s.

Two questions for you guys.
Is the rapid drop hurting my cigars?
What can I do to stabilize humidity with the top off? I already have three small cedar slats from an old cigar box in there.

It was stable at 68% until the outside weather started heating up. Could this cause the RH in the tupperdor to increase?
 
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However when I open my container to get a cigar the RH plummets to 60% in less than a minute. If I'm taking time to decide which cigar to smoke it drops into the 50s.

Two questions for you guys.
Is the rapid drop hurting my cigars?
What can I do to stabilize humidity with the top off? I already have three small cedar slats from an old cigar box in there.

It was stable at 68% until the outside weather started heating up. Could this cause the RH in the tupperdor to increase?
Don't sweat it. The hygrometer is reading the RH on it's sensor which is affected by the air directly in contact with it. When you open your container the outside dry air rushes in and the sensor responds quickly. You must have a pretty good hygrometer because the cheaper ones don't respond that fast.
The important thing to remember is that the cigars are not changing, just the air. The cigars and any wood you have hold way more moisture then the air so when you close the lid the air will go back to the correct RH in a few minutes, maybe longer, but your cigars will not be affected. You would have to leave the lid off for an hour or so before moisture started to leave the cigars at any significant level.
Bruce.
 
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Okay, I searched the forum and I'm still at a loss. I have a 300 count humidor and a 40 count Yukon. I'm either going with kitty litter or Heartfelt. I plan on filling the rectangular hygrometers with either said media. Will that be enough? How hard is it to train kitty litter to 70%? Which brands are recommended?
 
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Is there a definitive thread out there on using KL for humidification? I reading them and trying to find the one or two threads that I really need. There's only about 152 pages of threads in that storage section and I am a slow reader.
 
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Is there a definitive thread out there on using KL for humidification? I reading them and trying to find the one or two threads that I really need. There's only about 152 pages of threads in that storage section and I am a slow reader.
http://www.botl.org/threads/kitty-litter-experience-so-far.71766/page-8

Post #57. Mimi litter from walmart is what I use. Looks like this.


I'm about 3 weeks in and couldn't be happier. Ditched the 70% beads and won't look back.
 
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Allright, noob question here.
The guy at a B&M I went to told me that I can mix Boveda RH%'s in my tupperdor. As in a 65% and a 72%
Is this possible or will it become too much work for each Boveda, and I just got another rep that knows less about cigars/storage than I do?
I've been told NOT to do this. It was explained that the 72 will keep putting out moisture because the environment is less than 72, ultimately drying out and the 65% will continue to absorb moisture because the environment is above 65%.

Not sure if that's true, but it's what I've been told.
 
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Just bought a NewAir today (hasn't even shipped yet). A couple questions

I plane to order drawers, but given that it will take weeks for them to be built and arrive, is it ok to put boxes and KL/Boveda in before the drawers arrive?

What RH does kitty litter hold?

Do new NewAirs need to be cleaned or is there any kind of odor (I guess I could wait a few days and find out for myself) and, if so, what's the best way to get rid of the odor?

Thanks for a great thread!
 
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