Miami Heat & Humidity vs. Cigars - The Fight Continues

[GeeRawkz]

So as the topic states, I find myself continually battling the Miami Heat and Humidity with my humidors. With the newest Indulgence standing humidor joining my ranks I find myself constantly struggling with fluctuating RH levels to the point I have taken out both xikar rectangle humidifiers to determine what a non humidified humidor RH level would be at.

Last I checked when I had the humidifiers in there it was way to high, with 1 of the humidifiers in it would fluctuate between 69 to 75% RH. With the constant debate between what is better either a 65% or 70% RH level I wonder if it is worth it to just purchase a bead system to keep the cigars at a regulated 65% RH and hope that with the Miami weather it won't get above 70%.

But before making any purchases I wanted to get all of your thoughts / insights in doing this. Thank you all for your help in advance!

 

[ATL]

What's the temperature in your humidor? And, yes, buy the beads. My only concern is that the beads would soak up the extra humidity to the point you would end up purging the beads every so often. I think I read an article once where someone in your predicament had to put the beads in the refrigerator every so often to dry them out. Of course you could use dry kitty litter and then just dump it when it quits soaking up the excess humidity.

 

[StocktonJohn]

When I have had high RH semi dry 65% beads have helped. We have high temps too and I find that by keeping RH at 65 the gars smoke and keep well. I've accepted that I can't ever keep my sticks at 70 degrees all year.. Too cold or hot about half the time but I can at least keep the RH in range to control beetles and keep my sticks in good smoking condition.

I've never understood the 70 degree thing anyway given that the climates where tobacco is grown and aged are rarely that cool on a consistent basis.

 

[StocktonJohn]

What's the temperature in your humidor? And, yes, buy the beads. My only concern is that the beads would soak up the extra humidity to the point you would end up purging the beads every so often. I think I read an article once where someone in your predicament had to put the beads in the refrigerator every so often to dry them out. Of course you could use dry kitty litter and then just dump it when it quits soaking up the excess humidity.

Great point... You may need a lot of beads to keep the RH down and maybe have two sets so you can have one set drying and one in use. You can never have too many beads IMHO.

 

[GeeRawkz]

I'll check the temperature shortly to get you the exact temperature inside the humidor. I keep the apartment at 68 to 70 degrees so last I checked inside the humidor it was about around those temperatures.

Do you think it is best to get a bead system that regulates in at 65 or 70% RH?

Thank you for your quick responses!

 

[jamesbrownsplit]

Just north of you. Use bovedas and never have an issue with RH being too high except when I had the AC go out.

 

[bugbear]

I only have to deal with 2-3 months a year here in NE but Heartfelt 65% beads here (I just dont charge in the Summer). I also oversized them significantly, seemed to work well this year (we had about 2 months straight at 100% humidity).

 

[Solarius99]

I use the Heartfelt 65% beads as well here in NH and they keep my coolidor and my Indulgence humidor just right all year around. I do have to charge them during the winter, and very rarely during the summer though keeping my house at 75 with AC keeps the humidity down. And like StocktonJohn said... have two sets so you can discharge one while the other is regulating.

 

[Knickerbocker]

put away a little bit of money each week and then buy a cooled cabinet.

 

[mdwest]

I keep the house right at 72 degrees.. so heat isnt an issue for me at all.. my humi tracks a temperature between 68-72 all the time...

Boveda's were the answer to my RH issues.. I tried everything from the floral foam that comes in humis.. to gels.. absorbants like rice, KL, etc.. in the box.. and could never get RH to 65...

Starting dropping in the boveda pillows.. and got to 65 within a couple of days.. havent looked back since..

 

[ATL]

If you're keeping the place between 68-70 degrees, and you're still having such rh issues, you really need to get the beads. 65 or 70 is really a personal preference. Most on here seem to prefer the 65, as do I. Also, putting a request out for dry boveda packs and throwing those in there would work as well.

 

[GeeRawkz]

Beautiful! Thank you for this info! Now the only question that remains is does placement of the beads in the humidor make a difference, ie: below the trays or beneath them? Or hopefully does it not matter and the beads will regulate it throughout to 65%

 

[StocktonJohn]

As to placement, maybe top and bottom if it's a large humi... With a small humi on top is fine in my experience.

I keep my Oasis units in the bottom ( its dry here all year) and 65 percent beads on top and it keeps my large humi and cabinet very stable. Small humi I just keep 65 percent beads on the top shelf and it's fine.

 

[GeeRawkz]

Ya it's a large standing humidor called the indulgence humidor from CI. So I will definitely try the the top and bottom, was thinking of getting beads from cigarmony.com and that's where I saw the bead system unless anyone else has a better place to order from let me know.

 

[hawaiian]

This is probably gonna start a war but don't discount kitty litter and damprid combo. We have very high humidity all year long and my cigars sit at 60-62% year round.

 

[Solarius99]

Ya it's a large standing humidor called the indulgence humidor from CI. So I will definitely try the the top and bottom, was thinking of getting beads from cigarmony.com and that's where I saw the bead system unless anyone else has a better place to order from let me know.

For Heartfelt beads... heartfeltindustries.com... direct from the source. I use the Boveda packs in my carry humidor and as extras in my smaller humidors. But for my Indulgence and my big 70qt cooler I use the heartfelt beads. I believe they have the square replacement containers for them too (been awhile since I looked).

 

[Cigary43]

This is probably gonna start a war but don't discount kitty litter and damprid combo. We have very high humidity all year long and my cigars sit at 60-62% year round.

Glad you said it first but I agree...25 humidors can't be wrong as I have each one tuned to what I like. Some are 63..some are 65 and some are 67....I have two humis that I keep at 70 so KL is about as good as it gets and it's been like this for 2 year running.

 

[GeeRawkz]

This is probably gonna start a war but don't discount kitty litter and damprid combo. We have very high humidity all year long and my cigars sit at 60-62% year round.

Glad you said it first but I agree...25 humidors can't be wrong as I have each one tuned to what I like. Some are 63..some are 65 and some are 67....I have two humis that I keep at 70 so KL is about as good as it gets and it's been like this for 2 year running.

25 humidors? Wow got me beat by a long shot! I'll look into kitty liter a bit more though thanks for the tip!

 

[StocktonJohn]

Get Heartfelt beads. Never failed me yet.

 

[SuprHasan]

http://bovedainc.com/solutions/tobacco/
/lock thread