Thought I would bump this up in case my (and other) posts were jacking the Group Buy thread to far. Plus, this has more information for those who were curious on the same issues I was.
So far, my conclusions:
Both products seem like they are high quality products sold by high quality botl.
They both have their pro's and con's and each may have certain situations where they perform better than the other. That being said, they could also compliment each other in some situations. For instance, those brothers (like myself) who have a wine cooler set up. If you want to have beads to catch the condensation you need to go with the HF beads. But at the same time, you could use the HCM beads throughout the rest of the wine cooler. The HCM would do the job of regulating the general RH while the HF would take care of catching and "redistributing" the condensation. Of course you could use all HF with out an issue and you could put a sponge down where the condensation comes off the wine cooler and use all HCM as well.
The major drawback AND benefit I see to HCM is the ability to change the set-point of the beads yourself. Those of us in the hobby long enough have probably toyed with different RH levels at different times as we progressed through the hobby. Some folks even like storing at two different RH for aging versus smoking. HCM allows you to do this, and to change your RH if you so choose, without having to replace your humidification media. At the same time, as I've noted before, I do have a lingering concern in my mind that the HCM beads could change their set-point if put in the wrong environment. Keeping your hygro calibrated should help catch anything like this that happens, but it's still something that sticks in the back of my mind. Probably almost a non-existent issue in 99% of the cases, just something this anal-retentive botl wonders about.
Some last thoughts on pro's and con's:
Now, one more question for our HCM experts. I've read a number of posts here and there about HCM being quicker to recover when the system is disturbed (i.e. from opening the humidor or perhaps from the condensor in a wine cooler kicking on). Is this just a perception thing or has anyone really tracked it? And if so, is there any science as to why?
So far, my conclusions:
Both products seem like they are high quality products sold by high quality botl.
They both have their pro's and con's and each may have certain situations where they perform better than the other. That being said, they could also compliment each other in some situations. For instance, those brothers (like myself) who have a wine cooler set up. If you want to have beads to catch the condensation you need to go with the HF beads. But at the same time, you could use the HCM beads throughout the rest of the wine cooler. The HCM would do the job of regulating the general RH while the HF would take care of catching and "redistributing" the condensation. Of course you could use all HF with out an issue and you could put a sponge down where the condensation comes off the wine cooler and use all HCM as well.
The major drawback AND benefit I see to HCM is the ability to change the set-point of the beads yourself. Those of us in the hobby long enough have probably toyed with different RH levels at different times as we progressed through the hobby. Some folks even like storing at two different RH for aging versus smoking. HCM allows you to do this, and to change your RH if you so choose, without having to replace your humidification media. At the same time, as I've noted before, I do have a lingering concern in my mind that the HCM beads could change their set-point if put in the wrong environment. Keeping your hygro calibrated should help catch anything like this that happens, but it's still something that sticks in the back of my mind. Probably almost a non-existent issue in 99% of the cases, just something this anal-retentive botl wonders about.
Some last thoughts on pro's and con's:
- HCM beads are more costly than the HF beads for the same amount (looking at 1/2lb and 1lb quantities and assuming the mesh bags for containers for the HF).
- HF beads allow for more flexibility in amounts and containers as they can be purchased in bulk and there are a ton of options on how to container them (pantyhose, mesh bags, tubes, etc., etc.).
- Refreshing HF: You have to be able to SEE HF beads to refresh them so you can judge the proper percentage of clear to white beads which can be a pain if you are storing them in a way that doesn't make it easy to see the beads themselves.
- Refreshing HF: No need to worry about a certain number of clear to white beads, but at the same time, less of an exact science (IMHO). Of course, if you are dealing with a truly closed system (i.e. your humid doesn't leak) this shouldn't be much of an issue for either media.
Now, one more question for our HCM experts. I've read a number of posts here and there about HCM being quicker to recover when the system is disturbed (i.e. from opening the humidor or perhaps from the condensor in a wine cooler kicking on). Is this just a perception thing or has anyone really tracked it? And if so, is there any science as to why?
