It would be very interesting, but I don't know how you'd measure it. A quick search yielded this http://www.squidoo.com/water-meter. Some interesting reading.
What Humidity do keep your cigars at?
- Thread starter Ironman
- Start date
I've been doing some reading (as I'm fairly new to storing cigars) on this and it appears that the ideal "humidity" is 70% @ 64*. At that temperature and relative humidity the air is holding 10g of water per cubic meter. The other "ideal" I've seen is 14% of the cigars weight should be water.
Now we have a couple of standards.
"70%/70*" - Easy to remember
"10 g per cubic meter" - highly technical
"14% of the total weight" - I find it odd because you aren't going to find out how much is water unless the cigar is totally dehumidified before weighing it.
"65% is perfect, 70% is a falsehood and will give you problems" - Read below.
Several other people simply recommend storing cigars at 65% or 69% relative humidity. My guess is that a lot of people are storing their cigars "hot", above 70* or so. Above 64* (using 10g/m3) as a baseline for the 70% RH argument you would have to decrease the relative humidity as you increase the temperature to maintain the same moisture content in the air.
I'm storing my cigars in the basement, which is about 68-70* and 65% RH (+- 1%). I have had no troubles.
Now we have a couple of standards.
"70%/70*" - Easy to remember
"10 g per cubic meter" - highly technical
"14% of the total weight" - I find it odd because you aren't going to find out how much is water unless the cigar is totally dehumidified before weighing it.
"65% is perfect, 70% is a falsehood and will give you problems" - Read below.
Several other people simply recommend storing cigars at 65% or 69% relative humidity. My guess is that a lot of people are storing their cigars "hot", above 70* or so. Above 64* (using 10g/m3) as a baseline for the 70% RH argument you would have to decrease the relative humidity as you increase the temperature to maintain the same moisture content in the air.
I'm storing my cigars in the basement, which is about 68-70* and 65% RH (+- 1%). I have had no troubles.
well im at about 74%...is that not good?
You might find the draw a little tight or have some burn problems.
Above 72% ye've chance of mold, and it might get tight.
hdroadglide
BoM x 2, BoY 2011
so the wetter it is, the tighter it is????????????????:thumbsup:
I like the way you think Bob.
65% - 70%. I don't have a digital hygrometer or beads (the latter of which I'll invest in sometime in the near future), so I gauge the humidity to within 5% of the readings on that crappy little analog thing I've calibrated. I also give some of the sticks a little squeeze every now and then when pulling one out to smoke just to make sure they're not getting too spongy or too dry, which seems to be working out for me so far.
So old and ye still don't know?
WkndSmoker
Short Story
Was greeted with 74 percent @ 64 degrees last night in my small desktop, I think the hygrometer took a dump, old faithful is sick.
The gift a dor is still rockin' 64/65.
Wknd.
The gift a dor is still rockin' 64/65.
Wknd.
I was in the same boat as you until about 3 or 4 months ago when I heard of Boveda Packs that automatically regulate the humidor. Each pack comes in either 65*, 69*, 72*, or 75* humidity. I have been buying the 69* and have been somewhat happy and thought that was on the lower side. I'm really surprised to see most people here @ 65*.
Questions: 1) are Boveda Packs worthwhile? and 2) should I be buying 65* and not 69*? Thanks in advance!~
-Pete
Craig Mac
BoM 4/10 7/11 12/14
Go with humidity beads, easy and only require a little bit of distilled water here and there. They are two way as well. You can get them from Hearfelt Industries, a site sponsor. As far as what humidity YOU should keep YOUR humidor at, that depends on what YOU like. If your smokes are burning good @ 69% keep it there! Some people just prefer 65% and feel it burns a little better for them(myself included).
bwyhte: at humidity at levels above 73% you run the risk of getting mold on your cigars, so yes, I'd recomend you try to bring it down!
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I try to keep mine closer to 70%. I like smoking them near 65%, but since I usually travel some distance before I smoke them, they're going to lose a bit of that humidity, so the higher level helps me in that I have more time to move them without having a travel humidor (oh, how it would be nice to not be a poor college student...lol).