Help with a dry room/low humidity!

ejasenovic

Hey all! This is my first winter season with a humidor and having some humidity issues (what a surprise...). Maybe some kind soul can help!
I have 2 humidors...1 I've had since March (50 ct) and 1 is new (30 ct). I've re-seasoned them and even added the Black Ice humidification thing to the larger one...both STILL have pretty low humidity (about 50%)

Would adding a humidifier to my room help at all? Are there other options? Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

New Boots

I would look into adding boveda packs to them. They should be able to level you out, while not going to high.

ejasenovic

Which packets would you recommend? I'd guess the 72% only bc my humidity problem is so bad...Also pretty sure it's not a sealing issue because my levels were fine til sometime in October...then BAM.

Echambers

ejasenovic:

Would adding a humidifier to my room help at all? Are there other options? Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

This would help the most if the problem is with the seal or you have the humi open lot. If. It is sealed properly and it stays closed most of the time then then the RH in the room will have little impact. EDIT: this is sort of true. Over time a dry room can pull moisture from the humidor itself but the greatest pull will be from a poor seal. And this will be more true with solid wood humis.

. If you have recently added a bunch of dry sticks to the humi that could be the cause right there. Just give it a week or two to normalize.

jgibv

I assume they are wood humidors? And not coolidors...

ejasenovic:

Hey all! Would adding a humidifier to my room help at all?

Unless you already have a humidifier --- I'd say hold off for a minute and save your $$.

Try adding small dish or a shot glass with distilled water to each humi. Just set it in there, keep everything else normal and see if your RH slowly climbs back up. If that works, keep the dish in there throughout the winter/drier months, if you notice the RH is getting to high, take the dish out or open the lid more often.

If that doesn't work then yes a room humidifier should help.

I've had this problem before with my wood humidors .... even though they have good seals, the lower ambient RH in the winter months causes the moisture to get sucked right out through the pores in the wood.

ejasenovic

So keep a shot glass of distilled water in there even WITH the cigars in there? Is that still ok?

J.S.

Yes, it will be fine as long as you keep the humi level and don't spill the water. Just make sure if you go that way that you check it more often as even a little water can really drive up the RH. This is very important if you are running 20 and 50 ct. humis as they are smaller and it will take less to change the RH

PAtoNH

Have you tested your hygrometers? Any damage to your smokes? Shot glass with water is okay with the cigars… just be careful not to spill.

ejasenovic

The hygrometers are pretty ok...just a few off. The cigars are looking ok but a bit dry. Just put in some shot glasses...Wish me luck! I'll check it in a few hours and see where they are.

jgibv

These guys beat me to it ^^^
Yes it will be fine as long as you don't spill it.

I usually put a big yellow post it note on top of the humi that says:
"DON'T MOVE! SHOT GLASS WITH WATER INSIDE"
That's saved me from spilling it on more than one occasion.....

ejasenovic:

The hygrometers are pretty ok...just a few off. The cigars are looking ok but a bit dry. Just put in some shot glasses...Wish me luck! I'll check it in a few hours and see where they are.

Depending on how dry the humis and ambient air is ... it might take a few days to get the RH back up. And you might have to refill the shot glass as the moisture gets sucked back into the wood.
I'd say give it a week to even out ....

ejasenovic

Gotcha and will do. Thanks all! And please if anyone has other suggestions let me know!

Lee.mcglynn

Depending on how the humi manufacturer tried to cut corners if any I would check the outside bottom...most have felt some just raw wood. If just raw wood it should be sealed! If not then yeah add more humidifiers

ddubridge

not sure if this will help you, but it does help me when I need a kick in the right direction.

I spray, with a fine mist spray bottle, a cedar lid off a cigar box (seperated from the box of course). Wave it in the air to remove any extra DW and let it sit a minute or two. Place it in the humi and it will gradually bring up the humidity. No worries of over saturating any wood in the humi and you can remove it if it jumps to high. I also use non-humified box tops in reverse when humidiy here in Michigan jumps.

With the heat on, It gets pretty freakin dry in the house.

Bob Luken

ddubridge:

not sure if this will help you, but it does help me when I need a kick in the right direction.

I spray, with a fine mist spray bottle, a cedar lid off a cigar box (seperated from the box of course). Wave it in the air to remove any extra DW and let it sit a minute or two. Place it in the humi and it will gradually bring up the humidity. No worries of over saturating any wood in the humi and you can remove it if it jumps to high. I also use non-humified box tops in reverse when humidiy here in Michigan jumps.

With the heat on, It gets pretty freakin dry in the house.

Great idea Drew. I think I'll try that too. You think it would also work with the thin cedar inserts you get in boxes between the top layer of cigars and the bottom?

ddubridge

Bob Luken:

ddubridge:

not sure if this will help you, but it does help me when I need a kick in the right direction.

I spray, with a fine mist spray bottle, a cedar lid off a cigar box (seperated from the box of course). Wave it in the air to remove any extra DW and let it sit a minute or two. Place it in the humi and it will gradually bring up the humidity. No worries of over saturating any wood in the humi and you can remove it if it jumps to high. I also use non-humified box tops in reverse when humidiy here in Michigan jumps.

With the heat on, It gets pretty freakin dry in the house.

Great idea Drew. I think I'll try that too. You think it would also work with the thin cedar inserts you get in boxes between the top layer of cigars and the bottom?

Couldnt hurt to try. I dont know if they would "soak" up as much DW as a box top.

ejasenovic

With the shot glasses, it's gone up a few degrees over the last 2 days. I don't have a cigar box (yet) but Have some dividers it came with that I don't use...hmm...

ddubridge

ejasenovic:

With the shot glasses, it's gone up a few degrees over the last 2 days. I don't have a cigar box (yet) but Have some dividers it came with that I don't use...hmm...

With temps in the (-), the heater has been running around the clock. I have been recharging the humis with misted cedar with great results. Also, a small dish with a sponge and DW is not a bad idea either. The extra surface area of the sponge helps distribute the DW more effectively then a shot glass full of DW.

Be careful because this could jump your rh in a hurry.

Jayyvtcjdelr

use a vacuum pump lol.. :P

dr_frankenstein56

Have you checked the seal of the humi? I bet its dried out. It seems like your bleeding humidity off awful fast if with the shot glass you only came up a few points. do a seal test.

Aj

ejasenovic

Its gone up to about 60 and stays there...I'll google humidor seal tests and see what I can do. Thanks again! I love this "hobby" thery're just so much detail! Can't wait till I can get a 100 ct humi...