Hey gang,

After years of worrying about keeping temperature stable in my humidor, I'm finally going to purchase a wine refrigerator/cooler, and use my Cigar Oasis Plus to control humidity. Five quick questions first:

1. Is this a cost-effective and recommended solution?

2. Which brand and model should I go with under $400? (eBay will be an option)

3. Are there any that can reach, and maintain, a temp higher than 65º?

4. Will one Cigar Oasis Plus be enough to maintain a constant humidity at 65-67% throughout?

5. Will I also need to purchase a small fan of some sort, or is this not necessary?


Thanks everyone,
Mike

[quote]Posted December 10, 2006 02:29 PM
Hey gang,

After years of worrying about keeping temperature stable in my humidor, I'm finally going to purchase a wine refrigerator/cooler, and use my Cigar Oasis Plus to control humidity. Five quick questions first:

1. Is this a cost-effective and recommended solution?

2. Which brand and model should I go with under $400? (eBay will be an option)

3. Are there any that can reach, and maintain, a temp higher than 65º?

4. Will one Cigar Oasis Plus be enough to maintain a constant humidity at 65-67% throughout?

5. Will I also need to purchase a small fan of some sort, or is this not necessary?
]Quote

1. Many cigar enthusiasts use wine coolers as humidors, myself included. The use of them is beneficial in areas where the temp in the summer gets up to high.

2. The price will vary depending on what capacity you are looking for. I got a "Haier" for $500 Canadian, they are cheaper in the US. Try Costco they have a couple that are priced reasonably.

3. Why do you want it to go over 65F? The "Haier" has an electronic control that keeps mine at aroud 66F. Anything over that can lead to "bug" problems.

4. I use kitty litter humidifying beads to control the R/H in mine, but will be switching to "Heartfelt " beads instead so that I can bring my R/H down from 68 to 62. The Museum grade beads can be had in 60, 65, 70 R/H ranges.

5. My set up utilizes two surplus 12 volt, 2 inch muffin fans, one above, one below to prevent stratification. The fans are hooked up to a small battery eliminater and a digital timer set to run for 10 minutes every hour.
A few people I know don't use the fans. Their need is debatable.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/kechke/cigarsmay05023.jpg

Thanks, kechke. I appreciate the input.

1) doesn't the wine cooler drain the humidity out of it ???

2) will one Oasis Plus be able to properly humidify a wine cooler of about 40 bottles ????

3) can I place my desktop humidors in the cooler ?? or should I store cigars in their boxes ??? how about in the open, on a tray ??

4) If the entire humidor goes inside the cooler, then do i need to also have a humidification device in the humidor ??

can anyone help me ??? i need to know if the wine cooler will drain all humidity out, and what's better to use as humidification ??? beeds ?? oasis ?? oasis plus ?? 2 oasis, a combination ???

PLEASE HELP

If you did a search, you would see that plenty of people use wine fridges for storing cigars in the summer. You can then deduce that they don't drain the humidity out which is unlike a regular fridge. You'll also see that people use a combination of beads or active humidification elements like the Oasis.

Part of how an air conditioner and regular refrigerator cool air is by sucking moisture out of the air. However, wine coolers don't do that.

I believe it is because if it did it would harm the cork and therefore your wine (although I'm not a wine drinker at all - can't even stand the smell of the stuff).

I can't seem to get my humidor past 45 humidity. Do you keep them in their boxes or leave them out ? Confused as well.

Please help.

A THERMO-ELECTRIC driven unit is recommended when using a wine fridge as a humidor.

Compressor style fridges drain humidity from the internal environment. The worst a thermoelectric unit does is create fluctuations of about +/- 5% when the unit cycles from on to off.

The other slight down side is that they do "sweat" a bit and because the drain hole is recommended to be plugged to seal the internal environment, you will need a tray to soak up the excess condensation (beads work fine at this).

The wine fridge is an awesome replacement for the standard humidor and they don't look bad either. I have a Vinotemp 28 bottle unit and the digital temp control goes up to 66, but my Western Digital Caliber III reads about 67-68 degrees and the RH fluctuates accordingly. I use 70% Heartfelt beads to control the humidity and plug the drain hole and use more beads on top of that.

I also have 12 5" wide pieces of Spanish Cedar to create 6 shelves inside and the back 6 are drilled out in the center w/2" holes for circulation. I use 2 CPU fans to circulate the air up from the bottom and they are powered by a 12v power source plugged into a digital timer and it turns these fans on every hour. I only have about $350 total into it and I love it. Holds alot of boxes and still looks good to boot. If anyone has any questions, feel free to email me.

DRYFLY3, have you posted a pic of your Vinotemp unit? I think you have but I don't remember where - I'd like to look at it again if you don't mind.

I'd just email you about it, but I figured someone else might be interested to see it as well!

No pics posted yet, but will do as soon as I can stick them somewhere. I can link you to the place where I originally got my info from, but this guy is a lot handier in the wood shop...
http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=40289&mode=threaded
This guy was a little bit on the extreme side and I just tuned it down a notch and made it easier on myself. Like I said before, ask me any questions and I will do my best to help out, or I can send photos direct....Let me know!

Thanks DRYFLY! Great info. Ok, so I'm looking at Vinotemps right now... And spanish cedar planks/panels. And brushless fans, and power supplies...sweet.

It will take me a bit to allocate the funds, but when I do I'll email you for tips. Again, thanks and appreciated.

Ok, I've got a Wine Enthusiast 28 bottle cooler (thermo-electric, very similar to Vinotemp, but more my style), several spanish cedar 4x36's, and a Cigar Oasis XL Plus, all on the way to me.

I've just prototyped my shelves, and I'm working on a compact inverter/ultra-quiet (and thus slow) fan combo for air circulation, as well as deep blue accent lighting LEDs.

Before I drill into the unit or otherwise modify it, I've sent an email to Wine Enthusiast to see if they are able to sell repair parts, as I will obviously kill the warranty that the unit comes with lol. But, regardless, I'll thoroughly test it and make sure it operates to specs before moving forward. My goal is 64 def. F/65% RH.

I'm stoked!

quote:

It will take me a bit to allocate the funds

About 12 days, Not bad!!

aphexafx - Enjoy the fridge! Make sure to watch where you drill the hole for the wires and use something to fill the hole afterwards. You can use electrical tape or strip caulk. Also, make sure to plug the drain hole on the bottom and put some beads down there to absorb the condensation you will have in the summer months. Good luck and feel free to drop me a line if you have any ?'s.

quote:

Originally posted by DRYFLY3:
aphexafx - Enjoy the fridge! Make sure to watch where you drill the hole for the wires and use something to fill the hole afterwards. You can use electrical tape or strip caulk. Also, make sure to plug the drain hole on the bottom and put some beads down there to absorb the condensation you will have in the summer months. Good luck and feel free to drop me a line if you have any ?'s.

Condensation? Inside?

Sometimes you can get condensation on the back wall of the inside of the frigidor. It is minor and the beads will help absorb it. It comes down from the thermoelectric unit like sweat and runs down towards the bottom of the fridge.