Change of heart

[Alfred]

Ok after being buying my cigars almost daily for lack of a humidor, and after frustrating myself trying to make a nice wooden one, I have decided to go with an Igloodor. No some experienced opinions are needed.

1.- KL, Boveda packs, beads, or sheets?
2.- Should I open a hole and install my round Xicar digital hygrometer? if so at the top, in the middle or towards the bottom? Or a wireless or wired outside monitor with a sensor in it?
3.- I am planing in putting a small fan for air circulation. What would be the technicalities behind this Time running vs idle time? location and direction?
4.- Last, cigars need breathing fresh air? if so a coolidor is not very good at supplying that. Open the door 4 to 5 days a week to look for my daily cigar will be enough or I have to once in a while leave the door open.

Sorry about the long list of questions.

Thank you so much.

Alfred

[Brlesq]

1.  KL

2.  No holes!  Just put the hygrometer inside.  Yuo will have to open the igloodor to look at it.

3.  Most people don't put a fan in these, but if you are determined, then find a small battery powered fan like an Oust.

4.  Answer to #2 resolves question for #4.

5.  Unsolicted Advice - Store this in a closet with no chance of getting sunlight and nowhere near a heat vent.

Take pictures and show us your progress!

[lubrix]

I would leave the digital hygrometer free in the inside so you can move it around and see if any spots have a lower r/h.Would not recommend leaving it open.Opening it every 4 or 5 days should be fine.Some members have more experience with these types.

[cocon]

There is a good article written by a fellow geek here on our website.

http://www.cigargeeks.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=46

[Jackal]

4) Opening the lid once a week should be quite adequate to keep the air fresh.

[Alfred]

Thank you guys for all the input. Now if you smoke one cigar a day one has to open the coolidor daily.

[Romeo]

another learning experience for me here on Geeks..thank you guys

[nwb]

I think you will be impressed with the functionality of a coolidor.  If I didn't have my cabinet, I'd use one exclusively.

[mike.casey]

I took a thin piece of a saw blade that I cut into a rectangle and superglued it to the lid inside the cooler. Most wally world hygrometers have a magnetic strip on the back, so I attach it to that.  Anytime I open the cooler the hygrometer is looking me in the face, plus it's not laying on my cigars.

I also built a tray to sit on top, for the cigars that I would like to try soon. The ones that I'm "aging" stay below the tray, and do not have to be disturbed when grabbing a smoke.

Fans are not necessary in the least.

[sullivan8078]

All great advice here! I have a 50 count and a 100 count humi and just filled my first coolidor with misc. boxes. I highly recommend as a cabinet alternative. If buying, I would defintely go bigger think 120qt versus the smaller options. Although a lot of people have that extra 50qt laying around just begging to be used for something.

[Hot Stuff x]

My 64-quart coolidor has been rock solid for going on 3 years.  No fan or vent holes.  Once the humidity stabilizes you are golden.  Dont leave it open any more than you have to.  I keep mine as full as possible with empty cigar boxes when it is not full of cigars....helps minimize the amount of outside air that gets in when you take a peek.   Also I have 4 cedar trays that I bought from cheaphumidors.com to keep my singles organized.  If the trays are full I use old cigar boxes to store the rest.

[Hot Stuff x]

here's an old picture, but you get the idea.  The oust fan died shortly after I bought it.  It didn't seem to make any difference.

 

[fretburn]

There are 2 good articles on coolidors now in the articles section.

I recently did a coolerdor. A small 48qt. Got some empty cigar boxes to hold many of my sticks. The boxes i didnt use i took out the cedar and placed em around the edges of the cooler. I have plastic trays on top for alot of my singles, put some cedar pieces in the bottom of them to keep the sticks off the plastic.

I went the KL route thanks to recommendations of many folks here and highly recommend it. Another good read in the articles section. I have about 10 oz in a tupperware with holes drilled in the lid and it sits at a steady 69-70% now that everything is seasoned. Even after i have it open for a bit, after an hour or so its right back to rock steady.

I use a digital hygrometer and do move it around a bit to check RH differences, but havent had much flux.

I use my wooden humidors to transfer sticks to so they lose a lil RH before i smoke em if i need to, some smokes are better it seems though at the higher humidity.

Awesome pics Les.

[87North]

Brlesq - 4/23/2012  3:29 PM

2.  No holes!

Excellent advice that can be applied to so many different situations.