Expert: Bill Finck Jr. - 11/12/2008

Question
Bill-

I have a humidor that is 4ft tall x 30 inches wide x 30 inches deep and I have 2-250 count Xikars (madeline) and 2-100 count Xikars (madeline) and I am staying around 65% humidity.  My humidor is custom built with pieced together cigar boxes and then the entire inside of the humidor (over the cigar boxes) is lined with a clear plexiglass(similar to a cooler plastic).  I have other full cigar boxes inside the humidor with cigars in them as well as some plastic shelving units. To get the humidity closer to 70% do I need to buy more Xikars (madelines)?

Answer
Ben,

Ideal relative humidity (RH) for storing cigars is a ratio of 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 70% RH. As the temperature increases, the RH decreases. Unless your humidor is kept in a very cool 70 degree room, 70% humidity would be too high. Here is the chart I use:

temperature    RH
68             72
69             71
70             70
71             69
72             68
73             67
74             66

I'm willing to bet that your humidor is working fine just as it is. If you are experiencing drying out of your cigars inside the humidor, you have a problem and yes you would need to add more humidification, although for a unit that big you would want to consider switching from evaporative type humidifiers to an electronic humidifier with a circulating fan.

Hope this helps. If you want more info on humidors and humidifiers send me your e-mail address and I'll e-mail you a document that explains a lot of this stuff in more detail. b.finck@finckcigarcompany.com

Thanks,
Bill