Expert: James Yee - 8/31/2008

Question
Hello again,

I was wondering if you could please e-mail me a copy of your Humidors 101 paper that I've seen mentioned in some of the other questions asked.  I'm mainly interested in anything around the relative humidity/temperature relationship.  There's been some cooler weather where I live and the internal temperature of my humidor (desktop size) has dropped into the 60s, with the resulting RH shooting up to the 77-78 % range.  As usual, I've read various conflicting information on this subject on the internet and from what I've gathered, the *actual* or absolute moisture content of the air inside the humidor is unchanged, however since colder air can hold less moisture than warm air, the relative humidity has subsequently increased.

Obviously getting the RH back to a lower level is a concern, so my question now is what's the best way to go about it?  If raising the temperature of the humidor back to 70 (I say this because the electric bill gets pretty high from running heaters), would leaving the lid open for a while to allow the RH to drop be acceptable?  I also have a removable upper tray that hasn't been in the humidor for sometime now, would adding that back allow it to soak up some of the excess moisture and create a better environment for the cigars?

Again, thank you in advance for the help and advice.

~Tyler

Answer
Hi Tyler,

I think you may be mistaken.  I don't have a humidor 101 paper currently available.  I am however, writing a book on cigars and cigar smoking and there will be several chapters on humidors and humidor maitenance which also discusses relative and absolute humidity.  My book however, is still in the production stage and is not ready yet.

In the meantime, you can find more discussions about humidors and humidity by using the search function here on allexperts.com.

In regards to lowering humidity, the best method of lowering your humidity is to simply use Propylene Glycol (PG) in your humidification device.  PG is popular among cigar smokers because a one-time 50/50 mixture with distilled water will lower and maintain the humidity to exactly 70%.  One dosage can also last a long time in your humidor (on average, 2 years).  Propylene Glycol is available at most cigar stores, drug stores and pharmacies.  As an alternative, you can also use a pre-mixed 50/50 humidor solution and it will also regulate the humidity at 70%.  Creating your own PG-distilled water solution however, will allow you to fine tune the mixture and create a more desired humidity level.

Hopes this answers your question. As always, if you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James.