Expert: Bill Finck Jr. - 7/10/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello!
well i have a slight problem with my humidity levels. its currently sitting at about 73, and i prefereably want it at 67 - 70%. i am currently employing one madelaine crystal humidifier.  basically, my questions are as follows.  what do you know about boveda packs? would you reccommend them, and should i use them INSTEAD of my humidifier? also, would they work well with the madelaine humidifier if i chose to use them together? thanks a lot for the help,

JP

ANSWER: JP,

I've never used the Boveda packs so I can't give you a recommendation. Are you trying to lower your humidification because your cigars are getting too soft? It is very unusual to have over-humidification issues when using evaporative type systems, so I'm wondering what is going on. Give me some details and I'll try to help you.

Bill

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i keep my humidor in a closet in my basement.  i am trying to lower the humidity because my sticks are just a little too supple and burn a bit unevenly.  i have a 50 count humi and i only have about 30 in there.  would it also help to fill the box up a little with more cigars?  i feel like im running out of options

Answer
Since the cigars are in the basement, I assume it is pretty cool down there. 2 things to consider when measuring humidity:

1. you are measuring relative humidity - that is the humidity level relative to the temperature. Starting with a baseline of 70 degrees and 70% RH, as your temperature decreases, your target RH increases. At 69 degrees your target RH is 71%, and 68 degrees the target is 72%... If your storage temp is cool, your RH sounds good.

2. Most hygrometers are not super accurate. You can easily have a 3% variation from what the unit reads to what the actual is.

Bottom line, don't let the 73% reading worry you. If you want to check your hygrometers accuracy send me and email at b.finck@finckcigarcompany.com and I'll send you my humidors 101 paper that has lots of this type info in it.

If your cigars really are too soft, there are only a couple of things you can do. First, don't store them directly below the humidifier. Second, there's nothing wrong with leaving the lid of the humidor open for a few hours and letting it dry down a bit. If you have to do this once a week while you're down there smoking - no big deal.

The other thing I just thought about is the dampness of the basement. We don't have basements in Texas, but I assume yours is probably damp. Maybe you just need to take the humidor out of that environment, up the the main house where the air is dryer?

Anyway, I hope some of this helps.
Bill