Expert: James Yee - 1/6/2011

Question
I have had a recently had my humidor for about 5 years never had a problem I have been switching back an forth from the humidifier to the gel recently i went back to the gel and have had it for about a 1-1/12 months and my hygrometer is reading 55-58 i have never had this problem before the cigars are not dry and the burn and burn fine is this a winter thing or is there a problem i should be concerned about   if I did not mention i live in the northeast region were it gets cold and my apartment is WELL heated

Answer
Hi Ray,

If your cigars feel and burn fine, your hygrometer may just be giving off a false reading.  Salt test your hygrometer to check if it is accurate and calibrate if necessary.  With analog hygrometers, an accidental bump or jolt to your humidor could shift the needle and give a false reading.  For digital hygrometers, a weak battery could provide an incorrect reading so install a fresh battery.  

If your hygrometer is accurate, then it's possible that the dip in humidity is due to the dry heat in your home.  This is a fairly common problem for humidors during cold winter months.  What happens is that the dry heat is wicking away the moisture in your humidor. To fix this, you can either recharge your humidifier more frequently (for most people, it's not uncommon to recharge a passive humidifier as often as every 2-3 weeks during winter) or add an additional humidifier to your humidor to boost the humidity loss.  Keeping your humidor in a humidified room will also prevent humidity loss during winter.

I hope this helps.  If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James