Expert: James Yee - 10/15/2011

Question
I live in San Francisco Ca. on the 6th floor and get direct southern sun light all day. Not directly in contact with my humidors, thank God. However the average temp. (F) in all of my humidors is 75-79. The rh. on the other hand stays at about 65-69.

Am I in a safe range to properly maintain me beloved puros?

I ordered a Humi-Care EH Plus electronic humidifier for my Oxford 500ct. cabinet (which is now cureing for the 6th day at 81%-79F) to insure a consistant rh level. I also have 3 50ct. & 2 100 ct. humidors. I'm thinking of ordering Oasis electronic units for my 100cts.

Need your advice to be sure I'm doing things properly.

Answer
Hi Roscoe,

Your temperature is too high and prolonged exposure to this temperature range will incubate any tobacco beetle eggs potentially hidden inside your cigars.  This will cause the tobacco beetle eggs to eventually hatch and ruin your cigars.  Humidor temperature is influenced by environment temperature so try to find a cooler place in your home to store your humidors.  If your apartment gets a lot of warm sunlight, your closet(s) may be cooler and much better for your cigars.  Your humidor's temperature should not exceed 74 degrees Fahrenheit.  Try to keep your humidor temperature in the high 60's to low 70's. (70 degrees Fahrenheit is considered ideal.)

If you can't find a cooler place in your home, you may want to consider keeping your room air-conditioned.  As an alternative, you can also switch to a thermo-electric humidor or an electric wine-cooler (with adjustable temperature control) retrofitted to accomodate cigars.  (For the wine cooler, all you would need to do is line the interior with Spanish cedar panels and add an electronic humidifier such as a Cigar Oasis.

For humidity, the safe range for cigars is 66%-74% and 70% is considered perfect.  Since your humidors' humidity is only off by 1%, it shouldn't be a problem.

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