Fan placement for optimal air circulation

[GTS21]

I'm upgrading an Aristocrat end table humidor, and have been thinking about where to place the fans for improved air circulation.

The fans that I am adding are remote fans that run on a timer, they are not connected to the humidifier fan and purely provide additional air circulation.

Here's the inside of the humidor as it stands now...note the additional fans at the top and bottom of the back wall...these fans ARE tied to the humidifier and run when the humidification units runs.






I've been experiencing a disparity between RH at the top and bottom of the humidor (the bottom is typically 8 points higher), so adding additional fans to move air is my plan.

My question--where should the fans be placed? I've considered placing them so that they blow vertically, rather than on a wall facing the center of the humidor.

Thoughts? Thanks.

[BORIStheBLADE]

I think fans blowing vertically is a good idea. Where are the sticks going to be placed? On the sides going up?

[RGD.]

Originally Posted by GTS21

...these fans ARE tied to the humidifier and run when the humidification units runs.

It really should not matter where you place the fans - it's a box so eventually you will get circulation. I think the problem is as noted above - the current fans only run when the humidifier is running. You simply need to run the fans (new or existing) for longer times and/or more frequently.
As your humidification devices are at the bottom - you are naturally going to get higher readings there.


Ron

[HK3-]

It's my belief that facing them up on one side and down on the other to create a circular effect works best.

[markem]

Depends on where your air gaps are going to be.

For large cabinets like yours, I would think that vertically positioned but located at about half-way up the back corners would be good. This will both draw up air and also blow out air, which should give increased air movement. I've also seen opposite corners where one blew up and one blew down, but I think that this causes air gaps in the center.

[N2Advnture]

Eric,

The reason for the higher RH at the top of your humidor is because humid air is lighter (less dense really) than dry air.

I would suggest adding two fans on the top of the humidor to push the RH down. I think you would have to experiment with the timer to get it down right as not to push too much down too quickly.

I hope this helps

~Mark

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by GTS21

I've been experiencing a disparity between RH at the top and bottom of the humidor (the bottom is typically 8 points higher), so adding additional fans to move air is my plan.

Originally Posted by N2Advnture

Eric,

The reason for the higher RH at the top of your humidor is because humid air is lighter (less dense really) than dry air.

I would suggest adding two fans on the top of the humidor to push the RH down. I think you would have to experiment with the timer to get it down right as not to push too much down too quickly.

I hope this helps

~Mark

I had the same problem with my Aristocrat plus 48. Typically 6-8 % higher at the bottom. Mark, you are correct that humid air is lighter, but Eric's problem is that the air is not rising. When I called Bob Staebell he suggested to leave more room (not overfilling the shelves) to allow for better circulation. So, I moved some boxes around and left some room on the sides and rear of the shelves and it did make a difference. Not sure if this will help you out Eric, but it did for me.

[N2Advnture]

Originally Posted by stevieray

I had the same problem with my Aristocrat plus 48. Typically 6-8 % higher at the bottom. Mark, you are correct that humid air is lighter, but Eric's problem is that the air is not rising. When I called Bob Staebell he suggested to leave more room (not overfilling the shelves) to allow for better circulation. So, I moved some boxes around and left some room on the sides and rear of the shelves and it did make a difference. Not sure if this will help you out Eric, but it did for me.

Ooops, I misread his post. It's unusual to have a higher RH in the bottom than in the top (based on my cabinet experiences).

That would make sense that overfilling a cabinet would impede the air flow since the humidifiers are typically located at the bottom of the humidor.

If there is more than one humidifier (which I doubt in this case) but for the larger cabinets, maybe locating one on a middle shelf might help if you have it packed full.

Just a thought.

~Mark

[GTS21]

Thanks for the input fellas. First thing I did was move the humidifier from the bottom of the cabinet to the middle, sitting on a full extension shelf. A side benefit of this is that I can now access the humidifier much easier, just pull out the shelf for refilling.

I also upgraded the humidification control to Bob's newer control module, which seems much more sensitive and is easier to read that the prior Habitat Monitor. Another benefit of the new control is that it allows for auxiliary fans to be used which cycle on and off separately from the humidification fans.

I haven't placed these additional recirculation fans inside the cabinet yet, but already i've noticed that the top to bottom RH is much more consistent, within a couple points.

[N2Advnture]

Very cool bro