Basement Cigar Storage Question

I am converting my old fridge to a humidor in the basement but during winter it stays around 40-45*F. The basement itself is pretty moist but the fridge is sealed obviously so I`ll be using beads to keep humidity in check.

My concern is about the low temps... will the 40-45* temp cause negative affects on my smokes ???

Thanks

[Chainsaw13]

You could always put a single 40-60w incandescent bulb inside to regulate the heat. There's external fridge thermostats you can buy that you could plug the bulb into. Here's one: http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewin...hermostat.html

[icehog3]

I don't have any practical experience storing cigars at low temps, but most everything I have read seems to suggest that temps in that range shouldn't be harmful.

[dvickery]

mrt

i dont believe any temp below 70f is going to be harmful to your cigars...it is temp change that i would be concerned about...45f in the winter and 65f in the summer would scare me.

derrek

Originally Posted by dvickery

mrt

i dont believe any temp below 70f is going to be harmful to your cigars...it is temp change that i would be concerned about...45f in the winter and 65f in the summer would scare me.

derrek

Great point, this would be my concern too. During winter it seems to stay steady at 43-48 depending on outside temp, and if we have a fire going (sucks air from basement). During summer it seems to stay 63-68.

I think even the smallest CFL bulb would overheat a fridge. It would probably need to use a temp sensor to turn it on at x* and off at y*, and even then the top shelf would probably be a few degrees warmer.

I guess I`ll have to play around with a bulb in there for winter.

Anyone know of any digital thermometers I can use for controlling temp ?

[Chainsaw13]

Originally Posted by MrT

Anyone know of any digital thermometers I can use for controlling temp ?

See my post above, there's a link to a external temp controller. It would turn the light on/off based on the temp you set. It's analog I believe. That site also have a digital version for $20 more.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewin...ontroller.html

I wouldn't worry about temp. I would worry about keeping the humidity in check.

I had...had a Pepsi cooler converted to a humidor in my basement. I got away from cigars for a while and neglected to keep an eye on things for a couple months and ended up throwing out around 200 sticks because of mold. 80 of them were 2002 Liberty's. I still wake up in cold sweats at night over that one.

[Bill86]

Originally Posted by Troller98

I wouldn't worry about temp. I would worry about keeping the humidity in check.

I had...had a Pepsi cooler converted to a humidor in my basement. I got away from cigars for a while and neglected to keep an eye on things for a couple months and ended up throwing out around 200 sticks because of mold. 80 of them were 2002 Liberty's. I still wake up in cold sweats at night over that one.

Ouch.

I am converting my old fridge to a humidor in the basement but during winter it stays around 40-45*F. The basement itself is pretty moist but the fridge is sealed obviously so I`ll be using beads to keep humidity in check.

You say old fridge, I would make sure there is no smell in this fridge. That's probably the first thing I would worry about.

have you put something like a digital thermometer in there to see what inside temp is. Most likely it is much higher than basement temp.

Originally Posted by Josh_Lucky_13

have you put something like a digital thermometer in there to see what inside temp is. Most likely it is much higher than basement temp.

Yeah, I did.

Since there is no heat source the cold temp soaked in after a couple weeks.

It may hold warmth for a few days, I`ll have to get a light and monitor temp fluctuations.


^-- Anyone know how to do this electronically, so I`m not going down there every couple hours???

[T.G]

Originally Posted by MrT

Anyone know how to do this electronically, so I`m not going down there every couple hours???

A wi-fi enabled temperature sensor and logging software on your computer, but the ones I know of will run you $200+, there might be a less expensive one out there though, I hadn't really looked.

An indoor-outdoor "weather station" thermometer with remote/RF sensors for outside might work too - you'll still have to manually monitor and record the temps, but you can do it from the base station up in the living area of your house.

[jledou]

My coolers that sit in the basement tend to swing between 50 and 65 winter to summer. They do seem to lag the season change by about a month but really have never had a problem with them when they are sitting at the colder temps.

I keep a box of special's in the Wine Cellar, which is kept at a constant 55 degrees; I made a post about it a few weeks ago and from all I had gathered it was perfectly OK

edit: I actually smoked one of them about two weeks ago and it was great

[Bunker]

Both my humi and cooler are in my unheated basement which has hovered right around 50* all winter.

I haven't had any issues.

[OLS]

I would not worry about anything but humidity. Your basement provides the one thing that you
need regardless of temperature extremes and that is no wild fluctuations. How cold it gets finally
is of no consequence, provided you do not get a lot of temperature fluctuations on the way there.
I have 17 years' experience aging cigars and have seen no ill efects from gradual temperature
fluctuations, provided the cigars never get over 72-75 degrees. Granted, most would consider 43
a bit cold, but there is no great, slap you in the face detrimental effect. I would think the cooler
the better. The same people who would say it's not good for the cigars are likely going to be the
same people who freeze all their stock upon receipt, so take most of what they say with a grain
of salt, lol. But when you start getting frequent and rapid changes in temp and humidity, you get
wrappers that start to get ripples in them and they look and smoke poorly.

Holding at 46* inside the fridge.

Which btw for those who asked It's not that old, and I thoroughly cleaned it, and aired it out prior to migrating some cheaper 'test' sticks in

The humidity itself is staying at 64% too inside but again I just put a few 5ers and the thermo in there to monitor. No humidification device inside yet.

My basement stays around 60-63% humidity level naturally but I do have 5lbs of beads I plan to use to make absolute certain the sticks remain at proper humidity.


Thanks everyone!