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Humidor's temp is usually in the low-mid 70's -- that OK?

J

Jaster

Resident Who-Dat
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
84
I still just have my starter humi (a little 35-cap job). I keep the house around 74, so that's the temp it's usually at (confirmed by the hygro). I know the gold standard is 70; how will 74 affect the sticks, if at all? The humidity hovers around 68-69%.

Thanks
 
Anything over 75 for prolonged periods is trouble. Not for the sticks per se, but because tobacco beetles hatch at those temperatures, and they'll destroy everything if they hatch.

IMHO you are skirting the edge if the sticks are routinely stored at 74 degrees.
 
I live in a warm climate and I've learned it's just not worth my sanity to stress over the temperature of my desktop humidors. There's just not a whole lot one can reasonably do to keep them cool. Knock on wood, I've never had a beetle problem with any of them and they are routinely over 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I tell myself that if beetles should ever arise in one of them, that they are at least contained in a small capacity environment. It is my larger collections I used to stress over, and thus I set them in climate controlled set ups.
 
So are the beetles the only cause of alarm for having a temp >= 75? Does the temperature alone cause any damage to the cigars themselves?
 
Pretty much just a beetle concern. On a much lesser note, temperatures do have an effect on relative humidity. On a much much lesser note, there is a debate on what degree, if any, temperature has an effect on long term cigar aging.
 
I recently found what I think is a beetle hole (not 100% positive) in one of my sticks in my desktop. And for the life of me I can't remember a time recently that the temp was above 72 or so, and it isn't even May yet. Searching around this forum I've seen quite a few people say that it can happen at 72. But when I search the internets, they say it's upwards of 80 degrees. The stick had been in my humi for a few months so it isn't like it came from the shop that way.

You could also freeze your incoming smokes to play it safe, plenty of info on that here if you search. I'd say maybe half here freeze regularly. My question about that though is once I freeze all the smokes, does that mean now that there is little to no chance for a beetle hatching even if my temps got up into the mid 70's? Or is a freeze just to kill and current outbreak... I haven't been able to find the answer to that yet.
 
I wonder what the ISOM do? There temperatures are always above the cigar norm. And a lot of them can't afford air conditioning.
 
I am in the same boat as lots of guys here. I live in FL and the temp in the house is usually between 70-75, there is really no way around that for me. I have a wine frige that I keep all my islanders in , and an Avallo + desk top that hold everything else.

I have not had any problems yet. What I think about is everywhere tobacco is grown/harvested and rolled into cigars is usually higher in temp than 80f and RH is above 70% RH. I am sure cigar makers do something to control beetles, but I wonder how often they have outbreaks.

Tobacco aging barns in the southern islands are probably always above 80F, so I try not to worry too much about my smokes at 73f. There has to be something we can use in humidors to keep beetles from hatching without hurting smokes, who will be the millionaire to come up with it?

How about a mold inhibitor?
 
i wouldn't worry about it.

for the past seven years, i've lived in the desert, my house stays at about 79 May-Oct, and my cigars
have been fine.

do you think every cigar is rolled and shipped in a "perfect" environment that is 70/70?
 
In a 72 degree room in in my 65% RH humidor a Tatuaje J21 formed a beetle hole. Until then though I've had no problems so just keep an eye out I think it really depends on a lot of variables and the stick in question. I picked up a Vinotemp yesterday though to keep everything at ~65 degrees so I like the peace of mind that it isn't something I have to worry about. Whether or not I'll be freezing all incoming sticks... not sure yet!
 
From what Ive read and researched....its possible for beetles to hatch even in the mid 60's. Higher temps are more ideal, but it can happen. I wouldn't be too concerned. Freeze em(Use Wilkey's Process!) if its troubling you!
 
In my experience it is excess humidity along with high temperatures that causes the beetles to hatch. As long as you have the humidity sufficiently controlled you shouldn't face any problems. I can't afford to leave my air conditioning running just to maintain the sticks at 70F so my humidor regularly sees temps over 70F (around 80F).
 
We keep our house anywhere between 68 and 72, basically year round. All I have for now is a desktop humidor, but I've got a couple of different potential places to put it. One is inside of a closed-door bookcase where it will be near our front door with Miami heat and humidity outside, and the other is on an open shelf not very far from where the A/C blows.

Does it make a difference which location I choose? Should I find a different spot than either of these two?
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. I would try the freezing thing, that just makes me reeeeeeally nervous though... :0
 
They didn't mean freeze the humi - they meant freeze the sticks!

I live in Southern Georgia and refuse to pay a $250 electric bill, so during the 8 months of summer I usually keep my AC at 85 while I'm gone, and 75 once I get home. I used to freak out about my cigars getting beetles too (they actually usually start hatching above 80). Then I just realized "You know what, there's nothing I can do about this." So I stopped panicking.

In the last 2 years my cigars have spent about 8 months out of the year above 75 degrees. I just check on a regular (weekly) basis for beetle holes. Only had 1 cigar ever, and I froze then smoked it later.


If you don't have beetles, and you like how your cigars are smoking, don't worry so much about temp or humidity. If your cigars taste great, then it's all good. Too much worrying takes away from the relaxation of the hobby!
 
My humidors are kept at about 74 year around. I live in Florida and I don't do anything special to keep them cool. I haven't seen a single beetle in my humidors since I moved back to my parents house (out of a over priced college apartment) At the apartment the humidors were usually kept about 70-72 degrees and I had an outbreak bad enough I threw out every cigar in that humidor. I'm sure part of it was the quality of those cigars (real cheap bundled dog rockets) but I would not of expected a beetle outbreak like what occurred at those temperatures.

I no longer worry about it too much. I don't purchase no name bundles anymore so the manufacturer has some incentive to go through proper procedures in regards to preventing live eggs, larva and beetles getting out of the factory. I a;so quarantine any high risk cigars (ISOM's) for a little while to check for any signs of beetles. And every order I get I randomly pick a couple cigars from each box and fiver and tap the foot on a table to look for powder.

Overall I would recommend that you just take some preventive measures and check your humidor fairly frequently (every couple days is plenty)
 
Cool, thanks.

I'll just keep an eye on them, and not worry about it too much.
 
daniyal said:
In my experience it is excess humidity along with high temperatures that causes the beetles to hatch. As long as you have the humidity sufficiently controlled you shouldn't face any problems. I can't afford to leave my air conditioning running just to maintain the sticks at 70F so my humidor regularly sees temps over 70F (around 80F).
Click to expand...
He is right IMO. If you have your RH% regulated to the low side (65% and lower if possible) , the ambient temp will not be a problem. High RH coupled with high ambient temp = trouble!

Brian
 
Ah good. The RH is usually around 65%, fluctuating by a single percentage point here and there. So I guess I'm OK.
 
Temperature (in the summer) has always been an issue to me. And I agree with other's comments about the combination of high humidity and high temperature creating the "perfect storm" for beetle hatchings. Although I'm guessing the beetles are going to hatch when they're going to hatch regardless of what I do.

I am currently trying to figure out what temperature controlled system to try next. In the meantime I've gone back to my old, trusty system of Coolerdors for my storage needs. I have been looking at every possible option to keep my temperature's down. All of my cigars sit in a cool closet and I just bought this personal air conditioner to ensure the closet is and stays cool. I'll let you know how it works.

As far as the RH%... I find that 65% beads work best for me.
 
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