Mini-Fridge-a-dor

Well, this is my first post here. It's been great browsing through all of the topics and seeing people as hyped on cigars as I am.

Anyways, I have had this mini-fridge for the past year or so, and when I went off to college I couldn't put it in my dorm room so it just sat at home. Well, I haven't used it at all this summer, and since I am moving into an apartment in Knoxville for the school year, I figured I should drag it along with me.

Then, BAM! it hit me like a ton of bricks. I could use this lovely mini fridge as my own personal humidor. This is basically why I am here...

The fridge is a Magic Chef and could probably hold a case of drinks (24) cans as well as the condiment slots on the inside of the door. If I were to not plug it in and buy some lovely 65% beads and a digital hygrometer I could see this has some serious potential. (It even has a small little freezer door in the upper corner where I could store singles. Metal wire shelves are included but it would be extremely cheap to just get cedar shelves custom cut for it.

I know several people on here have already made coolerdors and was just wanting to see if this is a realistic goal--to have my very own 250-350 count fridge-a-dor for just the price of the beads, hygrometer and cigars and cleaning supplies.

Thanks

PS, I am a novice smoker, my collection is mainly singles in the 35-45 count range as of now. I have some pretty hefty singles that I need to keep properly stored though (2 Opus X Perf. X's, 2 RyJ Aniversario Churchills, CAO Italia Gondola, CAO Brazilia Gol!, RyY Clemenceaus Tubo, and a La Aroma de Cuba Corona).

clean it good, line it with cedar or get some wood boxes, get some beads, get a hydgrometer and fill it up.

What ya doing in Knox? Where ya from? There's a few of TN boys on the board.

Just follow the same steps as outlined in the "How to make a cooler-dor" section. Skip having cedar shelfs built. Keep the wire shelfs in, and go to the local cigar shop and buy a couple solid cedar boxes. If you really want some good cedar smell, lightly sand the inside and outside of the boxes.

Emo

I got some 1/4" sheets of spanish kiln dried cedar on ebay for $15 for 4 sheets.. just an idea... I wire-tied mine to the underside of the wire shelves...

Little Update here...

I wiped down the entire fridge in non-diluted bleach and left it to air out in my garage for the past two days now. The next step is to add a small thing of baking soda to remove the odors and I plan to do that tomorrow and let it sit for as long as needed.

I ordered my half-pound of humidification beads (65%) from Heartfelt and figured out from another website that I would need approximately 0.414 pounds to humidify my 14x16x16" fridge properly.

I bought a $22 digital thermo-hygrometer from Home Depot last night and tested the thing out all day today. The inside temperature never drops below 109*F in my house even though my house stays at an average of 72-74*F. Then I tested the outside temperature feature in the Memphis heat/humidity and the temperature read -16 to -33*F with a humidity of 2%. Last time I checked I was not living in Siberia in the dead of winter. So, I am thinking this hygrometer is totally busted and planning on returning it and ordering one from the internet.

Which leads me to you guys for a little advice on which digital hygrometer would be best for my minifridgidor. The Caliber III for $29.95 from BCSpecialties or the Oregon Scientific for $49.95 from Circuit City. The Caliber III is advertised at only a +/- 1% humidity and temp level while the Oregon Scientific I have read is advertised at +/- 5%. The Oregon Scientific allows me to place a sensor inside the fridge and leave the door shut and have a wall mounted base next to my bedstand for easy readings (since I plan on keeping the humidor in my closet at my apartment in Knoxville).

Decisions Decisions....

In the mean time I have several precious cigars slowly drying out on me, and I dont want to smoke them just yet! Would taking the cigars out of the RyJ Humidified Cabinet cigar box I have them in and putting a small container of water in there to evaporate provide enough moisture in the cedar to keep them relatively moist for a day or so?

If you go for the Caliber III, HERE is one at a better price.

I use a Oregon Scientific Thermo-Hygrometer combo...... you can get them off of e-bay fairly inexpensive. Alot of guys here also use the Radio Shack model. You could also get that at a good price when it is on sale

I like the wireless one..... I put the sensor inside and mounted the unit on the outside of the cooler.... now I only open it to drool and to get a smoke :laugh:

I just purchased the little havana digital guage, you can check it out here. I tested it (salt method) and it is within 1%. It was under 20 bucks with shipping, I think it's a good deal.

Well the Fridge-a-dor has been completed and been running at 70-72.5F for a couple days now and anywhere from 63-68% humidity with the 65% beads. I am using a cheap Home Depot garden thermo-hygrometer for $15. I am about to return it though when by $30 Oregon Scientific arrives on Friday.

I wish I had a digital camera to take some pictures. I loaded it up with several cedar cigar boxes with all of my singles. Basically the whole fridge is cedar filled. I have half a pound of 65% beads in three small Tart pans I bought at Kroger for like a dollar. Luckily there is enough room to comfortably fit about 200-250 cigars as well as the three pans in there.

The temperature and humidity fluctuate during the day however due to the high Memphis heat and super high Memphis humidity. My room is over the garage so it isn't well insulated. I keep the ceiling fan on all day, the fridge is sitting in the middle of the room, lights are off and blinds are closed and the temperature hovers around 75F. At night it gets as low as 65F. This will change in college though as it'll be in a well insulated room in the bottom of the closet. I also intend to buy an oscillating fan to keep pointed at the fridge.

These things are great! Heartfelt is definitely the way to go as well. The beads got here in 2 business days from Carson City, Nevada.

UTKhodgy said:

Well the Fridge-a-dor has been completed and been running at 70-72.5F for a couple days now and anywhere from 63-68% humidity with the 65% beads. I am using a cheap Home Depot garden thermo-hygrometer for $15. I am about to return it though when by $30 Oregon Scientific arrives on Friday.

I wish I had a digital camera to take some pictures. I loaded it up with several cedar cigar boxes with all of my singles. Basically the whole fridge is cedar filled. I have half a pound of 65% beads in three small Tart pans I bought at Kroger for like a dollar. Luckily there is enough room to comfortably fit about 200-250 cigars as well as the three pans in there.

The temperature and humidity fluctuate during the day however due to the high Memphis heat and super high Memphis humidity. My room is over the garage so it isn't well insulated. I keep the ceiling fan on all day, the fridge is sitting in the middle of the room, lights are off and blinds are closed and the temperature hovers around 75F. At night it gets as low as 65F. This will change in college though as it'll be in a well insulated room in the bottom of the closet. I also intend to buy an oscillating fan to keep pointed at the fridge.

These things are great! Heartfelt is definitely the way to go as well. The beads got here in 2 business days from Carson City, Nevada.

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Hell yes! TN's know cigars.