How about a non working wine cooler?

[BellevilleMXZ]

My house varies from about 65-75 over the day/year,with an average of 70...... Would a non working(or unplugged ) cooler work well to store boxes with some bovedas? Stick in some cedar shelves, and it should keep the temp steadier than a tuppidor?  I would like to leave this out where I can see it so prefer this over a cooler. I have even found a duel zone one, that might be better for keeping RH even top to bottom? Two smaller separate areas.....

[Islandboy]

This is exactly what I’m using, in fact I have 2. The first is a Wynter, the smaller version. I tried it plugged in for months when I first got it, but condensate water seeping in the compartment wreaked havoc with RH and drove me nuts. So I used aluminum tape to seal up all of the openings in the plastic liner and unplugged it. I keep it in an air conditioned room so temp is constant, and use Boveda packs - very stable now.

The second one is much larger, a really nice U-Line stainless steel undercounter dual zone wine cooler. I work for a General Contracting firm, and this was a brand new unit that was deemed inoperable and replaced under warranty. I immediately saw the potential to turn it into a very cool looking (and extremely heavy) completely sealed box. Actually, 2 separate completely sealed boxes in one. 62 Bovedas in the bottom for CC’s, and 65’s up top for all the NC’s I’m purging and slowly replacing with CC’s.

I have no cedar shelves in the big one, but I figure all the wood from the 30 or so boxes serves the same purpose. RH is absolutely stable.

[BellevilleMXZ]

Exxxxcellent......this is a nice looking one but non working .....gonma see if I can grab it.....

[BellevilleMXZ]

38 bottle one for 45$......this should work great....nice open shelves too

[BellevilleMXZ]

Should I assume the boxes will be enough cedar to keep things stable, or should I add a few?

[BarryNY]

you're only going to need 1 maybe 2 shelves LOL....

just buy some of those $15 cedar trays for singles if you want any cedar in there...

the reality is the more filled it is the more stable it is.........

[Ken Gargett]

3 hours ago, BellevilleMXZ said:

My house varies from about 65-75 over the day/year,with an average of 70...... Would a non working(or unplugged ) cooler work well to store boxes with some bovedas? Stick in some cedar shelves, and it should keep the temp steadier than a tuppidor?  I would like to leave this out where I can see it so prefer this over a cooler. I have even found a duel zone one, that might be better for keeping RH even top to bottom? Two smaller separate areas.....

the concept of keeping it in an aircon room makes good sense. otherwise, it is largely a well-sealed box or cupboard.

then the insides will change temp along with the room, possibly a smidge more slowly, but it will change. i'm sure a more scientific person than myself will be able to give more details on that. but i suspect you would be very surprised at how much your temp changes. have you actually measured the temp variation? that seems an amazingly low variation.

we see this so often with people who say that they do not need to put in aircon or temp control for their wine cellar. they believe that they have consistent temps and yet, when they are measured, they cannot believe the variation. i think consistency more important for wine than cigars but you still do not want much variation if you can avoid it.

[havanaclub]

I have a wine cooler that is in my basement. I have found having it unplugged maintains humidity better and it's slightly warmer. Up the 68F in the summer. Perfect for me. But I run blower fans in the bottom to circulate air.


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[BellevilleMXZ]

1 hour ago, Ken Gargett said:

the concept of keeping it in an aircon room makes good sense. otherwise, it is largely a well-sealed box or cupboard.

then the insides will change temp along with the room, possibly a smidge more slowly, but it will change. i'm sure a more scientific person than myself will be able to give more details on that. but i suspect you would be very surprised at how much your temp changes. have you actually measured the temp variation? that seems an amazingly low variation.

we see this so often with people who say that they do not need to put in aircon or temp control for their wine cellar. they believe that they have consistent temps and yet, when they are measured, they cannot believe the variation. i think consistency more important for wine than cigars but you still do not want much variation if you can avoid it.

Yes the house is aircond., but but sometimes, with windows open, etc, it does vary that much, but rarely more. The reason I want to use this, other than more storage, is to lessen the swings some. I would think this would lessen the swings some as its insulated. The wife is about comfortable,so yes those temp swings are accurate.....lol  I've got about 6 months of logs.

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, BellevilleMXZ said:

Yes the house is aircond., but but sometimes, with windows open, etc, it does vary that much, but rarely more. The reason I want to use this, other than more storage, is to lessen the swings some. I would think this would lessen the swings some as its insulated. The wife is about comfortable,so yes those temp swings are accurate.....lol  I've got about 6 months of logs.

if you are fully aircon'd, then you should be sweet.

[BellevilleMXZ]

9 minutes ago, havanaclub said:

I have a wine cooler that is in my basement. I have found having it unplugged maintains humidity better and it's slightly warmer. Up the 68F in the summer. Perfect for me. But I run blower fans in the bottom to circulate air.


 

Ya I'll log it, and may have to add a fan.....it is 2 separate compartments, so maybe I'll be lucky. I'll add a seal by the door, between the 2 to seal them from each other better. And hey I'm only out 45 bucks if I don't like it/doesn't work out.

[BellevilleMXZ]

1 minute ago, Ken Gargett said:

if you are fully aircon'd, then you should be sweet.

Ya I hope so....just using several desktop humidors, and a jar right now, and they swing almost as fast as the room, which is not good. Gotta get away from that. Will be so much easier having everything together.

[BellevilleMXZ]

Thanks guys ! Will be so nice to keep the cigars in all their boxes also, other than a few singles

[mkz]

Sounds like a good start @BellevilleMXZ 

I have a big non-working soda fridge as humidor. Topped with beads, timer controlled fans and cedar shelves.

Keeps a perfect seal and humidity for my boxes.

Temperature is seldom an issue here in Sweden. Indor temp at my house swings between 18-22 depending on season.

[Stogieninja]

It's basically a pretty cooler, which many folks have used for years.

I have working wine coolers but don't plug them in. I got all kinds of crazy rh swings when the peltier unit was running so I just unplugged them. We have a heat pump and newer construction with good insulation, so the house stays pretty consistent all year round. 65* in winter, 74* in summer, with no major fluctuations during the day. I decided the consistency was better than running the units, since I freeze everything as it comes in.