Humidifiers for cigar storage
“It says nothing lasts forever. But still, some things can be prolonged…. like the quality of cigars.”
The key to good cigar storage is to use a quality evaporative humidifier. Prolonged cigar storage relies on consistent levels of air humidity. Humidification does not only influence the quality of a cigar, it also has a pecuniary aspect. One buys and/or builds a stock usually when the favourite brand is on sale.
Cigars should be stored at approximately 70% air humidity and a temperature of 20C. A cigar that is too dry gets hot while smoking, it burns fast and unevenly while another that is too wet creates difficulties when it is being lit, and even more with a puff. In any case you will not have the smoking pleasure you deserve!
Tobacco is a hydrophilic (water-friendly) material; i.e. it can absorb and dispose of humidity. Cigars come from very hot and humid climates, so in a European environment it is necessary to add humidity. This means that cigars, which are stored at constant air humidity, maintain their quality and value.
The right air humidity has the same importance for the quality level of a cigar as for example, the tobacco itself or the rolling. Too low air humidity makes a cigar brittle and dry. The consequence is that the cover leaf will tear off, the cigar will burn too fast and the taste materials are not really developing, a constant air humidity of approximately 70% is important for a cigar.
When choosing a humidification system it is especially important that it works with the evaporation principle, such a system creates evaporation for the largest possible humid surface. The humidity is dispersed into the air, and parts of it such as minerals or calcareous deposits stay in the surface medium. This avoids dust and minerals contamination on the cigars which can be seen with ultrasonic type humidifiers.
The circulation of humidity is important for the storage of cigars. Because all cigars should be humidified evenly, it is important to make sure that there is air circulation with a ventilator especially in storage boards or rooms. To create 70% air humidity, a large enough humidification surface should be available. The larger the filters surface, the higher the evaporation performance.
The water tank of an air humidifier should have such dimensions that it has to be refilled not more often than once week. The humidification system should be equipped with a humidistat to keep the air humidity controlled on a constant level.
The best type of humidifier for a professional humidor is the Brune B500 which can be either manual of auto fill, it comes with UV and limescale protection and a wireless humidity sensor, the Brune B500 is available through Air Comfort Centre Ltd and you can purchase and read more about it and other types of humidifiers by clicking HERE
How to clean humidifiers
How to clean Humidifiers
To keep your humidifiers free of scale and bacteria and keep them running, be sure to follow the this advice.
You may use tap water to run your humidifier however in hard water areas, tap water contains minerals that will appear as scale in your humidifier, also with ultrasonic/cool mist type humidifiers without ion exchange filters, for best results we would recommend that you use distilled or demineralised water.
Ensure that you change the humidifier water every day. Do not allow any films or deposits to develop inside your humidifiers. Empty the water tank, dry the inside surfaces to clear any muck before refilling.
Cleaning humidifier scale build up.
Cold water (evaporative and ultrasonic) and steam humidifiers require removal of any mineral build-up in the water tank or base. Remember for safety when you are cleaning your humidifier to unplug it from the mains.
Removal of humidifier mineral build up:
1. Remove the water tank from the unit and pour a quantity of undiluted white vinegar into the base of the unit, just enough to cover the base. (you could alternitively buy proprietary descaler)
2. Leave the vinegar to sit in the humidifier for a minimum of 30 mins. Depending on the amount of the mineral build-up you may need to leave the vinegar soaking for longer. You will see scaled up areas turn white and start to fizz as the vinegar is active.
3. Invigorate the vinegar occasionally by gently shaking the base. Swish the solution around the container making sure that it coats the entire base.
4. Use a soft brush to gently clean the interior of the container and on areas that are encrusted with mineral build up.
5. If there is a large amount of scale, after some time the vinegar will no longer break the scale down as it will become inactive. If this happens you will need to use more new vinegar and repeat steps 2 to 4.
6. Once the unit is clean you can pour the vinegar out of the base and rinse thoroughly with clean water to remove the mineral and vinegar residue. rinse the container a second time to ensure that you have removed all the solution and never allow any vinegar residue to remain in your humidifier.
Disinfecting humidifiers
If the water in your humidifier becomes slimy or the humidifier has an odour it may mean you have a bacteria build-up and therefore you need to disinfect it, follow these steps.
1. Fill the humidifier tank or base with approx 1 litre of clean cold water and add no more than one teaspoon of liquid chlorine bleach.
2. Allow the solution to soak for a minimum of 30 minutes.
3. Once 30 minutes has passed, pour the bleach solution away, be carefull as you pour to avoid splashes.
4. Rinse the base several times until the smell of bleach has gone. Never allow any bleach to remain in your humidifier.
5. If your humidifier is the cold water evaporative type we would recommend to replace the evaporative mats at this stage as they are too hard to disinfect as have to many absorbant surfaces.
Please call us us at Air Comfort Centre Ltd if you need further advice.
Which humidifier should I buy?
We can supply three different types of humidifiers, steam humidifiers, ultrasonic humidifiers and evaporative humidifiers. Your choice will depend on your application, your budget and your acceptable level of maintenance.
Humidifiers are needed for many reasons…
For people, humidifiers will help to relieve respiratory illnesses in adults and croup in babies, they can stop dry eyes, dry skin and dry throat conditions, help relieve asthma and allergy symptoms and stop feelings of tiredness, in fact humidifiers are often put into offices to improve the productivity and reduce absenteeism.
For objects, humidifiers will protect valuable artworks, furniture and musical instruments from the effects of too low humidity or varying humidity levels which can cause wood and paper to expand and contract which causes splits, they will also help musical instrument such as pianos and harps to stay in tune. Humidifiers are often used in office buildings to reduce static which can damage computers and servers.
Humidifiers add water to the air by either boiling water and thereby creating steam which is absorbed into the air, or by releasing very fine wisps of moisture by vibrating crystals at a specific frequency which breaks water molecules up and releases them (Ultrasonic) or by passing air through a wetted media so that the air picks up water through the moistened surface through which air is blown.
We will examine each type in turn so that you may be able to decide which the best type is for you….
Steam humidifiers provide hygienic humidity control as the process of heating water to steaming point kills all bacteria and germs so that the moisture released is sterile.
In the home a steam humidifier is the ideal choice for anyone with a respiratory illness, for ensuring there is sufficient humidity in a nursery or for combating the symptoms of croup in babies. The steam humidifier can be used in conjunction with essential oils. Steam humidifiers are very quiet.
This type of humidifier is usually economical to buy in comparison with other humidifiers. Units that incorporate a humidistat can cost a bit more but have the advantage of not over-humidifying a room.
A disadvantage of using a steam humidifier is that they consume more electrical energy than an ultrasonic or evaporative humidifier.
The maintenance of a steam humidifier will involve occasionally removing the lime scale that builds up inside the unit. When not in use steam humidifiers should be emptied of water, cleaned and dried to prevent water stagnating inside the humidifier.
Steam humidifiers such as Carel as commonly used in office buildings to reduce static and make the air more comfortable to breathe, usually they are installed into the air conditioning ductwork, although more expensive to run than the other two types, they have the advantage due to the exceptional control and for hygiene reasons
This is the most common type of humidifier you will find in the high street. An ultrasonic humidifier has a reservoir of water on top of a small metal plate coated in very small crystals, when a level of 48 Volts is passed through the crystals they begin to vibrate, the intense vibrations caused by the rapidly oscillating plate atomises the water into an airborne mist.
The advantages of buying an ultrasonic humidifier is that as well as being economical to buy they also consume little energy when operating. The vapour produced is very fine, almost cloudlike. Ultrasonic humidifiers are extremely quiet.
The major disadvantage of using an ultrasonic humidifier is the dust that it introduces to a room. Any particulate matter that is present in the water will become airborne along with the water. When the water evaporates, the particulate matter will settle as dust in the room.
However, high quality ultrasonic humidifiers use demineralisation cartridges that absorb the minerals from the water prior to it being turned into a mist. This is very effective as long as the cartridges are replaced inline with the manufacturer’s instructions.
If your humidifier does not include a demineralisation cartridge then you should use demineralised water, as over time the mineral content of the water will coat the ultrasonic crystals which stops them working.
It is very important to clean your humidifier out regularly when is use to prevent the build up of bacteria.
Evaporative humidifiers get water into the air by allowing moisture to be simply evaporated. This consumes very little energy and is a hygienic way of humidifying as there are no aerosol sprays being released. Any particulate matter present in the water will remain in the humidifier after the water evaporates so no dust is released into the room.
This type of system is also very quiet so can be used in a bedroom or similar quiet area.
Evaporative humidifiers use porous filter media which adsorbs water and the air is forced through the filter by a fan, as the air flows through the wet filter media it picks up water and becomes optimally humidified. You cannot over humidify a room with this method, as the humidity gets closer to 50%rH the air will collect less and less water.
This is the best type of humidifier to use to protect artworks, furniture and musical instruments, this is often the type museums will buy to protect their exhibits.
The main disadvantage with this type of unit is that the filters need to be cleaned or replaced regularly. The air in a home can be quite polluted with dust, skin, hair and other matter. These particles will be collected by the humidifier and remain on the filter as the air passes through. This has the advantage of cleaning the air but does mean the filters need replacing occasionally they may develop an odour and become unhygienic.
Cleaning will need to be carried out regularly to maintain hygienic operation but the frequency will depend on the air quality in the room.