Humidor/Wine Cooler

Joined Jan 2007
10 Posts | 0+
Dunedin, Fl
I currently have a small custom built humidor that a friend made for me but I now realize that it is way too small for everything that I want. My friend who built it being both a cigar smoker and master carpenter has come up with an idea for a combined humidor and wine cooler. My loving and understanding wife has given me the go ahead for building it. My question is has anyone else done this and what possible complications should I be aware of before starting? My primary concern is that the heat generated by the wine cooler will affect the temp and humidity of the humidor. Thanks for your input.
 
Actually if the humidor is in the cooler where is the heat coming from? Inside the cooler is cool so there is no heat. Two concerns I see is you don't want your cigars at 56 degrees. I keep mine at 65 deg. And if you can I would plan it to use a thermoelectric style just cause it does not condense so much moisture.
 
I know someone that uses a coolidor in his wine cellar.
I do think his cigars smoke a little dry - but it's minor.
The cooler helps - not enough IMHO
CC
 
I'm not really sure what you're talking about here. If the humidor compartment is in an electric cooler it would be fine for the wine but not the cigars. It might not cause damage but would be too cold for proper aging.

If you're talking about having a wine cooler built into a humidor, that's different. The exaust, even from a thermoelectric cooler is warm and would surely heat the humidor compartment beyond beetle point. If it was vented away it may not be a problem, but that may reduce the efficiency of the cooler.

You can get dual zone coolers, where there are two completely separate comparments, but I've never seen one that was thermoelectric, which IMO is the only way to go.

Elabortate on what you're talking about here, but I for now I'd say your best bet is to keep things separate.
 
Many people in warm climates use wine coolers as humidors.
They usually don't let them get cold enough to properly store wine, but do protect cigars from beetles hatching.
 
Better details

Sorry that my initial explanation wasn't that clear, hopefully this will be better. I am thinking about two seperate areas. It would be built around the wine chiller but the humidor would be the primary design. The top would be a humidor and the lower half would be the wine cooler/chiller. I have seen smaller wine chillers that maintain a set temperature and would probably use something similar to that. But my concern is that it would exhaust heat would heat the humidor above it to a higher temp and humidity that would be beneficial to the sticks. I know that most mini-bars that are in hotels run off of ammonia instead of a freon type refrigeration but I dont know what kind of exhaust temp they may put off.
 
Hi mIke,
If you google search wine/humidor it should help find what you seek. I have seen one that is nicely built, the humidor is on top with a glass lid. If you can't find it I will PM you the site if you like.
 
I think that it could be done as long as the design allows for good ventilation and separation between the cooler area and the humidor section.

Just an FYI though, unless it's a built-in cooler, most manufaturers advocate three inches of air space around the outside of the unit, so keep this in mind during design and construction.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the info, the one website is perfect for what we were thinking. The more my wife hears about this the more excited she is getting. Which is making this a whole lot easier to do. She had her first cigar last night and she loved it. Thanks again for all of the help.