Go Back   Cigar Weekly Community Forums and Discussion Groups > Smoking Post > The Cedar Room

The Cedar Room A place for cigar storage and cigar accessories discussions.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-18-2008, 08:29 AM   #1
Mad Dawg
Administrator
Herf Dog
Herf God
 
Mad Dawg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Republic of Texas
Posts: 34,198
Closet conversions

Question for you guys who have converted closets into humidors: What have you used to cool the closet?

I'm pondering conversion of a workroom closet into a humidor....sort of. I won't have to worry about humidity control because I intend to store my coolers in the closet, and they do a great job of humidity control. I really only need to worry about temperature.

The cheapest solution I can envision is framing a small window A/C into the closet door, but I can't decide if that would vent too much heat into the workroom or if I'd have to worry about condensation.

Anyway, I'd appreciate hearing from you guys who've done something like this.
__________________
Gone, But Never Forgotten.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.
Mad Dawg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2008, 09:03 AM   #2
mike s
Contributing Editor
Club Member
 
mike s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Tx / Cozumel
Posts: 3,928
Hey pm or call Rutkus (Brandon)....He did this very thing in his home office closet. Killer job. Heck he may have even put pix up on the site I don't remember though. Believe he used a vino temp or some other heat exchanger. No noticeable and or added heat are exhausted into his office, the unit is whisper quiet, it's small and looks great, and produces no condensation. If I were building inside this is what I would use.
mike s is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2008, 11:04 AM   #3
rutkus
Club Member
 
rutkus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 1,727
hey Doug, here are some pics of my conversion: pics

the pics aren't that great but they get the point across, i can take some additional ones if you would like.

i put 4 coats of an exterior grade latex paint on the inside, a threshold, and the unit that i use to cool it is a Koolspace Chillr: http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/...olr_plus.shtml took about 2-3weeks after painting with a fan running to ensure that there was no detectable smell. it was nothing noxious, just damn sure didn't want to taint any of my smokes

that i got off ebay, for like $200!, I had been searching for one for a couple of months and finally someone put up a new one from their own home wine cellar build that they didn't use. i snagged it for a steal IMHO.

For humidification I use an an Essick Air whole house humidifier, its a 5 gallon unit with a digital display, on the unit i keep it at 55%, which translates to the mid 60s in actual humidity. I was going to go with a Staebell modified unit with the habitat monitor but I was too cheap to do so. it has worked out for me, my temps and humidity are rock solid.

the tile i had put in when we built our house about 2 years ago, i had planned this to be my humidor so i also had them put in a 2 gang outlet as well.

the modular closet unit i just picked up at the closest home depot, found the studs screwed them in, good to go.

I piggy backed off of a friend of mine's custom humidor build and the guy made some solid Spanish cedar shelves for the cost of the material. it was still pricey ~$400 but i love them.

I bought an oregon scientific 3 channel weather station :http://www2.oregonscientific.com/sho...scid=5&pid=671

along with 3 sensors, one for each shelf.

i stay at 65/65 and only have to fill my humidification unit about once a month. the wine cooler does not have condensation. it is super quiet as well.

my office circulates air back into the HVAC unit so any heat that is put into my office is sucked back in.

any info or pics you need lmk and i'll be happy to share.
__________________
Quod me nutrit me destruit
(\_(\
(=' :')
(,('')('')

Last edited by rutkus; 12-18-2008 at 11:13 AM.
rutkus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2008, 11:50 AM   #4
Mad Dawg
Administrator
Herf Dog
Herf God
 
Mad Dawg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Republic of Texas
Posts: 34,198
Thanks, Brandon - that is a sweet conversion!

I stumbled across the Koolspace Koolr models (the Chillr models have been discontinued) on eBay yesterday. Problem is, the suckers run $400 for the 300 cubic foot model and $500 for the 600 cubic foot model.

The thing is, I don't even need humidification, just a way to keep a closet-sized space at 65-70 degrees through the Hosuton summer without running up a national-debt-sized electric bill...
__________________
Gone, But Never Forgotten.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.
Mad Dawg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2008, 12:48 PM   #5
rutkus
Club Member
 
rutkus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 1,727
I hear you, my power bill went up like $5/month from what i could tell. honestly just being able to stand in a room to pick smokes is worth the price of admission. in the hot as hell summer we had, i was worried about temp fluctuations and it was solid. it didn't appear that there was any excess load on the cooling unit either.

the total project cost me less than another aristocrat would have lol.
__________________
Quod me nutrit me destruit
(\_(\
(=' :')
(,('')('')

Last edited by rutkus; 12-18-2008 at 01:33 PM.
rutkus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2008, 12:56 PM   #6
PLUSH
Club Member
 
PLUSH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: T E X A S
Posts: 2,454
Brandon,

so, this is the humidfication device?
http://picasaweb.google.com/bpinzon/...48374827460834

what is this?
http://picasaweb.google.com/bpinzon/...48392007330050

and is this the cooler?

http://picasaweb.google.com/bpinzon/...48443546937714

you mention, "the wine cooler does not have condensation. it is super quiet as well."

where is that?
__________________
Brian
http://www.halfwheel.com/
PLUSH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2008, 06:12 PM   #7
ConMan
Contributing Editor
Club Member
 
ConMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lakewood, CO
Posts: 4,202
Damn. 16 48 qt. coolers. That's what I'm talking about. I have two and could use another... but if I wanna stay married I better not

The project looks very nice. Someday.
ConMan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2008, 07:07 PM   #8
Mad Dawg
Administrator
Herf Dog
Herf God
 
Mad Dawg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Republic of Texas
Posts: 34,198
Quote:
Originally Posted by ConMan View Post
Damn. 16 48 qt. coolers. That's what I'm talking about. I have two and could use another... but if I wanna stay married I better not

The project looks very nice. Someday.
I'm only up to about 8 coolers at the moment, but you gotta allow room for expansion!

This one won't have anything like the class that Brandon's walk-in does (or Mike's ), but it'll get the job done at a price that'll let me stay married.
__________________
Gone, But Never Forgotten.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.
Mad Dawg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2008, 07:36 PM   #9
mike s
Contributing Editor
Club Member
 
mike s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Tx / Cozumel
Posts: 3,928
Can't wait to read all about it and see the pix ;o). Once you go down this path cigar buying will never be the same, muhahahahhahahaha!
mike s is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
Aging cigars, Built-in humidors, Cellophane, Cigar aging, Cigar Maintenance, Cigar Storage, closet conversions, Closet humidors, Humidification, Humidification Devices, humidifiers, humidity, humidor, Humidors, long-term cigar storage, long-term storage, Relative humidity
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Ice Box Conversions? sucol The Cedar Room 8 11-28-2004 06:09 AM
AB Spcial Blends (formerly Kelner 2nds) conversions??? Black Plague Cigar Talk 0 02-17-2004 08:52 PM
Connie Conversions Ed Toner Cigar Talk 31 01-13-2004 11:31 AM
Conversions The Cedar Room 5 07-28-2002 05:41 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:45 AM.