Help! Cellar too humid

Buy a lot of kitty litter and spread it out in a container inside the cellar. Determine the size needed by the humidity obtained. You'll need to add fresh litter every 1-2 months probably, but it ought to do the job.

Mark Lipton

Not having a great science understanding in my case---this is a very interesting solution.

An added bonus to Mark's sensible-sounding suggestion is that your Sauvignon Blancs will appreciate the presence of the kitty litter ;)

Consider how much water your electric dehumidifier pulls out of the air to get the humidity down where it should be, and how much cat litter you would need to absorb that amount of moisture in the same amount of time. You could measure the weight change in some litter over a day to get a feel for this (make sure no cats have access to your cellar :-)

Now consider how much cat litter you could reasonably spread around in your cellar.

If the two numbers are of the same order of magnitude then I apologise to Mark for my scepiticism, but I suspect this little experiment will reveal that cat litter is a non-starter.

(I th>This really is a reason the internet is great. A person has a

Steve, I somehow will imagine that Marks suggestions will work. I am not scientific but the kitty litter must be super absorbant. Don't squeeze the charmin either.:-)

I think that Mark's litter suggestion is a good way to get humidity down a bit w/o heat rise.

But.......here's my personal opinion..why bother? If you have treated wood in cellar, why worry? The only reason I'd worry about excess humidty is if you're worried re label condition for resale. It certainly won't hurt the wine. Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Steve, Modern kitty litters are zeolites. They are incredibly hygroscopic and are used in chemistry ("molecular sieves") to remove water from solvents and atmosphere. They will absorb up to 100% of their dry weight in water, so 1 kg of kitty litter will actually pick up quite a bit of water from the atmosphere. Still, if they're not effective enough as is, you can always heat them up in the microwave oven to drive off more water and render them even more absorbent.

Mark Lipton

Salut/Hi Dave Galas,

le/on Thu, 27 May 2004 17:59:34 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

Sounds perfect to me. Why do you think the humidity is too high?

Where? on the walls - harmless. On the labels - more irritating, but you can get round that by spraying them with hairspray! If you have a lot of wood which is supporting bottles, it makes sense to treat it against rot, but honestly, I'd be happy with 80% rH.

Can you get chemical dehumidifiers? Here in France there are companies that sell bags of Calcium chloride, which sit above a trough, into which a solution drips as the CaCl takes out the humidity and dissolves. Mark's cat litter suggestion isn't bad either though I suspect that if you CAN get calcium chloride, that ought to be cheaper.

Thanks! Great suggestion. I love the internet. More responses than I had actually expected. Thanks again, and I'm off to my mother's w/ a stop for... kitty litter.

-Dave

But would 1kg absorb 1kg of water from the atmosphere in 1 day? Which is what I was getting from a dehumidifier. And if it does, how does it absorb cat pee in addition to the humidity from the atmosphere?

Regardless of my guesses, I guess the proof is in the experiment. I look forward to hearing the results.

I bet Mark Liptons advise will work. Try it. Hope your mom does not start coughing hair balls.:-)

De-humidifiers & sensors are relatively cheap... you could dial in your humidity level for $150 or so.... But I think Mark has the answer in the 'bang for your buck' category.... there are also gel crystals (available through garden supply shops) which absorb Many times their own weight in water, possibly a little more visualy appealing than kitty littier.... Although, my kitten (Lafite) would probably disagree....

En Vino Veritas Mathew

In a sealed environment salt will maintain 75% humidity. Maybe a block or two those cow lick thingys that you see in pastures?

I think the salt should be a thick sludge tho'.

Myron

Ideally, what should cellar humidity be? I know we don't want damp, but are we shooting for "dry as a bone" or something in between?

Regards,

Kent Feiler

Actually, damp is far better than dry! You certainly want at least 50% relative humidity, and 75 or so would be ideal. If you go over 80%, there are issues re label mold, but nothing that hurts wine.

Too dry is not good for corks. Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply