Small Humidifier?

the moisture out of the air.<

So this unit doesn't have self contained humidity control, hence the above statement? And if not, what is the humidity recorded in the cooler?

the unit. I can remove a few rows of racks on one side to accomodate it.<

Uh, nah.....Unless it's one of those spritzer models (as you mention below), they "all" humidify with some sort of heat by-product adding on the front end to your cooling load.

large ones.<

Sharper Image used to and now everyone does, offer small tabletop 2 qt. models.

Can't you just put a tray of water in bottom? Seems to me if you air is really dry, at least a little would evaporate into cabinet. Personally, while 70% or so is ideal, as long as bottles are on side I think you're ok with 40-50%. Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comprosit (Jim) fell in his pan of water.....

is assuming semi-weekly entry in and out of your unit, what's the fuss?<

Meant to say 45-55%. I could almost feel the flames.......ouch!

Always here for my fellow syngraphist or oenophile.

--=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=--

I've tried a 4 qt container of water and it's keeping the cellar in the 60% range.

Larry Stumpf, S. Ontario, Canada

I've heard that to just put a small glass of water in a storage is beneficial.

Ok, I'll bite:

A small humidistat I manually placed inside the wine cabinet. I also double checked by placing an electronic temp/humidity guage I used for my old cellar.

No, the unit does not control humidity at all.

Not sure what you're trying to say here given you're next statement. I humidified my old wine cellar with a unit that used a fan to blow cool water vapor into the air. It worked very well, but it was/is big.

I guess that was my whole point. The one I see st Sharper Image appears fairly large to me (17.5 x 11.5 x 11.5). I was hoping someone made a smaller one in a cool mist version. There are small versions that heat the water, but you know the story there. What about the ultrasonic versions? Does the water heat up at all? Sharper Image does have a fairly small ultrarsonic unit, but it does not have a humidistat.

You'll have to clarify this for me. The humidity is around 45% with the door closed, as I can see through the glass.

I tried this and I measure a max humidity of 50% under this method. I don't think the water has enough time to evap before the cooling kicks in.

Any more thoughts?

Dark Helmet

Dale, I've generally heard that 40-50% would indeed dry the corks out, but I have not seen conclusive proof of this. I always find it difficult to take a chance with my wine.

Also, I believe the unit runs enough so that the water evaporating from the pan ends up being flushed out fairly often, resulting in very little change in humidity. Ihave seen the humidity max at around 52% on my electronic meter, but it does not even stay there. As winter nears, thproblem of the unit running too often should be less of a problem, though.

Sigh, although Ohio is a fine state, the laws (interstate shipping and 135% mandatory markup) along with my laziness in not building a true cellar again, have put quite the damper on my wine hobby since the move here. I'll be spending Thanksgiving in Chicago where I hope to do some sorely needed wine shopping.

Thanks and Happy Holidays,

Dark Helmet

Your corks will be just fine at 40-50% provided that your bottles lie on their sides. In truth, I don't know how low the humidity would have to get before the corks did start to desiccate, but I suspect that you'd have to go to the desert to find them. Higher humidity in your cellar will likely reduce ullage (and may in turn speed aging), but that's about it.

???? Your unit is cooled with a refigeration unit that recirculates the air inside. There should be little if any exchange of atmosphere with the outside world, so how is the water getting flushed out?

Do visit Sam's Wine Warehouse when there. Wine Discount Center is another interesting place to shop, and John Hart Fine Wines has many interesting (if pricey) treats, though they aren't on display. And whatever you do, avoid the Magnificent Mile like the plague on Black Friday, unless you enjoy the urban equivalent of whitewater rafting in a Class 5 rapids.

Happy Holidays to you, Mark Lipton

As winter nears?

Seriously though, my vintage Bordeauxs from the 80s are holding up very well after nine years of dry Wyoming winters (and summers). When it gets cold (like the last week), I have to fill my humidifier daily, and the humidity has dropped to 45%. I think the summer humidity is usually 50 to 55%. My Bordeauxs from the 80s have ullage to the neck, but are drinking nicely.

Tom Schellberg

Mark

I just want to be clear on this. Higher humidity would be associated with higher fill levels, and slower maturing wines, all other things being equal, Right?

Tom Schellberg

Erk! My bad. Yes, what I *meant* was that lower humidity could lead to faster aging by accelerating the loss of moisture from within the bottle. You got it right, Tom.

Mark Lipton

Add an inline humidity device to your home's HVAC system. The forced air heat in the winter drys everything out (including your nasal passages and throat) It's not that expensive, it refills automatically, it's automatic and requires little service and the whole house benefits from it. Bi!!

Not so, it's actually more of a problem since in the summer a house is generally airconditioned and the basement is gernerally cool anyway. In the winter the heating system tends to heat the basement also (even with the ducts to the basement turned off) the ductwork to the rest of the home throws off enough heat to keep the celler units churning. The RH in the summer tends to be quite high in Ohio but quite low in the winter and that in combination with the forced air heat really tends to dry things out. Bi!!

Well, I agree that winter air is drier than summer air, but the part of the warmer winter basement must be an individual thing.

I installed central air in the spring (2003), and I air conditioned the basement. This allowed me to keep the basement temp. to the high 60s. I have an extra room AC unit in my utility room that brought my wine down to the low

In the last four weeks my basement temp. (wine moved out of utility room) has dropped to 60 degrees). It has been a cold winter so far, but I still anticipate that my winter cellar (with the new heating plant and AC) will be colder than in summer.

I should mention that my basement is only six feet underground, certainly a factor.

Tom Schellberg

It probably is not as big a problem if you don't have useable living space in your basement that requires heating or if your wine cellar is somewhat removed from the area where your furnace is or if you don't have any heating duct work around or through your cellar especially in chases, walls or ceiling areas of your wine cellar. Bi!!

Actually, my basement is a walk-out basement. So, it is awlays warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter. Therefore, the cooling unit runs fairly often in the summer and I expect it to run much less in the winter.

I don't know, I hate to take any chances with my wine. I believe I can find a very small unit without a humistat, but I can attach a timer that will let it run very infrequently. Small price to pay for some peice of mind.

Thanks everyone,

Dark Helmet

Where do you live in Ohio? Bi!!

Unless you are very short on space in the basement, I would suggest that you get a medium sized humidifier on wheels designed for a few rooms. You also will need a cheap device to measure humidity. Then you just adjust the humidity control on the unit until you get the humidity you want. You can get such units at Sears for under $US 100. Actually they do not cost much more than the tiny table top units. The larger the water capacity, the better, so you do not have to refill so often. I have had a Sears humidifier set at 70% RH for several years in my wine room, and I only have to refill with water once a week and change filters now and then. I use much more water in the summer than the winter, because the air conditioner that keeps the temperature at 55 F removes much moisture from the room. Be sure to use a humidifier bacteriostat in the water, as some rather nasty microorganisms sometimes will grow in the water, be blown out with the humidified air, and cause health problems for some people.

In fact, I would first measure humidity for a while. It could turn out that you do not need a humidifier. Probably 50% RH or higher woud be safe for most wines even for long storage. For short term storage, even a lower RH might be tolerated. If you go to too high a RH you may develop a mildew or mold problem in the basement. This will not hurt the wine, but it may ruin the labels as well as other items you may have stored in the basement.

My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net from my email address. Then add snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response.