With the recent craze going on for vinotemps lately, and some of us missing out on the great deal, I have been looking for solutions. I wanted to buy another desktop humidor but realized if I get a wine cooler it might be the last humi I will ever need.

I found this one at Lowes and am going to look at it tonight, hopefully convincing my parents its my Christmas gift:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...2GB&lpage=none

I have a few questions from those of you that have experience using these as humidors.

1.) Does it have to be run by electrothermal?
2.) How do you set these up? Plug in and set the temp to what you want?
3.) Are beads at the bottom and top sufficient? About how much to use?
4.) Any holes or anything that need to be plugged and if so how?
5.) Any other relevant information
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1.) Does it have to be run by electrothermal?
Yes, if it uses a comperssor, it will sap out the humidity. Type in thermoelectric in Google and the wiki can explain how it works if you are curious.

2.) How do you set these up? Plug in and set the temp to what you want?
Open it, wipe it off with a cloth and water (some use baking soda too), and let it air dry for a day or two, than plug it in. I prefer cedar shelves and empty boxes from the B&M, but you do want Spanish Cedar in there for the humidity absorbtion and smell.

3.) Are beads at the bottom and top sufficient? About how much to use?
I spread mine around but basicly in the bottom, middle and top since I ordered 2 pounds. You can get the calucations off of Dave's Heartfelt site, on the left hand side there is a "caluclator" and you simply put in the dimensions.

4.) Any holes or anything that need to be plugged and if so how?
It counts on the model but most of these have drainage plugs. It counts on your area, whether there will be a lot of water on that tray. Personally, I'm leaving mine unplugged unless I see a lot of water in the tray, or my humidity is lowering and I'm recharing my beads way too often.

5.) Any other relevant information
I'd go there and take a real good look first, and than ask about the refun policy. If it doesn't work, just return it; no harm, no foul. Also, try to Google what you are eyeing and add the word "cigar" to the search to see if anyone else has tried it.
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Not sure of the necessity in starting a new thread. It has been said many times that all thermo electric wine coolers are essentially the same. There may be minor feature differences(digital thermometer, light, size) but the box and setup is the same. Haier, Frigidaire, Kenmore, Vinotemp, Danby, etc.
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I was hoping people who have wine cooler type humidors could post pics here or use this thread for any further questions regarding the subject.
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Since I got a vino, I have been doing a bunch of research on what guys are doing with them. I have read about needing to "plug up" the drain. Does that mean taking odor free silicone and putting it in the tray on the bottom of the VT that runes straight from the back to the front where it opens into the larger holding tray? Do I put silicone in the holding tray also? Do I need to be concerned about condensation if I don't have it plugged in?
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All I did was put duct tape over the drain hole in both of mine and the humidity has been at 65 pretty solid for a few months now.
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Any ideas or tricks on how to rig something up for condensation? Do I only need to worry about it if I run it a lot in the summer?
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I just put a sponge in the very bottom and checked it weekly for moisture Did not have an issue with condensation at all with the drain plugged. This could very depending on where you live but I am in Alabama and we get some warm summers here.
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When setting up your vino, did anyone put a damp sponge on the bottom to introduce humidity?
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I sprayed 12 empty cedar boxes and left it in there for a day, and redid this the next day. You don't want them soaking wet, but they should absorb the distilled water after an hour.

A lot of these questions and more are answered on the CS forums under "Accessory Disucssion" on the sticky named VinoTemp 101.
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Thank You
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