...I live in southern CA and I travel extensively for work, meaning I cannot babysit my cigars for several weeks at a time. My plan was to buy a specific cabinet humidor (got it!) and then retrofit the cabinet with the Aristocrat climate control system. But Mr. Stabell has told me that his system won't work unless I install some pretty serious insulation. In fact, he told me that it basically wouldn't work at all and suggested that I get a cabinet custom built. :-)

Have any of yooz guys retrofitted a cabinet with a climate control system? How did it work out?
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What did you get and what / how (much) did he say you needed to modify?

I haven't modified a cabinet, but I am the engineer for a medium sized brewery. Temperature control is something that is only mildly important to us....
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I've got a lager brewing in my dedicated fermentation fridge with an Inkbird controller keeping it between 54F-55F. So as a fan of both brewing and dry humor I got a good laugh out of that . :-)
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:-)

Those inkbirds are pretty damn nice for the small setups. Nicely designed and priced for the target audience. Rancos aren't bad either, but twice the price and you have to remember how to program them...


"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Porch Dweller again."
I tried....
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:-)
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Yeah interested in what kind of cabinet you have. Bob knows his stuff but I would think as long as you can get your cabinet to be air tight his system should work. If it does not seal then the system will keep coming on!
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Thanks for the responses, guys. I got a Commercial 4000 humidor by Quality Importers. Here's what it looks like: https://yourelegantbar.com/products/...abinet-humidor

Bob says I would need to put like 2" of insulation all around the entire inside.

Adam, I don't live in NorCal anymore (no more perfect weather). :-) I live in Lancaster, which is REALLY hot in the summertime (over 100* from May through August, basically).

I've already put rubber insulating tape around the doors. Getting the humidity dialed in has been a chore. In fact, I can't even keep the humidifier in the lower left corner as it is designed for. The top shelves just won't come up. So I'm keeping the humidifier (HUMI-CARE XG1000) on the lower middle shelf. I've got 2 old school Oust fans running and also a very overpriced humidor fan (Xikar Purotemp Humifan Air Circulator).

The cabinet SEEMS to hold humidity somewhat well with the doors rubber taped, but the humidifier starts straining after about a week, and there's quite a bit of fluctuation in the humidity depending on room temperature and the area of the cabinet. This wouldn't be a problem, but since I travel for work anywhere from 2 to 7 weeks at a time...
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That's sexy as hell.
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Yeah, I used to live in SoCal, thanks for the reminder of that torture....


2" of insulation doesn't mean much without knowing what type of insulation is being referred to. Some are much more effective than others.

What do you plan to use as a cooling unit? You can always brute force the cooling, just need to spread it out through the cabinet.
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I was planning on using Bob's large cabinet climate control retrofit. I think I still might give it a shot. My current thought process is to insulate the top and backside of the cabinet, and use some odorless sealant on all the inner joints. Even if it only keeps the cabinet temp down below 80*, I'd be happy. I've been using wine fridges with temp overrides up until now, and setting them at 77* kept them from running all day and also held humidity between 62 and 65, which was exactly where I like it.
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