Wine Cooler Humidor 10 40.00%

Regular Cabinet Humidor 15 60.00%

I was wondering over the years in having a cooler or cabinet the extra work and care a wine cooler humidor is and worth the effort over a standing cabinet, needing no electricity but for maybe a humidifier or beads and kept in a cool place.
Considering a wine cooler has more plastic them cedar and condensation issues at times over a regular humidor
Thanks
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I have owned both and have lived through several Va summers in houses with less than adequate insulation. This year my cabinet averaged 75f actually a bit lower than other years. Having kept humidors for 10 years now I have had one beetle that more than likely came from a stick I received as a bomb, that was 8 years in. After that I freaked out froze everything and spent about 200$ on a wine cooler setup. I sold it after a year. I still have my end table cabinet and it will last me forever, a wine cooler will not.
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Well most winecoolers, at least the ones I have seen used, have Thermoelectric cooling so there is no compressor and there is no condensation build up in the box. :-)
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BLUF: A cabinet will last a lot longer than a wine cooler. Granted, they are more expensive...but IMHO well worth the money.
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The biggest advantage to wine coolers is that they seal real well and therefore hold humidity real well. The larger the wooden humidors -- especially those with glass can be leaky. This is the same reason that a lot of people use Coleman or Igloo coolers for cigar storage. The coolers are relatively inexpensive and seal very well.

I am not saying that all wooden humidors leak, because there are some very nice humidors made of wood that seal well. However, you have to put more effort and money into finding one that does not leak.

On the other hand, nothing beats the look of a really nice wooden humidor.
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Thanks all for your input, I bought out a friends cigars and his Frigidaire Humidor that has a compressor and has a condensation issue at times.

He solved it (supposedly) with the use of desiccant rocks in the back of the cooler, photo 1

I read that increasing the temperature in the cooler by a few degrees will solve the condensation using a Single Stage ETC Temperature Control w/ Sensor

I wish I hadn't bought the cooler now but I did get some great cigars with it, worth $1500 :-)

Its just so much work to me and would rather go with a cabinet but will make the most of it for now.

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Neither setup should be "work" once you have it setup right. If you have a compressor unit, you will want to use an ETC to control the amount of time it runs. Some people don't run them at all, rather they just use them as an enclosure.

Find a good humidity media of your choice and once the inside is seasoned, as long as you don't have large swings in temperature, it should stay pretty solid with the humidity.
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As as said you don't even have to plug it in, just make sure any drainage 'holes' are sealed up, food grade silicon is what to use, throw in a couple pounds of beads and your sticks. Unless it's crazy hot where you are, then you might consider using the cooling feature, if not, why bother?

Is that KL in a drip pan type area? If you keep it unplugged you can get rid of that as well.

It's a nice enough box no reason for any buyers remorse, you might even find you like having it.
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That's some kind of gravel stuff that drys out excess moisture
Thanks
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Regular cabinet.

Lasts way longer. If you get an aristocrat you can get them cooled so that kinda negates the cooled vs. uncooled issue...

Now costwise that's an interesting discussion. A quality cabinet will be a piece that your grandchildren will fight over. I don't know what the average life of a winecooler is but I would imagine that most aren't gonna last anywhere near that long.

So how many winecoolers will you go through in a lifetime?
You can go through one quality Cabinet , or several winecoolers.

Roughed out id imagine over the course of ones life they will add up to about the same. Maybe more for the winecoolers. But call Frigidaire when you have a problem.... I can get ahold of Bob Staebell at aristocrat 6 days a week.

This is something I looked at when I was getting ready to move into larger humidor. I wanted to do it once and do it right. When I did the math I was looking at my lifetime. Me being 21 I have a lot of years ahead of me yet (I would hope) So I opted fore more cash up front but less worry / hassle later one. (what do you do with all your boxes when your winecooler dies?)

All in all I would say your well enough off for now. But in the future theres no harm in planning on upgrading when the wineador dies.
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That's smart and wish I did get a aristocrat to begin with
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Edit: Nm.
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Its probably paid for itself just in the cigars that came with it. That's not to trash wineadors at all , they work well for many people.
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I would rather have a nice Aristocrat but I have a small wineador and coolers.
If I could afford an Aristocrat and the cigars to fill it, I would.
I have no consistency yet, need more practice!
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Down here in Miami if you don't have something to keep the cigars at 70f you will have problems.
The lowest i turn down my ac at is 76f and that's not for too long, not a good temperature for cigars.
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Same here in Orlando, so I pay more in the electric bill and keep house at 72 year round. Because of this I chose a large cabinet and very happy with it.
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Maybe your right........
Got this all with a wine cooler I may not use for $1000 plus 50 moldey cigars
All 4 years old
Vegas 5 Gold 2008, 2009 2010 and Nubs
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72, 3 kinds of Cain Ligero
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Box of 10 MOW
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20 MOW Robusto's
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One short of a full box of "God of Fire"
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Are you sure it's mold and not plume?
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My pride says plume but I'm pretty sure it's mold
Last shot not shown of box of 50 that I'm segregating

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Don't look too bad, just give them a little wipe down and good to go. (keeping them separate if that's what you prefer of course).
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