walk in humidor

[jdouglas]

maybe this subject has a long thread somewhere and if so i apologize and will nuke this one if someone can direct me elsewhere but....

i'm curious for those with home built walk in humidors what unit you use to maintain constant temperature.  i'm seeing quite a few heating/cooling units advertised but they all brag about the cooling side taking moisture out of the air.  if you've already struggled to get an exact 62-64 percent humidity it seems counterproductive to me for your temperature control to mess with that, but i'm just beginning to learn about this from a practical standpoint.  the guy who put out the "how to" series of videos on YouTube claims he regulates his temp by controlling the heat in his house, but i'd like to think there is a more exact way to do it than that.  i mean if that's the solution it seems like a crapshoot to me. 

if anyone can point me towards a specific unit(s) they've had success with i'd appreciate it.  looking to humidify a 10 x 8 x 8 (ceiling) room.  any wisdom on this subject would be welcomed.

thanks in advance and best regards, john

[hwgoesit]

Look up wine cellar construction. There a a number of wine fridge units that are designed to recirculate humidity. They do not add humidity, but do not suck the air dry line a standard AC. Also, most regular AC units will not chill below ~67F.  Normal AC's expel humidity (condensate drain), wine fridges store the humidity removed from the air and recirculate it to your space. I keep mine below 65 degrees and humidity between 63-65%. I built a room about half the size of yours. Holds temp and humidity amazingly well. Construction is complex. you need to build a moisture barrier (on the hot side of the walls),and insulate well. Also, All AC units need to exhaust hot air outside the room. This means either through the room wall to an adjoining room, or using an expensive split system to draw the heat away to another location.

[JohnE1000]

The larger the empty space, the harder it is to maintain uniform and constant temp and humidity values. Even in a cabinet humidor, the values fluctuate few degree from top to bottom. If the purpose is to age cigars, then IMHO, walk in is not a good idea, unless it is full of boxes edge-to-edge. If the purpose is to display, then you will need to build it similar to a wine cellar. Even better if you cover your walls with Spanish.