There's a chart that's been floating around for a while that compares temp to humidity. While it's a valid chart, it's often misinterpreted. It is, in fact, so prevalent that a google search with the words "temperature humidity cigars" brings up several hits. I've even seen this bogus information given by CA. Here's a link to a page that has it all wrong.
http://www.cubancigarhouse.com/humidor.php
The explanation given is wrong because the chart actually tells you is how the %RH changes as the temperature fluctuates.
Looking at the chart, if you start off at 70 degrees with a RH of 70% and the temperature drops to 67, you will see that the RH will raise to 78% unless corrective action (i.e., reducing the amount of moisture) is taken. This is because cool air cannot hold as much water as warmer air. An everyday example that will help explain what this chart actually shows can be seen when you watch the weather report.
Weather reports always show the current temperature and dew point. The dew point is actually the temperature at which the air, given the current VOLUME of moisture (different than %RH,) will become 100% saturated (100% RH.) If the temp/dew point spread is 3-4 degrees, you will usually have fog. and once the temp drops to the dew point, unless the VOLUME of moisture in the air changes it will start raining. Dew point is always lower than or equal to the actual temperature (RH can never exceed 100%.) It explains why dew forms on cool grass in the morning.
This shows the importance of what the beads and the Spanish cedar in your humidor do. Unless your humidor is temperature controlled (both heated AND cooled as necessary) your RH is going to fluctuate as the temperature changes. As most people know, fluctuating RH is worse for your cigars than a constant high or low RH.
Beads and Spanish cedar help to stabilize the %RH as the temperature fluctuates. As the temperature changes, the beads release and absorb moisture to help keep the desired relative humidity. Frow what I understand, Spanish cedar actually performs much the same buffering function as it tends to be able to hold less moisture as the temperature rises and more moisture as the temperature falls.
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Originally Posted by mail man
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