Hi all,
I'm new to this site but have been smoking cigars for about 5 years. I am living in St. Cloud, FL now and have just purchased an Avanti 28 bottle wine fridge to use as a temperature controlled humi (yeah, I looked at that Monolith 1200 humi but just can’t see spending $1,800+ on it right now, especially as I can’t find any other info about the company or the reliability/build quality of the thing). Also I will be buying some cedar trays and shelves from chasidorhumidors.com to use for storage and to help retain some of the moisture.

My main question is this.... how do I maintain 70% humidity in this thing with the thermoelectric unit running? I have a Cigar Oasis XL in a 300 count humi now and it works fine but I am sure it will not be able to handle the humidity demand in the cooler. I have seen other people talk about using beads in a cooler but wasn’t sure if they meant a fridge/cooler or just a regular Igloo type cooler.

I am planning on putting in 3 double high trays at the bottom of the cooler for single cigar storage and then 2 shelves above that for box storage. For now I am thinking of buying a Cigar Oasis XL Plus and supplementing it with 2 or 3 pounds of beads (1 pound in the bottom tray, another in the middle and the 3rd on the top shelf).
Oh yeah, right now the fridge is empty except for 2 wire racks, 2 digital hygrometers and 1 empty cigar box. I have been monitoring the fridge all day and the bottom has been reading 52% humidity & 68 degrees, the top of the fridge has been reading 54% humidity and 71-72 degrees (which is right where I want it).
Does anyone here have any experience with humidifying a wine cooler or other temperature controlled humi? Thanks for any input.