Find the Right Cigar Humidifier for You: Ultimate Humidifier Buyer’s Guide!
Storing smokes? You’re going to need a cigar humidifier. A cigar humidifier is a device that adds moisture to the air inside a cigar humidor to keep the relative humidity at the proper level for storing cigars. Most of the time, either a distilled water or a distilled water and propylene glycol activation solution is used to saturate the foam that is inside the humidifier, though stand-alone gel jars and pouches are now sometimes used in the place of a humidifier and liquid. Use the table below to find the right cigar humidifier for you.
Included in the table are 9 columns:
- Image.
- Brand and name/model – (click to view more details or to purchase).
- Passive/Electronic – Whether the humidifier is passive or requires electricity.
- Water Alarm – The humidifier will alert you that it is low on water if it has a water alarm.
- Battery Alarm – The humidifier will alert you that it is low on batteries if it has a battery alarm (for humidifiers that use batteries).
- Battery/Cord – Whether the humidifier uses batteries or plugs into the wall.
- Price – These are approximate prices on Amazon.com. These change frequently based on availability, special promotions, and more. But generally speaking: $ = under $20, $$ = $20 to $50, $$$ = $50 to $100, $$$$ = $100+
- Rating – The average user rating on Amazon.com. This can be very helpful in deciding if people are satisfied with their purchase.
- Capacity – How many cigars or how large a humidor the humidifier can maintain at the proper relative humidity.
*Click on any of the columns to sort the data to find the best humidifier for your humidor.
What is a Cigar Humidifier?
A cigar humidifier is used to keep the air in a cigar humidor at the correct relative humidity. As the liquid in the humidifier evaporates it keeps the atmosphere in the humidor at the correct 65 to 72 percent. Humidifiers that use water alone can only increase the humidity, while those that use a solution can actually absorb humidity as well, preventing damp cigars. Another benefit of the solution is that it kills bacteria which may otherwise grow in the liquid in the cigar humidifier.
Cigar humidifiers come in two types:
- The passive foam humidifier
- The electronic humidifier
Passive Foam Cigar Humidifier
What is a passive foam humidifier?
A passive foam cigar humidifier is a perforated plastic of metal box that contains liquid-absorbing foam. These passive humidifiers are sometimes also called Credo-type humidifiers after popular brand of humidifier from France. The foam is similar to that used by florists for arranging flowers. Some passive humidifiers use distilled water only while others use a distilled water and propylene glycol activation solution. Check with the manufacturer to be sure you’re using the appropriate liquid in your passive humidifier.
How large of a humidor can a passive foam humidifier accommodate?
A passive foam humidifier can keep from fifteen to 300 cigars in good condition, depending on the model. Credo makes a humidifier called The Tube for up to 15 cigars and another called Titan for up to 300 cigars. Of course, it’s possible to use more than one humidifier in a very large humidor or in very dry conditions.
How often do I add liquid to a passive foam humidifier?
Depending on conditions, you may need to add liquid once a week to once every two months. Check the level in your humidifier once a week until you are familiar with how often you need to add liquid.
Electronic Cigar Humidifier
What is an Electronic Cigar Humidifier?
The second type of humidifier is the electronic humidifier. The advantages of an electronic humidifier over a passive humidifier are precision control over humidity and less maintenance. The disadvantages are additional cost and the need to either plug in the humidifier or replace batteries. These humidifiers can typically maintain a consistent relative humidity from 40 to 90 percent as set by the user. When the computer in a humidor detects that the humidity has dropped to 1 percent below the specified humidity it will activate the fan in the machine, adding moisture to the air in the humidor.
How large of a humidor can an electronic humidifier accommodate?
An electronic humidifier can keep a large, walk-in humidor containing thousands of cigars at the proper humidity. Large humidors are usually measured in cubic feet. For example, the Cigar Oasis II cigar humidifier can maintain up to a 60 cubic foot humidor.
How often do I add liquid to an electronic humidifier?
Electronic humidifiers typically do not have to have liquid added as frequently as passive humidifiers. An electronic humidifier typically needs to have liquid added once per month depending on conditions and the size of the humidor.
Electronic humidifier review video
Here’s a great video reviewing an electronic humidifier: