This is one of the first "major" projects I built that involved electricity and electronics. This project makes it super-simple for me to manage my expensive (for me) cigar collection with minimal effort. It uses a 6-bottle wine fridge, some custom-cut Spanish cedar, and a Cigar Oasis XL electronic humidor humidifier.
The fridge was about $99 on-line (I may have gotten it at Wal-mart's website, I can't remember). The Cigar Oasis was about $90 on-line. The Spanish cedar was the expensive part. I think I spent about $160 for a 6' piece of uncut and unfinished wood. I had to have the people at Woodworker's Source (Phoenix area, near my home) rip the big plank down to nice and thin planks with which I could line the fridge. The cutting part was about as much as the plank of cedar.
I kinda rushed this project, as you can see. The shelves are not completely level and don't fit perfectly. Most of my time was spent measuring and shaping the pieces so that they would fit without needing glue or fasteners. It turned out well enough to do the job.
The electronics weren't too tough. It was my first project that involved busting open a device that used wall power. That was unnerving. But, it isn't rocket science. I just opened up the back of the fridge, found where the power supply fed the electronics of the fridge at ~5V and tapped the power cord of the Cigar Oasis into that line. The Cigar Oasis doesn't draw a lot of power, so it seemed the power supply wouldn't mind. Er, at least, in the two or three years it's been running in my Man Cave™, it hasn't quit or caught fire. ;)
Like I just said, it's been running for about two or three years and I've filled the Cigar Oasis maybe twice. Other than that, I haven't touched the humidor for maintenance, only to select cigars to enjoy. The fridge keeps the temperature at 70 degrees fahrenheit and the Cigar Oasis keeps the humidity inside the fridge at about 70%.
The photo above is the coolidor after about two or three years. I've loaded and unloaded lots o' cigars. The little readouts on the Cigar Oasis and the little electronic hygrometer don't ever match. The cigars smoke perfectly, so the "63%" showing on the gadget there is low because, when you open a humidor in Arizona, the humidity escapes rapidly... Because we're in a desert. But, when it reads about 65% upwards to %68, the cigars are happiest in my experience. To get the optimum humidity, I have to keep the Oasis set at about 68%.
This project is easy to do. If you're a cigar geek, I highly recommend taking a little time to build a humidor that can manage itself. Set and forget. It's awesome.
