Monday, November 29 1999
I have a large cabinet style humidor. It is tall enough so that there are significant humidity and temperature differences between the top and the bottom shelves. I have had mold problems in the lower parts and dryness problems in the upper parts of the humidor. To remedy the situation I tried to circulate the air by placing a small fan inside but that raised the temperature because of the fan motor. I ended up having more frequent mold problems.
Out of desperation I bought one of those mini ionic breeze air cleaners to remove mold spores from the air inside the humidor. It seems to work great because I haven't had any mold since I got it no matter how warm it gets inside and my cigars are staying perfectly humidified. Though it smells like ozone in the humidor it hasn't yet affected the way my cigars taste. I'm wondering if you know if anyone else has used an ionic breeze in a humidor before, and if its a good idea to continue using it. Thanks you for any answers you can give.
- Aaron Richert
First, make sure you are using only a high quality distilled water in your cabinet humidor. Mold should not be forming, unless the water source is not pure, or your humidity system is in some way contaminated.
Ionic purifiers emit only a trace amount of ozone. But in a small, closed space (like a cabinet humidor) it may indeed be noticeable. I would not consider any amount of ozone produced by such a means to produce any problem for the cigars or the smoker. However, the Ionic Breeze is really not designed for a space that small, so the amount of ions and ozone may be more than needed.
I would suggest the Csonka Desk Fresh, which works on the same principle, but because of design would be a better choice. Finally, if you are not noticing any variation in the taste of the cigar smoke, this might be a viable solution to his problem.
FYI, I may someday do some tests in my personal walk in humidor in my home, which is much larger (about 6' x 6' x 8' tall)... but because of the size, I would probably use the more powerful Csonka Original, set on low, to see what I notice.
- Michael Chunko, Csonka Worldwide
