Humidity level during bulk storage

[tonyportale]

Hello,
I have built a small storage closet in my basement for wine aging / storing. I've got the temp hovering between 55 - 59. However, my humidity level is below 40. Not good. Anyone have some 'home remedies' on how I can raise and keep my humidity at a more acceptable level?

Thank you
Tony

 

[Arne]

If it is just a really small room, how about a vaporizer. Should raise your humidity, and not have to run all the time. If you were around here, I could find enough parts laying around to have a humidistat hooked into it. All it would take would be a transformer and contactor or a fan control center for a furnace and a humidistat. I probably have that stuff lying around as junk probably a little pricy if you had to buy it. Arne.

 

[Rocky]

Tony, again if it is a small closet, try putting a bucket of water in it with the top open. You may get enough passive humidity from the evaporation to raise the RH to something around 70-75%.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Tony, again if it is a small closet, try putting a bucket of water in it with the top open. You may get enough passive humidity from the evaporation to reaise the RH to something around 70-75%.

That is what i would try first. If it is a small area - a bucket of water should do the trick. If it doesn't work - then you may want to explore other options..

 

[tonyportale]

Thank you all.
I will try the bucket with warm water in it.

I've noticed a lot of evaporation in my airlocks and water getting up inside the internal plastic 'dome' piece on my 3 piece airlock. I was going to use solid bungs but my wine supplier told me to leave the airlocks on?

 

[buddy]

If you were to put a small towel in the bucket so that it drapes over one side, the water will wick up into the towel and increase the surface area of the water and therefore increase the evaporation rate.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Yeah keep an airlock on it.

Pressure changes could cause you to blow the solid bung off.

I use vodka in mine - i just top the air lock off ever so often.

 

[AlFulchino]

if you are well past secondary fermentation then in my view humidity is not a concern if you have gone on to solid bungs.....humidity would be a concern for aging in bottles w cork, natural or if you were using wood barrels ( i am assuming you are using carboys?)..........if you have a solid bung that is well secured then that takes care of the real humidity concern and that is in the carboy

if you insist on using air locks then you can easily monitor humidity by just watching the liquid level in the air lock and making sure it never gets low enough to let air in...afterall you will have created a wet seal that you can view

other simple ideas would be to place the carboy in a large plastic bag and seal tight....be careful about a humidifier in such a small space as a closet as you could theoretically create a mold issue

just some thoughts