Today we’re converting a wine refrigerator into a humidor! Follow along as I upgrade my personal humidor, or, should I say “humidors,” and convert this Wine Enthusiast wine fridge into a “wineador.”
At the beginning of January 2022, I found a 6′ tall, used, and abused Wine Enthusiast wine refrigerator on the Facebook Marketplace. After asking for dimensions, getting a few additional photos, and going to see the refrigerator, I decided the experiment would be worth my $400.
Additional Accessories Installed:
(All Accessories are explained in detail below)
NOTE: Huge thank you to my friend Kevin Shahan (aka Cigar Prop) for helping me convert this wine fridge into a humidor. He was always available to answer questions, and I asked a ton! Thanks, Kevin!
One of the first things I looked for was the aesthetic of the unit. In other words, will this thing look good in my house? In my head, the answer was yes, so I moved forward.
The next thing I knew I wanted was drawers that pulled out. I have two other, much smaller, humidors with doors (as opposed to lids). One of them has drawers that don’t pull out, the other has drawers that do. Inevitably, every time I go to find a cigar to smoke, I pull the drawers out to see what I’ve got. So, with the “wineador,” I knew I wanted drawers that could slide out so I could see the cigars.
Dual Plug w/ Timer
Honestly, it’s not important which timer you purchase. And, after the fact, I learned that the main reason Kevin doesn’t leave his fans on all the time is that his wineador (very similar to mine) is in his bedroom, and he doesn’t want fan noise keeping him awake at night. Apparently, he wants to be able to sleep. However, the fans I’ve picked are almost silent, even with the door open. You could leave them on all the time, or, with a timer, you could put them on a schedule.
Mini Hygrometer
I think I tried to save a buck here. I could’ve had 4 of the normal hygrometers below, but I tried to save money, especially if I didn’t need to see historical (high and low) temperatures and humidities. I like the Govees I purchased, but I wish I could find some that let me check the conditions inside the humidor from anywhere in the world. With these, the data synced to the tablet I keep with the humidor doesn’t get uploaded to “the cloud” where I can view it remotely on my phone.
Normal Hygrometers
With the larger hygrometers, I wanted to be able to look at the face of it and see what the conditions had been inside the humidor over the past few days. Since the mini hygrometers don’t show that information, I got these. I like them, but, as I said above, I wish they synced data to a cloud so I could view the temperature and humidity remotely. Ya, I’m a little obsessed.
120mm Fans
I really spent a lot of time picking out these fans, and I’m glad I picked these. While large, they do a great job, and, as I said, they’re almost silent inside the humidor. If you’re going to convert a wineador into a humidor, you’re going to need circulation. As mentioned in the video, larger fans can spin slower to create the same airflow, so you don’t have to turn these up to get good circulation inside your humidor. And, because they plug into the dual plug w/ timer (see above), you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to get USB cables into your humidor.
LED Lights
These just look awesome. Oh, they also help you see inside your wineador that has a black interior and solid walls on five sides. One thing I might change is something requested by my wife, she said, “I would be cool if those lights were RGB.” Well, not only did she use the right term (which was also impressive), but she might’ve had a point; changing the colors might be cool. I’m still not sure. If I were to get LED lights that changed color, I’d go with these RGBIC lights from Govee so I could control them from the same app as I use to monitor the hygrometers.
Spanish Cedar Trays
As I said in the video, Spanish cedar is great, but it’s hella expensive right now. These trays are great because you can move them around, take them out so you can see the cigars inside, stack them… the list goes on. Oh, and they’re good for your cigars. I chose these because A) they were a good price, B) because they came in bulk, and C) because they were deep enough to hold several layers of cigars stacked on top of one another. I also measured the shelves inside my wineador to make sure they’d fit the way I wanted them to – don’t forget to do that.
Cigar Oasis Magna 3.0
Other than the wine refrigerator itself, the Cigar Oasis Magna 3.0 was the biggest investment. Ya, you could spend several hundred dollars just on shelves, but the Magna 3.0 is a whopping $299.99 by itself. Plus, there’s a $20 a year subscription required to monitor and control the unit from your phone. But when it comes to a wineador of this size, or any tower humidor (aka cabinet humidor), you’re going to need something for humidification and little brown packets aren’t going to cut it.
However, I do have two observations about the Cigar Oasis Magna 3.0. First, the plastic flaps that cover the “airflow flaps” (seen on the left of the unit shown above), seem cheap. While they’re likely highly functional and do a good job of sealing in moisture, they seem like they could be easily torn. Second, I’d increase the size of the fans on the Magna, or, perhaps include one giant fan that would be quieter. When the fans on the Magna spin up I can hear it from the other room. All said and done though, a great unit I would buy and use again.
Command Strips
If you’re not using command strips for everything I don’t know what to say to you. These are great for mounting the hygrometers to the walls and ceiling of your humidor. If you mess up or want to move what you mounted, you just pull the tab and start over. And, since these have velcro on them, you can easily pull the hygrometer off the wall to replace the battery.
Flat Extension Cord
While you might think, “oh, an extension cord isn’t all that important,” it is. You have to be able to plug in your fans, lights, humidification system, and maybe a lot more. A thin extension cord could have a smaller gap in your gasket, or, as in my case, it could fit better behind the shelves when they’re all the way back. Make sure you get one that’s grounded (three-prong) and rated for outdoor use to help handle the humidity.
Total Cost of My Wineador Build:
$400.00 for Wine Refridgerator (Used)
$7.99 for Plug w/ Timer
$21.99 for 2 Mini Hygrometers
$25.00 for 2 Normal Hygrometers
$39.99 for EACH SET of Fans
$27.99 for LED Lights
$69.95 for 5 Spanish Cedar Trays
$299.99 for Cigar Oasis Magna 3.0
$15.04 for 16 sets of Command Strips
$16.99 for the flat extension cord
GRAND TOTAL: $964.93
Would I Build a Wineador Again?
Absolutely, yes.
However, converting this wine refrigerator into a cigar humidor did take a lot of work. This unit is heavy. It weighs somewhere in the range of 250 pounds, and it took three people to get it into the bed of a truck, two to get it into the garage and into the house. I also had to get a 2-wheel dolly to move it. Then it had to be cleaned and outfitted with the accessories above. The process took several days, but I think it was worth it.
So not only “yes, I would convert a wine fridge into a cigar humidor” but I’ve already got 2 more planned. The first is the college dorm-size fridge I mentioned in the video. The second is another larger unit like I’ve shown you today. Stick around and you might see a video of that process in the future.
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