Category Archives: Accessories

I’ve been using the Govee WiFi and Bluetooth humidity and temperature sensors in my humidors for a while now, and recently got some of their new ones to try out. I got three of them (actually four, one comes in a handy two pack). The first one is the WiFi Smart Thermo Hygrometer, Model H5179. The batteries were included in the device, it just had a strip of plastic that needed to be removed for the batteries to make contact. The Bluetooth pairing and WiFi connection were very simple through the app (which I already had from having multiple other devices). There’s no display on this device, so everything is monitored through the app, Temperature, humidity, along with historical data for something like a year. You can also set alerts for highs and lows so if there are spikes in your humidor you can address them before any long term damage is done. This also had a mounting bracket and a lanyard (the later of which serves no purpose in my application). I will probably mount this in my primary cabinet humidor.

 

The second one is the Bluetooth Smart Thermometer, Model 5174, which is very much the same as the above, in a smaller form factor, without WiFi, and without the mounting bracket. Once again, the batteries are included so it’s ready to go. The instruction booklet is clear and concise, and most of the setup is done through the app anyway. Like the H5179, it has a blue light that blinks every 30 seconds when it takes a reading, which will turn red when the batteries get to 15%, so if you aren’t paying attention to the app you can remember to change them. I’m not sure which humidor I’m going to put this in, probably my large desktop humidor where I put the cigars that I plan to feature, and new arrivals. The older Govee Mini Smart Hygrometer I had in there seems to have drifted to the high side on the humidity reading and I don’t think there’s a way to fix that. I’m going to try resetting it by removing the battery and putting it back in and see what happens, but it might just be replaced. (As of this writing, this unit appears to be unavailable. Not sure why or when it will be available again, no worries, there are options!)

 

Finally the third item is the Smart Thermo-Hygrometer, Model H5101, which has a nice, large 1.8” digital display. I got the two-pack, which is around $20, quite a deal. These have a little tab in the back to make a stand for on a shelf or table, otherwise I suspect some velcro or magnets could be used. I had an older, similar model that didn’t impress me too much, the humidity readings were low compared with other gauges, so I use that in the living room. These seem to be spot on. I conducted a test over the last six weeks or thereabouts, where I placed all four units in a tray with a known good hygrometer and just left them there to do their thing. As you can see in the screen shots from the app, they all are, more or less, right on. Considering the spec is +/- 3% for humidity and +/- .54°f for temp, they are fine. I like that I can see the humidity levels in all of my humidors from one app, when one has six or seven humidors, that’s an issue. I know that there are retailers that have deployed these in their club lockers so they can keep track of them. Even if they aren’t dead on accurate, which they seem to be pretty close,

you can track trends, and sometimes that’s more important to cigars than the actual numbers. Anyway, I’m a fan of these devices, I bought one of their wireless doorbells for my house too. They work well, they look nice, and don’t break the bank. Full disclosure, the Amazon links included here are affiliate links tied to my account, so any sales will drop a couple cents my way. I’ve never gotten paid by Amazon yet, so it’s purely optimistic on my part.

 

Cigar Aficionado’s list came out last week, of course there was much controversy. People need to realize the target audience of that list is not the same cigar geek crowd that reads cigar blogs and is into boutique cigars. Personally, I think the EPC Pledge is an amazing cigar, and I’m going to try to get my hands on a few more. I smoked the EPC Encore this week, which was number one a few years ago, and people couldn’t figure out why that made number one. It clearly was number one because the tasting panel loved it, as it’s a really good tasting cigar and suited that panels palate! The one I had I had purchased the day after the results came out, so it had rested what, three years? It was delicious, I think the Nicaraguan wrapper must be a Sumatra seed varietal, because it had that flavor, and I know Ernesto is a fan of the Sumatra. I also smoked the Alec and Bradley Gatekeeper, which was also made by Ernesto. This was pretty high on the list, and is a good cigar. I can’t say that I would put it high on my list, it was a good cigar, but not particularly memorable or a stand out to me. But that’s me, and I don’t do a list, and if I did, nobody would be taking a copy of it in to shops asking for cigars that are on it! I guarantee every shop in the country has had customers coming in asking for cigars on CAs list this week. It drives sales.

 

I need to pick a winner of the Groovy Guy Gifts Good To Go Cigar Case today. I also will need to throw some more cigars in, three, you see, just isn’t enough. That will be a surprise for the lucky winner! As you know, I have a thorough process of double random selection, just to keep things fair. There was a very small pool of long-time readers who entered. Tim McCabe is the winner this time! Please send me your address and proof that you’re old and I’ll get this shipped out to you! Thanks to Groovy Guy Gifts for this cool item! Check them out!

 

That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig