Humidity in an electric Wine Refrigerator

I recently picked up an 8-bottle Wine Enthusiast Wine Refrigerator for a decent price. I’m not looking to age any wine for 10+ years, maybe 5 years max and it’s mostly for keeping wine through the summer. I am a little worried about keeping a decent humidity level in the fridge. I currently have a little cup of water on the bottom but it’s taking up a spot that could be used for another bottle. If anyone had any suggestions on how to keep up the humidity, I would be grateful.

Depending upon where you live, just the outside air alone could be enough.

I live in Northern Jersey near NYC. I’m guessing it will be okay during the summer, but should I worry in the winter months when the air is dry?

In Colorado the humidity in our house rarely gets above 40% and in Winter it drops closer to 30%. I have three coolers and they all form a little condensation in them just from outside air. I have never added any water and I have no drying issues.

Thanks for the knowledge!

For those bottles you’re just storing through the summer I would think humidity wouldn’t matter.

Jerome,

8-bottle? Eight? And now you’re down to seven because of the cup of water?

Right. It’s sort of like not leaving the house unless you’re wearing a hard hat and a hazmat suit.

You don’t need an eight bottle unit. If it gets into the 90s in your house or apartment, you can keep the wine in your fridge and if it doesn’t get too hot, you can keep them in the basement or something.

And I’m not sure why you would worry about humidity at all. There are many “experts” and countless blogs confidently stating that there is some optimum level of humidity, but I have not seen controlled studies with any meaningful sample sizes that clearly demonstrate the difference between various levels of humidity after two, five, ten, twenty and thirty years. And if you are really convinced that your corks will dry out, wrap the bottle tops with Saran wrap or something, or seal them with an impermeable resin. You’ll never have to worry about keeping them humid or on their sides.

I got the 8 bottle unit because my apartment gets really hot in the summer mornings and afternoons when no one is home, into the 80s, then cools down when we get home at turn the AC on. I didn’t want to keep wine in a closet or something with the temperatures fluctuating that much.

I guess I will remove the cup of water without any worry and put another bottle in. Thanks for the input all.