No matter what stage of life you’re in, whether it’s moving back home, relocating to a big city, or experiencing a major life event, you may need to store delicate belongings that require protection from extreme temperatures. An indoor climate-controlled storage unit can provide that safeguard! Read our guide below to discover the benefits of a climate-controlled storage unit and learn when you should choose this option over a traditional storage unit.
- What Is Climate-Controlled Storage?
- What Are the Benefits of Climate-Controlled Storage?
- How Do I Know if I Need Climate-Controlled Storage?
- What Should Be Kept in Climate-Controlled Storage?
What Is Climate-Controlled Storage?
Climate control helps maintain a consistent temperature inside a storage unit—typically ranging from 55 to 80 degrees—to help protect your belongings from temperature fluctuations throughout the year.
Options for climate-controlled storage may also include:
- Air-Cooled Storage: This type of storage unit uses a ventilation system to maintain a consistent temperature by circulating cool air to help prevent heat-related damage.
- Heated Storage: This storage option uses a heating system to maintain a warm environment in your unit to help prevent items from getting damaged by cold temperatures.
- Humidity-Controlled Storage: These units help regulate moisture levels to prevent excessive humidity and protect items from mold, mildew, and corrosion.
The best climate-controlled storage solution for you will depend on your location, local climate, and what you plan to store. While temperature-controlled storage units will typically be more expensive than storage units that don’t have this amenity, they help provide you peace of mind when storing valuable items.
What Are the Benefits of Climate-Controlled Storage?
There are several advantages to renting a climate-controlled storage unit. Here are some benefits to consider when making your decision.
Protection from Extreme Temperatures
Depending on where you live, temperatures can fluctuate from over 90 degrees in the summer to below freezing in the winter. If you live in a climate that experiences drastic temperature changes, climate-controlled self storage can help protect your belongings from damage caused by extreme heat and cold, since these storage units generally maintain temperatures between 55 and 80 degrees year-round. This temperature regulation can be especially important for sensitive items like wood furniture, antiques, and musical instruments, which can suffer from warping, splitting, or cracking if there are constant changes in your storage unit’s temperature.
Better Air Quality
Because climate-controlled self-storage units must maintain a specific temperature range, they are sealed tightly, and the air inside is continuously circulated. If you plan to store electronics or paper-based items, air quality should be high on your priority list of storage considerations to help make sure they don’t break down while in storage.
An Additional Barrier from Dust, Debris, & Pests
Temperature-controlled self storage units are often located inside buildings with professionally sealed and insulated roofs, walls, and floors. In conjunction with regular airflow and humidity control, indoor storage units are generally less susceptible to collecting dust over time. Additionally, since these units are indoors, you won’t need to worry as much about pollen, dirt, snow, and rainwater being tracked in and affecting your belongings. Because these types of units aren’t directly in contact with the outdoors, they also help you keep pests like mice and bugs out of your unit and away from your items.
Humidity Control Provides Even More Protection
Depending on the region, you may experience drastic changes in humidity, leaving sensitive and valuable items susceptible to damage from too much or too little moisture in the air. For this reason, some climate-controlled storage spaces also feature humidity control. Humidity-controlled storage is especially important for items like antique furniture, as too high or low of a humidity level can cause furniture in non-climate-controlled storage to warp, crack, craze, or rot. Items like paper-based collectibles, paintings, books, and business documents can also suffer from several negative effects due to excess moisture or dryness, including wrinkling, warping, fading, becoming brittle, or sticking together.
*Note: Some humidity-controlled storage units are available without climate control.
Built-In Peace of Mind
It’s no surprise that climate-controlled storage prices tend to be higher than standard storage. After all, self storage with climate control results in an added operational cost for storage facilities. But when it comes down to it, this slight price increase does not outweigh the peace of mind you’re given knowing you’ve taken appropriate precautions to protect your items from harsh seasonal changes and weather-related damage.
How Do I Know if I Need Climate-Controlled Storage?
What you need to store will help you decide if climate-controlled storage is necessary. Non-climate-controlled self storage will typically work for items like lawn equipment, tools, and outdoor furniture. However, climate-controlled storage is highly recommended for more delicate or valuable items like antiques, musical instruments, electronics, and fine art. Climate control helps protect valuables from extreme temperature fluctuations that can damage, warp, or ruin wood, electronics, plastics, wax, and more. If you’re placing items like these in storage, you’ll want to consider all the advantages of climate-controlled storage units and humidity-controlled units.
When deciding whether or not you need climate-controlled storage, ask yourself these questions:
- Do your belongings need to be kept at specific temperatures to maintain their quality?
- Are your items rare, sentimental, or valuable?
- Are your items at risk of expanding, contracting, freezing, or melting due to extreme temperatures?
- Are your items at risk of warping, cracking, discoloring, or developing mold and mildew if they encounter excess humidity or dryness?
What Should Be Kept in Climate-Controlled Storage?
If you’re still trying to decide between climate-controlled vs. non-climate-controlled storage, here are some common items that should typically be stored at climate-controlled storage facilities:
- Antiques
- Artwork
- Books and magazines
- Clothing (particularly delicate materials like silk or lace)
- Collectibles (stamps, coins, wine, vinyl records, etc.)
- Electronics
- Furniture
- Important documents
- Leather goods (jackets or furniture)
- Mattresses
- Medical supplies and equipment
- Musical instruments
- Photographs and photo albums
- Rugs
Learn more about which items need climate control by checking out the more in-depth list on our climate-controlled storage page.
Other Helpful Storage Guides
Looking for more information on self storage? Check out our comprehensive storage guides below:
- How To Clean Out a Storage Unit
- Storage Unit FAQs – Renting a Storage Unit
- How to Organize a Self-Storage Unit for Frequent Access
- How to Store Furniture in a Garage or Storage Unit The Right Way
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If you need to protect delicate items from harsh temperatures or humidity, Life Storage has plenty of climate-controlled storage facilities across the country. Find a storage facility near you!
This post was originally published 03/25/2013, and last revised on 07/18/2024 with updated information.
