Making The Most Of Your Climate-Controlled Storage Unit

Climate-controlled storage units help protect your belongings from extreme temperatures and too much humidity, and they are a wonderful resource to have when you need to move items out of your home. Making the most of your storage unit will make the storage experience even better, and there are a few easy steps you can take to maximize your use of the space.

Further Reducing Humidity

The climate control feature removes a lot of excess moisture from the air on humid days, but because the temperature control in the unit is general -- the facility will keep the unit within a certain range of temperatures, but it won't necessarily be at a perfect temperature all the time -- there may still be more humidity in the unit than you personally like. Add an anti-humidity feature like those special packs of absorbent material that suck moisture out of the air, lowering humidity. You can buy these are stores dedicated to storage solutions and home improvement.

Keeping Food Out

Climate control does not mean the unit will be like a cool pantry that you can use for food. Even if you were planning to wrap the food up well, pests could still find their way into your unit if they sense there's food in there. Keep food out, including canned goods, which can burst open if there's an accident and the box the cans are in falls down.

Packing and Placement of Audio/Video

Climate-control units aren't airtight, and the areas around the door or any other openings will be less stable in terms of temperature. Audio and video goods need climate control, though, to prevent the items from melting or freezing. Pack audio and video goods well, wrapping them in plastic and sealing them up in a box completely. Place the boxes toward the center of the unit, away from all doors, to prevent the items from being exposed to higher or lower temperatures than is optimal for that material.

Taking Advantage of Better Airflow

It's important in any storage unit to leave some space between boxes to let air flow between them. This flow of air allows the boxes to stay relatively dry and prevents pockets of extra humidity from building up. In a climate-controlled unit where humidity is reduced, the airflow doesn't need to be as pronounced. You do still need good airflow, but you can pack your boxes more closely together if needed.

Once you start storing items in a climate-controlled storage unit, you won't want to go back to regular storage. The facility you rent at may also have supplies for sale to really make packing the unit easy.

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