When I talk to a lot of people in the Oaks and Phoenixville area about climate controlled storage, many of them see its value during the winter months. in the winter, they imagine going into a toasty warm building to check on their storage, retrieve Christmas decorations or get out something that didn’t mean to store in the first place. They understand that winter here means cold rain and snow and they believe that their stuff is better protected in climate controlled storage. And, they’re right.
But if you ask the same people about their storage preferences in the summer, many of them have no idea why an air-conditioned building is better. My stuff will be fine in a drive-up unit is a phrase I hear all too often in the summer. Most of the time, they’re mostly right. Mostly.
While our drive up units are several inches off the ground and stay dry under most normal weather conditions, the walls and roof and high floor do nothing to keep out the heat and humidity. I’m sure we’ve all seen the memes about how hot your car gets when parked in the sun on a summer day. Now, imagine how hot it might get in a steel box sitting in an asphalt parking lot. Our drive up units are subject to all the outdoor elements. That means on a day like today when it’s 78 degrees in Audubon and the humidity is sitting at 47% those storage units are hot and humid. Then as the day cools off, certain things — fabrics, cardboard and unfinished wood — give that moisture from the air a place to collect.
In a climate controlled storage area, the air conditioning helps keep the moisture from accumulating and as a result keeps your stuff in better condition.
Drive up storage is great for tools, items stored in plastic, appliances, and hundreds of other things, but if you are storing household furniture with cushions, books, or clothes that could be ruined because of the humidity, check out the prices of climate controlled storage. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Other items that absolutely should not be stored in your outdoor storage unit include record albums, photographs, or candles which will melt in the summer heat. Many electronic devices are also susceptible to heat and should be stored in climate controlled areas.