lostboys Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 (edited) I see this a lot when im browsing for books on Ebay. "These books have been stored in a climate controlled environment!" But is that always a good thing? I came into the office today and it was HOT as hell in here. Got me to thinking: This would not be a good environment for storing comics even though Its a climate controlled environment. What do you all do in the winter when you have to crank up the heat in the house? I live in Rhode Island and it gets pretty cold in the winter so I leave the windows in my comic room open a few inches to let most of the heat out. The door stays closed at all times. My comic room is pretty cold BUT is that just as bad as too warm? Edited February 21, 2023 by lostboys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 My home is always 66-72 degrees. lostboys and KCOComics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelmaniac Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 On 2/21/2023 at 11:21 AM, theCapraAegagrus said: My home is always 66-72 degrees. Most people's homes are in that area winter and summer, you want the temp and humidity to be as stable as possible, the more the book has to expand/contract/adapt to changes in temp and humidity the faster it will degrade. If you store your books at home, which is a controlled environment, away from all UV light, away from sources of heat/coldness and moisture, and the books are bagged/boarded/boxed properly the books should outlive you. (Mylites are highly recommended) DO NOT store comics in an unfinished basement, unfinished garage or attic as this will cause rapid deterioration of your books. https://www.ala.org/alcts/sites/ala.org.alcts/files/content/_MeltzerBkmk16.pdf https://www.preservationequipment.com/Blog/Blog-Posts/How-to-store-comic-books-complete-guide https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/comics.html jcjames 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzimodo Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 Unfortunately, due to space considerations I really have no choice but to store the bulk of my collection in the unfinished basement. I can't exactly kick my kids out of their bedrooms, and my wife would probably become my ex-wife pretty quickly if my comics started taking over the living areas. I try to mitigate things as well as I can, though. We've never had any water issues down there (knock on wood), and we have good grading outside to keep any water flowing away from the house. I use a dehumidifier to keep the relative humidity around 40%. (My house is a four-level split, so the unfinished basement is relatively small and easier to control than a full-sized basement probably would be.) I use shelving to keep my books up off the floor and don't stack boxes on top of each other when I can help it. I do keep my GI Joe collection a level up in my office/toy room, which is fully finished and more climate controlled. Once the kids graduate, I may try to push my luck and take over one of the bedrooms upstairs for comics, but until then, my comics are stuck in the basement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valiantman Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 On 2/21/2023 at 9:43 AM, lostboys said: I see this a lot when im browsing for books on Ebay. "These books have been stored in a climate controlled environment!" But is that always a good thing? After seeing comics stored in garages and attics in 99% humidity and 140 degree heat (Fahrenheit), 60 degree (Celcius) in an attic (yes, it's true), any attempt at climate control is automatically a winner vs. the alternative. greggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanlinc Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Yeah my comics sat in my non climate controlled attic for almost 20 years. Bear in mind I thought them basically having little to no value at the time. I was worried when I started going through them that I had done some long-term damage by keeping them up there but they seemed to have come out unscathed. I can't see any problems that weren't already there and out of the 50 or so that have been graded there has been alot in the 9.4 to 9.8 range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Isn't there a lot of humidity in Florida?--you know, where CGC stores your books for a year? Larryw7 and Pizza Boy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator CGC Mike Posted February 23, 2023 Administrator Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 2/21/2023 at 7:14 PM, Axe Elf said: Isn't there a lot of humidity in Florida?--you know, where CGC stores your books for a year? The books are stored in a heat/humidity controlled environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
