Is It Safe to Store Electronics and Photos in a Non Climate Unit in North Texas?

Lifetime Climate Controlled Storage is at 400 W Park Avenue, Iowa Park, TX 76367, about 10 to 14 miles west of Wichita Falls. Our building is climate controlled and our 12 outdoor containers are not, which means the question in the heading is one we can answer without a sales motive.

The short answer: is it safe to store electronics and photos in a non climate unit in North Texas?

No, and Lifetime Climate Controlled Storage in Iowa Park, Texas will say so plainly even though we rent both climate controlled indoor units and non climate outdoor containers: we would not put electronics or photographs in the non climate ones through a North Texas summer. A closed metal unit can reach 120 degrees inside on a July afternoon, heat like that shortens battery and component life, humidity corrodes boards and contacts, and photo prints stick together and mildew. Every unit inside our main building is held between roughly 55 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit with relative humidity kept below about 60 percent all year. For comparison, the National Archives advises keeping family papers and photographs below 75 degrees and below 65 percent relative humidity and out of damp basements, garages, and hot attics, and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission recommends 65 to 72 degrees and 45 to 55 percent for records, so a stable indoor unit is the right neighborhood and a metal drive-up unit is not.

What a North Texas summer does to electronics

A non climate storage unit tracks the weather outside almost exactly, and then adds to it. Steel walls and a metal roof over a sealed box in full sun run hotter than the air around them, which is how a closed unit can reach 120 degrees inside by early afternoon in July, on the afternoons when the air outside clears 100. Nothing in that unit gets a night off either: it swings from that peak down toward the overnight low and back up again, every day, for as long as your things are in there.

• Batteries. Lithium-ion cells in laptops, phones, tablets, tools, and anything with a rechargeable pack lose capacity faster at high temperature, and a swollen cell can damage the device around it. Pull removable batteries out before a long store.
• Boards and contacts. Humidity is the quieter half of the problem. Damp air corrodes connector pins, ribbon contacts, and solder joints, and the damage shows up as a device that will not boot months later rather than as visible rust.
• Capacitors and power supplies. Heat is hard on the electrolytic capacitors in a power supply, which is why the supply inside a TV or an amplifier is a common failure point after a long hot store.
• Drives and media. Hard drives, magnetic tape, and optical discs all age faster warm and damp. Back up anything irreplaceable before it goes into storage, whatever kind of unit it is going into.
• Vinyl and adhesives. Vinyl records warp above 90 degrees, and the glues holding speaker cones, laminates, and book bindings together soften and creep in sustained heat.

What two public archives recommend for photographs and paper

We would rather point at somebody with no stake in your rental than make up numbers. Both of these are public preservation pages we checked on 3 September 2026.

The National Archives, in its guidance on storing family papers and photographs, says to keep the temperature below 75 degrees Fahrenheit and relative humidity below 65 percent to prevent mold growth and reduce insect activity, and to store items out of damp basements, garages, and hot attics. It also notes that very dry air, under about 15 percent relative humidity, causes brittleness, so the goal is a steady middle rather than simply dry.

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission is more specific for records, recommending storage between 65 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit and between 45 and 55 percent relative humidity, and it explains why: temperature and relative humidity impact mold growth, insect infestation, warping, paper brittleness, and other physical and chemical decay. Its practical instruction is the sentence that matters most to anyone comparing storage units. Avoid uncontrolled storage environments like attics, basements, and storage sheds. A steel container in a Texas parking lot is the same category of space as the shed in that sentence.

What our building holds, and how you can check it

Every indoor unit at Lifetime sits inside one insulated, interior-corridor building that is heated and cooled as a single climate envelope. We hold it between roughly 55 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit with relative humidity kept below about 60 percent, all year, and the equipment runs year round rather than being switched off between seasons. That band is published here rather than hidden behind the phrase climate controlled, so you can hold us to a number instead of a word.

Now the honest part. Our upper bound of 80 degrees sits above the 75 degree ceiling the National Archives suggests, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The gap that actually decides whether your photographs survive is not 75 against 80. It is 80 against the 120 a closed metal unit can reach on a July afternoon, and humidity held under 60 percent against humidity that tracks whatever the weather outside is doing.

You do not have to take our word for any of it, and here is how you check. Every tenant has 24/7 access, so you can walk into the building on an August afternoon or a January night and stand in your own unit, and you are welcome to keep a thermometer or a hygrometer in there and read it whenever you visit. We will also tell you what we do not do: we do not publish logs, and we do not offer a guarantee on temperature or humidity. We would rather publish the range and the limits than a guarantee we cannot stand behind. For the full detail on the humidity half, see our humidity controlled storage in Iowa Park page.

How to pack electronics and photographs

The unit does the work of holding conditions steady. Packing does the rest, and most of it costs nothing.

• Use the original boxes if you kept them, or rigid plastic bins with lids. Cardboard alone is fine indoors, but it wicks moisture off a concrete floor.
• Get everything off the floor. A pallet, a shelf, or a couple of scrap boards under the stack is the single cheapest thing you can do for boxed paper.
• Cover with something breathable. A sheet or moving blanket over a stack keeps dust off. Sealed plastic wrap traps whatever humidity was in the box on packing day.
• Remove batteries from remotes, tools, flashlights, and toys, and store loose cables coiled rather than bent tight.
• Box photographs, do not bag them. Prints standing upright in a rigid box, ideally in paper or archival sleeves, hold their shape. Loose prints in a plastic bag are how emulsions end up stuck to each other.
• Store albums and records vertically like books on a shelf, never in a flat stack where the weight bears down on the bottom of the pile.
• Leave a gap for air. A hand width between the stack and the wall lets the corridor air reach the back of the unit.

Which unit fits electronics and photo boxes

Most people storing gear, albums, and document boxes need less space than they expect. A 5x5 takes a wall of boxes, a 5x7 adds room to walk in and reach the back, and the 9x10 and 10x10 sizes are the usual step up once furniture joins the load, which brings its own rules covered on our page about storing wood furniture, antiques and pianos. Every indoor size includes temperature and humidity control at the base rate, with no climate upcharge and no teaser rate, so the number you book at is the number you pay.

Live availability and current pricing for every size, including the larger 9x14 and 12x14 rooms, are on the homepage. Renting online is quick and works at any hour: complete the rental agreement, payment, and protection requirements online, and access instructions are sent automatically, normally within about 1 hour. Same-day move-in is usually available, with no office visit needed.

What the outdoor containers are for instead

Alongside the indoor building we rent 12 outdoor 8x20 drive-up containers with roll-up doors you park directly in front of. They are not climate controlled, they are priced below the indoor units, and they currently come with 50% off your first full month applied automatically at checkout. They are the right call for tools, mowers, shop equipment, lawn and patio gear, and business stock that shrugs off a hot afternoon. They are the wrong call for anything on this page. If you are weighing the two, our climate controlled versus standard storage comparison is honest about when the cheaper unit is the better buy. We rent to household and business goods only, and we do not offer vehicle, RV, boat, or trailer storage.

Electronics and photo storage FAQ