Whether you have upgraded your TV or want to keep your TV away for some time, the garage is one of the storage spaces to consider.
However, the television has electronic components susceptible to humidity and temperature, which brings the question of whether it’s safe to keep a TV in a cold garage.
So, Can You Store a TV in A Cold Garage?
The answer is Yes! You can store a tv in a cold garage. A TV can’t get cold, provided you can slowly bring it back up to normal temperature. The temperatures in the garage should not vary much over twenty-four hours, plus the air during winter is dryer; therefore, when you kick on the heater, the tv should be just fine. The cold itself does not hurt a television, so it’s okay to keep a tv in a cold garage.
However, if you take the cold TV indoors and turn it on immediately, its electronic components may suffer irreversible damage.
After you bring it back inside your home, you should allow the TV to sit for a while (for about a hour) to allow for condensation eradication before you plug it in.
Most LED, and LCD sets are rated for storing in temperatures around -4 degrees Fahrenheit.
In case the garage becomes colder during wintertime, you might consider taking some caution.
Preferably, you should keep an LCD TV in temps ranging from 40 to 100 degrees F to prevent the crystal fluid from becoming icy.
You can still keep the TV in colder weather, but some guidelines are to follow. You should not store an LCD TV in temperatures below-20 degrees F.
How Can You Store The TV In the Garage Properly?
While the tv is one of the delicate items to store in the garage, here are a few tricks and precautions to help ensure your tv remains in great shape.
1. Clean The TV And Cables
Before boxing up your TV for storage, the first thing you will want to do is clean it thoroughly.
Huge dust can get into your TV’s air vent and damage the internal parts.
Even small dust amounts sitting on your TV’s screen can scratch it.
To eliminate the dust, you can either use a soft cloth made of cotton or microfiber or a compressed air duster.
2. Secure It in A Package
This will be an easy process if you have the TV package with the shielding covers, padding inserts, and the rightly sized television box you purchased it with.
If not, properly packaging your television will be much more challenging.
However, even if you lack the purchasing box, here are additional steps to secure your TV screen.
Protect The Screen
While you can opt to purchase a rightly sized heavy-duty cover to protect your TV, the covers can be highly expensive.
The alternative option is using household materials such as comforters or soft, thick blankets.
You should avoid any blankets with rough or soft parts such as zippers, buttons, or rough threads from contacting your screen.
Package It In A Box
After swaddling it in blankets, it is still important to slide the TV into a cardboard box because blankets won’t protect the screen from the hardest hit as thick cardboard will.
Add Extra Packing If Necessary
As long as you first wrap your TV in a blanket or dust sleeve, adding bubble wrap, Styrofoam peanuts, balled-up paper, or foam wrap is a good idea for extra protection.
If the tv is wiggling back and forth when inside the box, you should add extra packaging materials to stop it from moving.
Remember that modern TVs often feature a stand, so ensure to detach the stand before placing the TV in the box.
Also, remove any cords that you can unplug, wrap them carefully and store them in the box with the TV.
You can consider securing the remote control on the padded TV using tape to ensure it won’t get dislocated.
3. Climate-Controlled Environment
Regardless of how well you have packed your TV, you will need to consider the environment you are keeping carefully.
Both cold and hot temperatures are not good for your television.
The most significant danger is the humidity that can cause the temperature to build up in the electronic components of your TV.
While you can store your tv in a cold garage, extreme cold can make parts of your TV warp.
The best way of protecting your TV from humidity and temperature is to keep it in a climate or temperature-controlled storage unit.
The small pockets full of silica globules often found in machine packaging, commonly referred to as desiccant pouches, assist in protecting the electronic against dampness by absorbing the humidity in the air.
You can purchase desiccant pouches at random electronics stores.
These can be useful in providing extra protection measures but are not a safe substitute for climate control in areas with high humidity.
4. Keep The TV Upright
All the efforts to clean, pack and find the ideal environment for your TV will be of no use if you keep the tv improperly in your storage unit.
You should always store the TV upright. Keeping your TV screen facing down is always an idea you should never try.
On the other hand, you should only keep the screen facing up if you are sure not to stack anything on top of it.
Even when you keep the TV upright, you should ensure that nothing will put pressure on the screen.
You can do this by sliding the television between two of the heaviest and largest items in your garage or storage store.
Flat and wide surfaces such as the back of headboards, sofas, and bookshelves work perfectly.
Alternatively, you can keep the screen facing toward the wall to ensure the screen will not be facing any sharp objects or corners that can accidentally crack the screen.
Bottom Line
That’s it! While you can keep your TV in a cold garage, you should ensure you take the needed storage precautions.
Prepare ahead, clean the tv and cables, park it sturdily, label it smartly, and store it in a climate-controlled environment.
All these easy steps will help ensure your television’s safe and long life. Also, get help when moving the tv if it’s very large.
