Anyone else worried about what this heat is doing to their collection?

[edd_jedi]

The ambient temperature in my office / collection room is 31.7° at the moment, it barely drops below 29° overnight. For the last few days it's been too hot to work in there so I've been using the ground floor living room, which is still 25° but a lot more bearable.

We used to get the odd hot day but this has been the third heat wave already this year in the UK, we've had 8 days above 34° which is a record apparently, making it hotter than the famous 1976 summer. Our British houses are built to keep heat in, and are just not suitable for these temperatures. As per my thread in off topic portable air conditioners are sold out everywhere, with twats on eBay selling them for three times the price they usually sell for.

Now obviously these toys were made in the far east and probably transported over here in sweaty shipping containers, but after 40+ years is the glue going to start breaking down or plastic melting in this heat? I used to think American collectors talking about their "climate controlled collection rooms" were mad or had more money than sense, but after the last month I'm starting to wonder if they were on to something. I appreciate it gets a lot hotter than this in other countries, but (as with seemingly everything) we are woefully underprepared for it.

Anyone else worried, or taken evasive action of some kind?

 

[lejackal]

I'd certainly be concerned if I had a decent collection

 

[db94]

I have quite a lot of stuff stored up in my loft. Mostly modern, but I don't think it's ideal for plastic toys.
Also have a lot in garage which is lovely and cool in summer but baltic in winter.
Best I've managed so far is a frost protection wall mounted tube heater in garage and leaving the hatch open in summer for loft.
Last year I bought a big floor fan and had it set up on bungee cords at hatch blowing cool air in but it didn't make any real difference to the temp up there.
We do have UV/heat reflective film on the window where my vintage is on display and that definitely keeps the room a good bit cooler. Never open the blinds in that room either.
Thankfully we're not experiencing the kind of temps your getting down South

 

[Beeper383]

In short yes. Mine's in a converted loft where I also often work, but, was forced downstairs by the last heatwave. This one wasn't quite as bad.

I try to vent the room to allow cooling, but, balancing ventilation with not allowing direct sunlight in. So in summary a damned if you do damned if you don't lesser of evils.

My life is really busy. This in part means that most of my vintage stuff is boxed away still. This seems to keep it cooler than loose items in the room. If I had more time I probably would seek a better solution, possibly relocate stuff downstairs where it's cooler.

On an aside I would not keep stuff in a standard unconverted loft as it's then exposed to the extremes of temperature in winter and summer. I suspect this will take it's toll more quickly.

 

[Ruby2511]

Not worried, I live in Northumberland now now if I still lived in Nottinghamshire then probably as its been in the 30's

 

[theforceuk]

Get anything out of the loft, and yes I'm getting concerned about some high grade ESB MOC with clear blisters. Need to move them to a cooler part of the house.

 

[Mini99]

Yes I am but what realistically can you do without having AC?

Mine are in the coolest room of the property, but of course the coldest in the Winter with the blind always down to shut out most of the light.
I also have reflective film on the windows.
Other than than I can only throw my arms up and hope…

 

[edd_jedi]

I think A/C is going to become the norm in this country like it is in others, surviving more than the odd day in this heat is not sustainable having looked into it (extensively ) it's not actually that expensive, portable units should be about £300 once the scalping ends, and a proper split unit is about £600, plus however much you need to pay someone qualified to install it. The problem for me is I live in a listed building so it's going to be difficult / expensive

 

[Mini99]

I think A/C is going to become the norm in this country like it is in others, surviving more than the odd day in this heat is not sustainable having looked into it (extensively ) it's not actually that expensive, portable units should be about £300 once the scalping ends, and a proper split unit is about £600, plus however much you need to pay someone qualified to install it. The problem for me is I live in a listed building so it's going to be difficult / expensive

I agree Edd, but the national grid is in dire need of a upgrade if we all do!
It struggles most days unfortunately and is being upgraded slowly, but I wonder if this change to people's electricity usage has been taken into account? I doubt it very much.

Perhaps now is the time to take up AC installation training…the new goldmine?

 

[theforceuk]

I was reading about how plastic degrades faster the higher the temperature from zero, every 10 degrees above zero half's the degrading time. Don't worry about your stuff getting to cold in the winter.

I keep my first 20 MOC in a north facing, ground floor room with a dehumidifier. They have been there for about 10 years and I haven't seen any degrading in that time.