Winter Pinball Storage

[DRD]

Is it OK to store them in a cold environment provided you have a dehumidifier going ?

Or do you need some heat as well ?

I know about the risks of brittle plastics etc and the need to warm up before playing. But my economy 7 tariff no longer makes financial sense, so I don't receive that night time discount.

My games are in a pinshed heated by overnight storage heaters and if dehumidification is enough, I don't want to blow money heating the place as well.

Thanks

 

[Gary Flower]

Have you considered finding babysitters that will play them?

 

[DRD]

I'll play 'em. It will just save me a load of money if I run a fan heater for a couple of hours on a timer before I play the things.

When I looked at my electricity bill/ overnight usage..... the storage heater in the pinshed was a major drain once my economy 7 tariff ended

 

[kev a]

Have you considered heating the games themselves, rather than the entire space, I got that idea from Pinside......

Flat Vivarium heaters in the base of the game, cable through the coin door, thinking is, it heats the game and convection draws fresh air through through the front up the head and out the top, also have some greenhouse tube heaters mounted on the wall behind, along with the dehumidifier keeping the moisture down and raising the temp a few degrees anyway, seems a pretty cost effective way of keeping the games safe. On the odd occasion the temp really drops I do put the heater on tho.

 

[M4carp]

One thing to be mindful of is old mirrored backglasses don’t like the cold, they can start peeling. I never new this, had one wrapped and sealed but was kept in a cold garage over winter and started peeling when was ok before. I since read not to leave them in the cold

The dehumidifier might keep your place warm enough, over 10-12c is ‘probably’ ok.

 

[JAG555]

Yeah, that’s the issue with a dehumidifier, they need a certain ambient temperature to work, otherwise they cannot pull the moisture out of the air.

I think it also depends what games you have and how much the collection is worth?

I would always heat then to at least 15 degrees, that’s what I did it my old Games Room and they were perfect!