Here's why storing electronics in your garage is a bad idea

You've just finished a weekend decluttering session and ended up with a mountain of your old tech gadgets. You're not quite sure where to put them, but it seems like a good enough idea to just put your electronics back in the box they came in and set them out in your garage. But treating your garage like a tech graveyard is a guaranteed way to permanently ruin your devices. Circuit boards, batteries, and the like are really only engineered for climate-controlled use, and the wild temperature swings of a garage can really wreak havoc on your gear.

During the summer, a closed garage is basically an oven. That heat can dry out specialized thermal pastes, which is what keeps processors cool, or even warp plastic housings. Likewise, freezing winter temperatures are just as damaging, creating issues like making LCD displays sluggish or causing plastic bezels to get brittle (and prone to snapping). What's worse, this cycle of heating up and cooling down throughout the year forces the metal components inside your electronics to expand and contract, which can affect things like solder joints on the circuit boards.

Then there's the moisture problem. Ambient humidity can create condensation that settles inside your devices on parts like motherboards. That can cause corrosion on the tiny metallic pathways your device relies on to function. Even if your gear looks fine on the outside, internal corrosion can cause a short circuit the second you decide to try and power it on.

Read more: 9 Of The Weirdest Gadgets Made In The '80s

Why lithium-ion batteries and garage heat are an unsafe mix

Unfortunately, the myriad risks of garage storage don't stop there, especially when it comes to batteries. Most modern wireless electronics use lithium-ion batteries, from smartphones and tablets to handheld gaming consoles and even the best robot vacuums. This battery type has a volatile reputation when it comes to being in extreme temperatures.

When your garage's temperatures spike during a summer heatwave, a lithium-ion battery's delicate chemical components begin to rapidly degrade. This intense heat can cause battery cells to struggle to hold and distribute charge. Even more alarming, continued high temperatures can make these batteries swell up, pushing against the device's casing until it cracks; in worst-case scenarios, they can leak toxic battery fluids and become a legitimate fire hazard. Deep freezes in the winter are equally punishing, effectively killing the battery's internal chemistry and rendering it completely dead by the time spring rolls around.

If you're holding onto some unused tech gear, it all needs to stay inside a dry, climate-controlled area, like in your house or a storage center. To keep your electronics safe and functional, store them in a dry hallway closet, tuck them away in bins under a bed, or even manage your tech clutter with a storage DIY. Avoid unfinished basements, too, as they'll cause the same corrosion issues as your garage. It's best to just keep your unused tech somewhere that's temperature-controlled, so you can easily use it again years down the road.

How grime and pests can silently destroy your tech

Even if you somehow manage to control the temperature and humidity in your garage, you're still fighting a battle against the environment itself. Garages are inherently dirty, high-traffic spaces. Every time you open the door, you invite in gusts of dirt and exhaust particles. And if you also happen to use the space as your workshop, add sawdust to the mix. All this dust is a magnet for static electricity, working its way deep into exposed USB ports and exhaust vents.

Then, when you finally decide to bring that old console or PC tower back inside and plug it in, the dusty internals struggle to work properly and can lead to overheating or even hardware failure. But dust isn't the only thing that could take up residence inside your old electronics. Garages are accessible to critters looking for a cozy place to hide. Mice have a reputation for chewing through cords, while bugs like spiders love nesting inside dark, enclosed spaces like receivers and computer towers. When you power up a device with critters in it, that electrical arc can instantly fry both the uninvited guests and the device's internals. So by simply keeping your unused tech inside your house, you give them the chance to be used again years down the road.

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