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Why Climate-Controlled Storage is Essential for Sensitive Assets

Do you need to store something valuable or extremely delicate? Traditional storage solutions often aren’t up to the task. Perhaps you need someone willing to go the extra mile, monitoring room temperature, humidity and even lighting. Whether it’s a museum artefact or even biological samples, ensuring optimal storage through a trusted partner is essential.

Used across many sectors like life sciences, heritage, education and business, our climate-controlled storage offers a haven for your items that can’t afford to degrade. In this article, we’ll be walking you through the essentials of climate-controlled storage, with a specific focus on the heritage and life sciences sectors.

What is climate-controlled storage?

As the name suggests, these are storage facilities with a temperature or humidity-controlled environment to give your belongings the special care they need. They have heating and cooling amenities, meaning you can minimise the impact of outside weather on any belongings that you have. This protects them from outside elements and keeps the inside environment stable.

How does it work?

These high-tech units are equipped with heating, cooling, and dehumidifying systems. Temperature settings usually range between 13°C and 29°C, with humidity often between 30% and 50%, depending on what’s being stored. These stable and monitored conditions are vital to avoiding common damages like warping, corrosion, or even data loss. These are all risks that affect everything from furniture and paper to electronics and pharmaceuticals.

What products require climate-controlled storage?

Products made of leather and wood, such as antique pieces of furniture and vintage apparel, typically react negatively to changes in temperature and humidity by warping, splitting, or breaking down over time. Circuits can rust or render parts useless through humidity, so electronics, from audio gear to computers, are especially at risk.

Similarly, delicate artwork, photographs, and important paper documents are easily ruined by mould or fading when left in uncontrolled conditions. Musical instruments, especially wood or metal ones, become out of tune or structurally flawed. And for those who are archiving pharmaceuticals, scientific content, or sensitive samples, having accurate environmental conditions isn’t an option – it’s a necessity for usability and regulatory compliance.

Benefits of climate-controlled storage for businesses

For businesses, storage is about more than just requiring space; it’s about protecting valuable assets that carry financial or operational significance. Here are some of the benefits of climate-controlled storage for businesses:

  1. It helps businesses avoid replacement costs on valuables like specialist equipment or archived documents, items that are expensive or impossible to replace.
  1. It preserves business inventory as climate-controlled storage can prevent damage to valuable products, ultimately protecting business revenue.
  1. It lowers business insurance risks – with better preservation comes reduced claims and more favourable premiums.
  2. It improves business longevity and asset value as items stay usable and in good condition for longer.

Climate-controlled storage for the heritage sector

From rare books and archives to archaeological artefacts and valuable art, the heritage sector relies on strict environmental consistency to preserve irreplaceable and priceless contents. At Restore Harrow Green, we supply specialist heritage storage solutions specifically tailored to meet the sensitive requirements of museums, libraries, and conservation organisations.

Our climate-controlled storage is housed in repurposed Air Force hangars. These structures are not only flood-resistant and bombproof but also ensured under the watchful eye of the National Conservation Service to be BS EN 16893:2018 compliant. These highly secure facilities protect collections from fire, pests, and environmental fluctuations.

 

To prepare them for storage, each object is evaluated and packaged separately using museum-quality materials including Plastazote® foam, Tyvek®, and acid-free tissue. The weight, fragility, and dimensions of each object are taken into consideration while creating custom cases, which offer specialised protection that minimises handling and maximises preservation. Retrieval, traceability and on-demand delivery are simplified because each item is properly branded and catalogued on an online platform.

Our conservation-led strategy ensures that institutions’ cultural heritage pieces are in the hands of experts with decades of experience in this sector, whether we’re overseeing the relocation of full exhibitions or storing and transporting individual artefacts. To find out more about our work in museums, consult our heritage relocations page or our guide to storing museum collections.

Climate-controlled storage for life sciences and biobanking

Accuracy and sample protection are vital to work conducted in the life sciences sector. Any changes in humidity or temperature could cause equipment failure or sample loss, making climate-controlled storage essential.

In some cases, life science assets may require constant environmental supervision – such as sensitive reagents that break down rapidly if handled improperly and cryogenic samples that require extremely cold conditions. Using tools like dry shippers, temperature sensors, and humidity monitors, cold chain integrity must be preserved during both storage and relocation.

 

At Restore Harrow Green’s state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge, we provide biobank storage and disaster recovery services to life sciences and biotech clients across the UK. Our ultra-low temperature storage rooms offer 24/7 live temperature monitoring, infrared thermal cameras, backup generators, and enhanced keypad access. Whether storing master cell banks or everyday lab samples, we offer flexible, scalable solutions for ambient, refrigerated, and frozen requirements.

Our scientist-designed inventory management system gives clients real-time visibility and recall control at the click of a button, ensuring full traceability. We are also fully HTA-licensed to store human tissue ethically and compliantly. In the event of a facility emergency, our ADR-certified drivers and technical teams can mobilise nationwide to recover and relocate your samples without compromising integrity or compliance.

Restore Harrow Green is uniquely positioned to serve this need. As highlighted in our comprehensive guide to laboratory relocations, our teams are trained in MHRA, COSHH and HTA compliance. Our biobanking services help ensure research continuity, regulatory adherence, and complete chain-of-custody tracking. You can also find out more in our comprehensive guide to biobanking.

What to look for in a climate-controlled storage partner

Selecting a storage partner is about getting a provider who really gets what’s at stake. Environmental condition consistency is not up for debate, so the facility must illustrate stable temperature and humidity control supported by continuous monitoring. Above the essentials, seek regulatory proficiency. A reputable partner will be able to communicate with you, whether that’s in terms of GLP, GMP, or HTA, and engage collaboratively to maintain compliance.

Security is another major consideration. Ask about CCTV requirements and access-controlled zones to on-site personnel. Your items should be protected around the clock. It also helps to work with a team that understands specialist logistics. An example of this would be dry ice transport for biological materials or anti-static packaging for electronics. Finally, cleanliness matters more than many realise, dust, pests and general wear can quickly undermine even the best climate control if not actively managed.

Do I need a climate-controlled storage unit?

If you’re still unsure as to whether climate-controlled storage is the best solution for your needs, use this quick checklist to guide your decision:

Are you storing items for more than a few weeks?

Do your items have high monetary or sentimental value?

Are your items sensitive to heat, cold or moisture?

Do you live or work in an area with significant seasonal changes or humidity?

Are your items sensitive to mould?

Are you storing business inventory, electronics, instruments, or documentation?

If you answered yes to most of these, then the answer to your question is likely a strong and resounding yes.

Keep your valuable assets safe

At Restore Harrow Green, we understand that storage is about preservation, security, and peace of mind. Our climate-controlled storage units are trusted by organisations across healthcare, academia, business and heritage sectors. So, if you are looking to safeguard priceless artefacts or research materials, we’ve got you covered. Our facilities offer reliable environmental controls, regulatory expertise, end-to-end chain-of-custody tracking, flexible terms and transparent pricing.

Let us help you choose the right solution. Request a quote today and discover why Restore Harrow Green is the trusted name in climate-controlled storage.