Will a studio in a garage get cold enough to ruin equipment?

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YAY

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I am relocating my studio to the garage (it is separated from the house) and am worried if it will ruin my monitors or microphone. I have Rokit krk 8 g3s and looked in the manual and it didn't say anything about operating temperature. I also have an audio technica at4040. I live in New Jersey and it's starting to be winter. If it would be too cold is there anything I could put up to keep them warmer? Thanks
 
My studio's in my insulated garage but I built a room within a room with insulated walls and roof. I keep a heater running 24/7 during the winter months. Keeps it at around 55 to 60 when I'm not in there workin on stuff.
It DO get cold/wet enough in there to damage gear.
But I don't think it's so much the cold as it is the condensation that ya get.

food for thought man.
 
My setup is in a garage that swings from -10 on a winters night to +30 or more in the summer.
During the winter I store the mics inside and put bubble wrap covers on the speakers.

I don't know if they are likely to be damaged from the cold, but they're Mackies with a part metal faceplate, and I noticed condensation on the metal some mornings.
The cover seems to be enough to prevent it.

They've survived like that for at least 5 or 6 winters, if that's any use.
 
If you can keep it at least 5F above outside temp, you shouldn't have problems with condensation.
 
If it gets anywhere near cold enough to worry about it, do you really want to sit there and work on music? Don't worry about the equipment. Worry about pneumonia .
 
RAMI said:
If it gets anywhere near cold enough to worry about it, do you really want to sit there and work on music? Don't worry about the equipment. Worry about pneumonia .
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Right! :D

I remember trying that once with a band rehearsal space in someone’s closed in porch. It had windows and a door, but NO insulation....
...we didn't last past the end of November... :p
...and actually one of the PA amps had issues from the cold, because the gear would heat up while powered on, and then it would down to freezing....then back up again.
 
Chili said:
If you can keep it at least 5F above outside temp, you shouldn't have problems with condensation.
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good to know.

maybe I can save a few bucks on my power bill.
:)

thanks ChiliDude ;)
 
If you start to experience shrinkage, it's too cold. Either that or put on some pants.
 
If you are worried about the gear getting too cold, something I will never have to worry about where I am LOL, why not leave it turned on?

The biggest killer of gear (after high temps) would be condensation.

Alan.
 
@witzendoz Is it good to leave everything on all day? Would all these problems go away if I insulated the room and plugged in a heater all day?
 
YAY said:
@witzendoz Is it good to leave everything on all day? Would all these problems go away if I insulated the room and plugged in a heater all day?
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If the room was insulated and heated there would be not problem with cold. With regards leaving gear on, most gear fails when it is turned on, turning gear on and off actually can shorten the life of the gear. The reason gear is turned off is that often it is not practical to leave it on all the time and it uses power.

Moving away from the studio world for a minute, at my other job we leave the computers on 24 hrs a day 7 days a week, they are never turned off, up at our site we have electronics that have been running for 14 years and is never turned off.

Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
If the room was insulated and heated there would be not problem with cold. With regards leaving gear on, most gear fails when it is turned on, turning gear on and off actually can shorten the life of the gear. The reason gear is turned off is that often it is not practical to leave it on all the time and it uses power.

Moving away from the studio world for a minute, at my other job we leave the computers on 24 hrs a day 7 days a week, they are never turned off, up at our site we have electronics that have been running for 14 years and is never turned off.

Alan.
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Wait, is that actually a fact? I am curious as to whether it is best to leave gear on. I am sure this would not apply to something like a tube amp, but as far as PC's and such, is this recommended?

I never thought about even investigating that... Going Google now...

As far as gear deteriorating due to temp changes, I do have a past experience with speakers. In the early 1990's I had 4 15" speaker cabinets for bass guitar. 2 were EV something and the other 2 were JBL 1550's if I remember correctly. We rehearsed in an unheated aluminum storage unit (30'x20'). In the winter, we heated the unit with propane heaters. Well, the first week we used a BBQ grill. That didn't work so well so we upgraded. Sometimes 15 degrees to 80 in 10 minutes. I had to replace the cones of both pairs 4 times in two years, due to the suspensions failing/drying out/cracking. Not sure whether the hot/cold differences caused the failures, but I never had that issue years after. Maybe the CO2 was the culprit? We survived, but that may explain some things...I would assume this would be documented if it were truly an issue, as I wouldn't think owners of sound reinforcement companies would need to regulate the temp of their gear. Henry?
 
jimmys69 said:
Wait, is that actually a fact? I am curious as to whether it is best to leave gear on. I am sure this would not apply to something like a tube amp, but as far as PC's and such, is this recommended?

I never thought about even investigating that... Going Google now...
Click to expand...

Hope I haven't opened a can of worms here? :eatpopcorn:

good explanation here

Alan
 
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Extreme cold isn't good, but in general its condensation you need to worry about. You definitely need some insulation in your garage. Does it have plastered walls? If so it will almost certainly have some form of building reg insulation behind them. If you've got a single skin brick wall then you may have problems even if you heat the room all year round. Mics are your biggest worry. Kept them sealed in a plastic bag when not is use or bring them indoors. I use those sticky seal freezer food bags.
 
I have band practice/jam sessions in my attached garage on a regular basis. In N.C. we'll sweat it out during the summer with fans and in the winter I use one of the portable plug in heaters that's tan and looks like the old radiator style. If it's cold enough to warrant using, I'll turn it on an hour or so before (I don't set to high, just enough to brake the chill) and by the time we're good and warmed up I can usually turn it off and the temperature maintains itself for the most part. It's a single car garage and I bought some sound blankets on clearance from Audimute to cover the garage door and the side entrance door (more so the quiet us down with respect for my neighbors). Last week when it finally got cold enough to turn the heat on in the house, I went into the garage and noticed that had maintained it's temp and was considerably warmer than the rest of the house. But the point of this long winded ramble is that I also keep to containers of this stuff called Damprid (got it from Lowe's) in the garage. It helps with keeping the moisture down. Basically it's a bag of crystal type flakes that you put in a bowl and as it pulls moisture out the air, it liquefies. Then you just dump out the water and repeat. A friend recommended trying it and it's been working for about 4-5 years now.
 
as a general reference,most electronics are rated & spec'd @ a standard operational range of -40c to 85c. that's -40f to 185f.
The Temperature Ratings Of Electronic Parts « Electronics Cooling Magazine - Focused on Thermal Management, TIMs, Fans, Heat Sinks, CFD Software, LEDs/Lighting Electronics Cooling Magazine – Focused on Thermal Management, TIMs, Fans, Heat Sinks
speakers & tweeters definitely don't like too dry or wet either. a humidifier works best if using something like a space heater.
 
jimmys69 said:
Henry?
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I can say for a fact that the cold temperature does nothing to the gear.

We have several vehicles filled with a system in each and are there year round in arse freezing to nut sweltering heat weather.

When the gear is off loaded into a venue we have the set up time etc. by then the gear is acclimated to the venues temperature and everything is fired up ..... we have been doing this for decades without a failure.

:thumbs up:
 
i located my studio in my garage about 17 years ago now....like another poster mine is basically a room within a room, though this is divided to create one room which is about 10'x8' and a control room 6'x8' . You have to heat in winter and it can get a bit warm in summer but its a huge advantage being away from the house- a seperate 'space'- to lose yourself in with your muse. Condensation is a problem but the advice on keeping the temp 5 above outside on cold/wet days is spot on. One thing you may not of thought of is intruders such as mice, rats, frogs ...unless you intend to fit an entire air conditioning unit!
 
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