# New guy needs help storing food



## airborne (Feb 22, 2012)

The part where I live in California the temperature ranges from 30 degrees to sometimes up to 100 degrees in the summer. If I live in a duplex and am not able to have a basement or underground storage. how can I store food so itll last me. Im storing dehydrated food, can foods, MRE's........I cant afford to run the air all summer to keep the house at 60 to 70 dregrees. Im not sure what to do.


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## Claymore5150 (Nov 17, 2011)

Ohhhhh I'm gonna learn some good stuff on this thread....bring the info, experts!
LOVE THIS PLACE.


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## jnrdesertrats (Jul 3, 2010)

You could cache some in a 55 gal barrel and bury it somewhere nearby.

Rent a storage locker in a basement complex somewhere? I think I saw one of the storage company's that had climate contolled storage. Maybe you only need that in the summer.


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

Mine are stored at ambiant room temperatures, and I'm not going to worry about it. The military stored C-rations in burning hot and freezing cold warehouses for decades and they were still edible.


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

I live where it is often over 100 degrees in the summer. Im not worried about my canned food or MRE's it will affect their shelf life but probably not as much as you think. Just more of a reason to stick to rotating your supplies.

Where _are _those experts?


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## katfish (Jan 11, 2010)

I've been wondering about this a lot too. We have a shipping container where we keep the weed eater, chainsaw etc, but it gets HOT! About all I keep out there are things like pasta, rice and rolled oats. I'm considering using 55 gal drums I could store between the shipping container and the shop where it would be shaded most of the day during summer but it all gets well below freezing in the winter. I could sure use more ideas on the subject, please and thank you.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Not being able to go underground or into a basement limits your choices a little bit. If you have a closet that is totally inside the house, away from the outside walls, place a wireless temperature-sensor in that area and watch the sensor through-out the day. You may be surprised to see that the temperature in that closet doesn't change much from morning to night.

That closet might be the best choice. If you don't have a closet that will do the job, use the wireless temperature sensor and place it in a kitchen-cupboard and see what happens. You can also try working with a north-wall of your duplex to see if that part of the house stays relatively temperature stable (maybe a closed off bedroom with insulated curtains over the windows).

There are always options, use the right tools in order to pick the best place for insulated storage space.


Good luck!


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

we have a cabinet in the kitchen,in which we use as a pantry.we have some cinnamon sticks thats been there for some time.and still be good.so i've started using it for home canned foods as well..we also have a hall closet.in which i'll be using as well,once it's set up for tornado protection.i have some foods in totes, in one corner of my bedroom seeing how a window ac unit is right there.and that food don't get much direct sun light,if any..
cinnamon
cinnamon
cinnamonsticks thats been there


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*I know it is not cheap, but*

I know someone who has a small air conditioner in his pantry wall from the outside. He doesn't run it full blast like some people like to do, but has it set so that it goes on as the temperature goes up to a certain temp. A person could do the same thing with a well insulated shed or garage.


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## Justaguy987 (Mar 2, 2013)

4 years, 2 months, 18 days. I have about decided my garage gets to hot, so I'm not going to say anything and see if any new ideas that will work for me come up in this thread.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

How about on the floor under the bed. The lower it is the cooler it will be. 

How about a window shaker in the bedroom. It will keep you and anything you store in there cooler.

If you have low humidity a swamp cooler will drop the room temp a good twenty degrees and cost pennies to run. Not to mention that they are a breeze to make. (Pun intended)


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

The commercially canned/dried food is not going to make you sick at even 100 degrees. In commercially sealed food, there are no microorganisms to multiply & cause illness. It may not be as nutritious, it's texture/color/flavor may be effected, but it still beats starving. If you're storing food in less than ideal circumstances, rotate through it more often. Store hot sauce. Hot sauce makes everything better.

PS: Don't try to store canned goods outside if you live with high humidity. Bad things happen.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Justaguy987 said:


> 4 years, 2 months, 18 days. I have about decided my garage gets to hot, so I'm not going to say anything and see if any new ideas that will work for me come up in this thread.


Mine gets hot as heck as well. I have worked on insulating it, more for the winter against the cold. The walls are done, now the ceiling.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

katfish said:


> ...I've been wondering about this a lot too. We have a shipping container where we keep the weed eater, chainsaw etc, but it gets HOT!...


I have thought about a shipping container. Perhaps it can be insulated with a 2x4 framework on the outside with thick high rated fiberglass and/or the aluminium backed polystyrene foam insulation (Styrofoam) 2 inches thick.

Gets a bit pricey, but if the framework is covered with a plastic wrap (Tyvek) and painted neutral earth tones for (camouflage). A shallow peak roof with pile and fiberglass insulation and a good fiberglass corrugated cover should also help.

Five feet below ground maintains 55 degrees temperature, so a flex hose rolled out in a trench and covered up with both ends exposed (screens for rodent and bugs) with one end in the container and one intake outside may help. May also need an exhaust vent near the ceiling.

I have a storage locker and I can't find anything thicker than 3/4" polystyrene insulation boards. I will find out how well they work when I get home from trucking.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

How about wooden cabinet and/or boxes that are well insulated?something like that might work in a garage or room that dont stay cool enough.especily if it has a small ac unit to go with it.but one will have to intall drain pipe for the water to drain out to a good n safe location.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

I checked my storage today and the polystyrene board offers some protection from the sunlight heat. It really needs about a two inch board which is difficult to place in a small storage locker. YMMV


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

VoorTrekker said:


> Five feet below ground maintains 55 degrees temperature, so a flex hose rolled out in a trench and covered up with both ends exposed (screens for rodent and bugs) with one end in the container and one intake outside may help. May also need an exhaust vent near the ceiling.
> 
> I have a storage locker and I can't find anything thicker than 3/4" polystyrene insulation boards. I will find out how well they work when I get home from trucking.


How about both ends being in the container? Just a big loop. One end is the intake to suck hot air out, the other end brings the cool air back in. It would need a small circulating fan to move the air through the pipe, but you wouldn't have to worry about screening the ends for rodents.

Roofing suppliers have the best (IMO) insulation available. We use 4x8 sheets a lot. If the customer want 2" of insulation, we use 2 layers of 1" and stager the seams to help with air leaks. If someone wants 6", we use 3 layers of 2". Your 3/4", in layers, will be good insulation.

Don't know if they are everywhere, but around here there are places you can buy sheets that are seconds. They are usually cut "out of square" so you get them cheaper and have to square up the ends. You don't have a full 4x8 sheet when you're finished, but sometimes that's okay.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

You need proper ambient control to avoid spoilage is that simple and even survival food that claims 20-30 year shelf life needs it too so before you go about spending lots of money on a large survival food purchase spend some time and money on proper storage conditions; my crawl space stays cool year round here in Miami,a small closet with a small air condition connected to a humidistat is another way to control both temp and humidity ,also how much food you plan to store and for what reasons? It pays to think and plan.
http://www.geeksonfood.com/list_6448029_proper-food-storage-techniques.html


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## oldasrocks (Jun 30, 2012)

airborne said:


> The part where I live in California the temperature ranges from 30 degrees to sometimes up to 100 degrees in the summer. If I live in a duplex and am not able to have a basement or underground storage. how can I store food so itll last me. Im storing dehydrated food, can foods, MRE's........I cant afford to run the air all summer to keep the house at 60 to 70 dregrees. Im not sure what to do.


I had a friend who only run his AC in the evenings after the house heated up to 100 degrees during the day. So in the hottest part of the day he would run it (in the evening) I finally got it through his head that it was cheaper to run the AC 24/7 because AC works on a heat exchange system. So keep the AC on to 80 degrees if nothing else.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

Newer air conditioners have a thermostat "energy saver" feature so it will only come on to cool to your settings and shuts off until the thermal threshold is reached. That does save money on the national debt, I mean the electric bill.


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## fteter (May 23, 2014)

I'd suggest changing the plan just a little bit; adjust to limited space and a little more resilience to the hot conditions. You can get a year's worth of food for one person under a twin bed: pancake mix, soup mix, spaghetti and sauce. That gets you down to water...and you won't be storing a year's worth of water in limited space anyway, so store what you can and plan on collecting/scrounging (a good portable water filter is a must in this scenario). Won't be a fun diet, but it beats starving.


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## Wikkador (Oct 22, 2014)

I set a reasonable goal for myself .. 30 days. 

My food supply consists of kippered herring, steel cut oats, dehydrated eggs, peanutbutter, DAK ham, SPAM and dried fruits and nuts. I converted a coat closet into my emergency pantry. 

water consists of my 55 gallon water heater in the garage, 2 additional 55 gallon rain barrels outside and 4 (7gal) aquatainers for mobility. 

most of my supplies are regular grocery items but I do buy some items from:

honeyville farms
Oregon trail foods
nitro pak


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

This unit (http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-1UHG3-...=Dayton+1UHG3+Humidifier+Control+Plug+in+120V ) along with a window type air condition will give you excellent temp.control in a well insulated closet or storage shed ,energy efficient window units are a good choice for what you are trying to do. Go here for more Info
https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-room-air-conditioners/


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Wikkador said:


> I set a reasonable goal for myself .. 30 days.
> 
> My food supply consists of kippered herring, steel cut oats, dehydrated eggs, peanutbutter, DAK ham, SPAM and dried fruits and nuts. I converted a coat closet into my emergency pantry.
> 
> ...


Here's a thought for you. If you have to bug out and if you have room for two drums of water, empty one of the outside 55's. Load it up and then pump from the full 55 outside, then load that empty and pump fro the water heater. That gets you a hundred gallons on wheels.

What can I say, too much time.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

airborne said:


> The part where I live in California the temperature ranges from 30 degrees to sometimes up to 100 degrees in the summer. If I live in a duplex and am not able to have a basement or underground storage. how can I store food so itll last me. Im storing dehydrated food, can foods, MRE's........I cant afford to run the air all summer to keep the house at 60 to 70 dregrees. Im not sure what to do.


I live in GA, I store dry goods AND canned in a layered stack of milk crates, dry goods go high, canned stuffs go low.water in the middle.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

Magus said:


> I live in GA, I store dry goods AND canned in a layered stack of milk crates, dry goods go high, canned stuffs go low.water in the middle.


Why that configuration?


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Remember, sugar & salt aren't effected by temperature so stock up! Kept dry, they can be stored anywhere indefinitely.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

VoorTrekker said:


> Why that configuration?


The temperature range from ceiling to floor.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

Far out, man. (reply must be ten characters)


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