Here’s how to store food if you have no AC:
In the prepper community, we’re constantly hearing, “store it in a cool, dry place”, because cool temps extends the shelf life of most everything. Food, gear, etc., heat and sunlight can certainly have an effect on the quality of items and food over time.
But what if you live in a hot climate and/or just don’t have a temperature controlled area? There are many places that don’t have air conditioning, or limited AC. You also may not have access to a basement or official cold storage room. There are many reasons why someone might not have AC or a temperature controlled area and that’s ok! We have to work with what we got. There are lots of options to help extend the life of your preparedness supplies.
There might also be instances in which the power goes out for a significant amount of time, so keeping your supplies cool during those times would be needed as well.
We don’t have AC or any temperature controlled rooms. We live in an RV in the desert and with our current solar setup, we’re unable to run our AC. Fans and a small swamp cooler are run on occasion, but rarely.
There’s also a lot of goods out in our shed, which is also not temperature controlled. However, there are plenty of ways that we keep our food and gear as cool as possible.
The below techniques are things we have personally done and tested and seen first hand that they work.
Of course, if you’re able to have an AC window unit or something to help keep a room cool, that’s great. But overall, the key here is to keep the supplies out of direct sunlight.
If you live in a humid area, you may want to consider getting some dehumidifiers or filling your totes and other areas with silica packets or other dehumidifier packets.
Sure, maybe you won’t be able to keep your emergency food or gear at 70 degrees all the time, but if it’s only experiencing high temps for a few months out of the year (or longer), it will all survive and still have a significantly long shelf life.
I store freeze dried foods in my vehicle all year long, as I’ve found that to be the best food items that won’t go bad in hot or cold temps, and have never had anything go bad.
Of course, check the food and supplies often, at least every few months. Check for bugs, evidence of critters, etc.
Get creative!
A couple things that quickly popped to mind, given my mastery of air bending:
1. Never underestimate the shielding power of air separated layers. If you can, add another barrier over whatever storage you utilise. Ask me how I know: sleeping let alone any 2 player physical activity in a solitary 7’x7′ tent while also on the ground is miserable once the sun starts to hit it, even when it’s 60 degrees out. Solution? A TPU material air mattress, which is one of the best materials out there (mine is a LightSpeed queen size I actually used on that Village By The Lake trip a few weeks back), and a 12’x12′ netted gazebo. Figure out what direction the sun will come from and even on top of rocks 8000′ up with no other shade is comfy, in all ways! #winning
2. Move. The. Air. Specifically have a dedicated intake and exhaust. I used to live in a second story apartment in lahar territory directly exposed from rising sunlight to the east (not a problem if you’re an early riser: I have bed times that sometimes stretch into daylight, draw your own conclusions), and now live in a 3rd story attic unit with the same f***ing issues though tha kfully I’m a bit closer to the coast. Was able to keep fairly cool even during triple digit days (yes, it gets that hot up here), though keep in mind I’m usually just in package protection coverings and nothing else unless I’m outside, and I drink enough water for at least 3 people. The thing about heat (different from temperature by the way: sparklers reach near 1000 degrees but don’t carry enough heat to burn) is it’s either radiated or it’s stored, either in the air or, more importantly, solid objects and liquids; there’s a reason why your milk doesn’t curdle up Even if you kick the plug on your fridge for even a day depending on how full it is. If the air can’t stick around, it can’t leave behind much heat, and unless you’re in Florida the excited air coming from the intake fans will be cooler than the air lea ing through the exhaust. And come to think of it, if you can make the intakes low and the exhaust high, even better.
I did write and narrate a post all about this specifically about the old place, which is better than the current one since it more in depth with more options. You can check that out here:
http://thegoddamnbacon.com/15-minute-philosophy-air-audio
Good info Morgan. My long term and med shops are kept in a dark room and my other preps and gear are in another as are working pantry. That way if we loose power during a storm they do fine. The real worry with temp changes is food with liquids so rotate rotate rotate. Prep On T
For sure. Thanks!
Thanks for the tips and encouragement in this food storage article and all your posts.
Thank you!
This is very helpful. I live in Phoenix! It is rarely actually cold here.
Hope you can make some of this work for ya. 🙂
Love the informative articles. Have a question, I live in south central Oklahoma, HOT humid summers and cold enough to snow, but usually doesn’t, winters; I’ve sealed my food in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and placed them in 5 gallon food grade buckets, but unsure if my uninsulated garage is suitable for storage. Also, I have no basement or attic, but I do have a crawl space under my house, would this be a more suitable storage place than my garage ?
The garage is an alright option, as long as the food is in containers and maybe even cover the containers with a tarp or blanket, it really can make a difference. As far as the crawl space under your house, that’s a very interesting idea! I would just make very sure that it’s well locked and protected from critters and insects that might want to get in. May even consider having a border of diatomaceous earth around the whole area, as well as possibly rat snap traps. Just some thoughts.
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Here’s how to store food if you have no AC:
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