The Most Heart Breaking Experience In Collecting Australian Stamps.

Some years ago now my stamp collecting world was shattered as I fully realised that my climate would not let me collect stamps for long periods of time.

As like today it is 9am and the sweat is running off the end of my nose from the humidity.

Use an air con! We can not afford $1500 to $2000 eletric bill per 3 months instead we open a window.

And then there are the huge silver fish etc.

My great collection of KGV's have all but gone now. That is something I will never get over. All those years of dreaming to get a great collection of KGV's and then I got that chance to buy big mixed lots only to find out I had huge storage issues.

Decimal issues from 2000 on seem to store better but the writing is on the wall.

It has changed my whole attitude to stamp collecting and it has also stopped me from coin collecting as well.

Oh well you can not win them all.

I am so sorry. Would it be possible to just air condition one smallish room?

Went through the same feelings, trying to collect in Thailand.
Lived up in the country, and the farmers would burn the rice stubble, giving fine carbon ash everywhere.
Gave it up as folly.

Very hard, if not impossible, to address high humidity.

White ants destroyed the Rajah's collection of Sarawak, if I recall.

You could always move to Tasmania, Real Estate there is still affordable, but not much longer.

It will seem very strange but we have no internal doors. It is all about air flow design for no cost house cooling.

You open the windows on the shady side and also on the hot side of the house and it drags the cool air through the whole house which reduces the inside temp dramatically.

Yea! Rod your collection of stamp images is amazing.

Did it start because of....?

John.
Always been a collector, just had a few setbacks early. As a c 17 year old, had my collection stolen from the boot of my car in Sydney whilst on a diving course.
Didn't return seriously till returning from Thailand.

Silverfish are easily treated, just hang one of those yellow plastic moth ball containers, in your cupboard ($4) no ill effects, odour does not last.
Gets rid of all the little wrigglys.

As an aside, I do tests on my energy consumption, regularly.
My "inverter" Split system Air Cond (around $1700 ) hits about $4 a day, when tested over 12 hrs. (set 21 degrees)
Winter heating this year averaged out less than $3 a day (WA prices)
Caveat: I get pensioner rates.

Rod I am off to the shop and I'm going to do that straight away. Have work space shelving that my plastic tubs are stored under. Perfect place to hang that type of insect repellent.

Have been using spray that last for 3 months + but the silver fish seem to grow on it like it is steroids.

It's very difficult to read this subject and not feel badly. I've only had a passing problem with humidity as I lived in Southern Indiana for a few years. Luckily, the air conditioning was a reasonable cost for that high temperature / high humidity state. I now live in the California Inland Empire, where our lovely sun and high taxes keep the humidity far away.

Good luck, and happy stamping.

It is strange what brings back the memories of stamps once owned.

Like sweat rolling off the end of my nose.

This house renovation was those stamp and this bush house is from that lot of stamps.

Even certain groups of the same plants reminds me of certain stamps.

So it all works out OK it is all about the attitude to it all really.

A friend of mine served on a Navy supply ship that served antarctic bases and he had his stamp collection with him. The problem was mostly not the antarctic cold, but passing though the tropics in a cork-insulated ship, plus ocean humidity. He purposely collected all used US. I believe he didn't use hinges, since bugs like silverfish and roaches eat stamp gum and hinge gum (and paper sizing, which can be starch, plus even some inks). They can chew up and eat stamp paper in the course of munching on the gum, pretty quickly besides. The ink is metallic on older engraved stamps so is apparently not that tasty based on damage I've seen.