Moving Stamps To Basement In Chicago

I have reached a point where I need to move some of my materials from my stamp room on first floor of home with plenty of circulation to a finished basement with humidity as measured 50-60% without a dehumidifier (which I plan to purchase). Well ventilated with air conditioning in ceilings.

Saw some older posts -- what are latest thoughts for folks who have stamps in basement. Going to keep best material upstairs with some mint downstairs but curious what current thoughts are.

Is 50-60% humidity reasonable (in a few months in Chicago this will not be a problem) but interested what folks do in Southern states.

Thanks in advance for any help.

A cool, dry and stable storage environment is paramount; temperatures should be held at a constant 70°F with a relative humidity held between 30% and 50%. Think of paper (both stamps and album pages) as sponges, variances are the kiss of death.

Digital thermometer/hygrometer monitors are less than $30 and can send you an alert if it drifts out of a customizable range
Don

kaps15: I grew up in Indianapolis. We never stored anything of importance in either the basement or the garage due to the humidity, which could go quite high even in the fall/winter/spring months. The attic wasn't accessible from within the house.

Chicago basements flood. Do not store stamps in a swamp environment which is a Chicago basement. Do not put anything on the floor either. Have a sump pump ready at all times. I am a Chicagoan whose father knew better but still lost his Zepp covers to a flood. Stored in a steel cabinet but not up high enough off the floor. Family in the same house for 66 years with more reasons why basements flood than you have stamps.

In Chicago it's not the rivers and creeks. It's the plumbing and the sewers and the tree roots and the need for tuckpointing and roofs and gutters and more.

Eastern North Carolina is humid as heck. I run a dehumidifier year round and keep the inside humidity around 50% downstairs. We live in a piling house with a closed in bottom, we're not subject to flooding thank goodness. But the humidity can be killer.

Just saying, you may need to run a humidifier during the dry winter months. Shoot for roughly 50% humidity year round.

Basements are generally a lot wetter than the rest of the house since they're basically underground. You could set up a complicated dehumidifier that sent water outside along with an alarm for when humidity got too high (of course, then it may be too late) but you'd also need a sump pump in case of flooding (and by then it's really too late). And this all assumes you're constantly available and checking on the basement regularly in case there's a problem. Attics work a lot better than basements because they tend to be drier. I wouldn't put stamps in a basement or you'd be risking mold, mildew, and worse. I'd try to find a drier location. I have no idea how people in swampy states like Florida and Louisiana manage to keep stamp collections safe? That must be difficult.

From a chemistry perspective: places cooler, darker, drier will slow chemical reactions. Equally important is stability of these factors. Mostly said above.

Thinking in a more practical sense, storing stamps under temperature and humidity conditions which are comfortable for you are also comfortable for your stamps. Would you live year-round in your attic or basement?

I live in Florida and the full house Air Conditioning keeps the humidity below 50%. We have a generator in case of power outages. BUT I am still leery about storing mint stamps - the recent close call with hurricane Dorian convinced me to start phasing out collecting so many mint. Used are safer and more interesting to me anyways.

I am a reluctant user of a finished basement space in Michigan. I have a dehumidifier that runs pretty much nonstop during the summer and I have taken the additional step of putting my best stuff in plastic boxes with gasket seals with a few packs of silica gel thrown in each one for good measure.

I've had issues in an Ohio basement. Humidity will vary (with our without a dehumidifier), but you face risks from plumbing leaks, sewer backups, air conditioning condenser backups (I had that one), and more.

One I *didn't* expect was a washing machine overflow in my first floor laundry room getting into the cold air return and getting poured through about half of my basement. That was no fun.

I used to live in Taipei, Taiwan. One of the most humid places I've ever been.
Terrible problems, not the least of which was a plague of silverfish -- they love the damp and dark.
Maybe your Chicago basement is cold enough to keep them away. Otherwise take precautions.

Warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. So if you have X amount of water molecules in the air at, say, 70 degrees it will have a certain Relative Humidity (RH). If you cool that batch of air, it will have a higher RH. Think of the air near a cold window in winter. That air can get so cold it will reach 100% RH, and you'll see water droplets forming on the glass. The important concept here is that you can measure a different RH in different parts of a room. RH is important because paper (and wood) absorb more moisture when the RH is higher. So, when you store paper in a basement, you should store it where it will be warmer. The floor will likely be cooler, so the RH will be higher there. If there is a heating duct, the air nearby will have a lower RH. Dehumidifying is great, but be sure to measure the RH near to where paper products are stored, not six feet away.

i'd say you have too many stamps, and should sell whatever isn't needed... I only have one bookshelf, and that's a promise to myself (extremely encouraged and applauded by my girlfriend), never to have more stamps than that shelf can hold.

so basicly, ask yourself if you really need all those stamps :)

I am fortunate enough to live in Denver, Colorado where the average humidity is 350% to 40%. It's a nearly perfect environment for storing my collection, much more so than was San Antonio, Texas where the average humidity was 65% or more.

While I think using a basement could be tragic, a dehumidifier is a good start as is a thermometer and hygrometer. Airtight storage is also a great idea.