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Are my records going to melt?

My uncle recently passed away and my aunt knew how much I love music and specifically the music that he listened to, and has offered to give me his entire record collection. There are a about 500 records. He started buying new (mostly rock) albums as a teenager in the mid-60s and continued to buy albums right up until they started making cassette tapes, so as you can imagine, there are quite a few amazing records and he kept them in pristine condition.

Here's the thing: I currently live in Las Vegas. During the day when my wife and I are at work, I basically turn the AC off to save money and turn in back on just before we come home. So during the day, the temperature in the house can get up to 89 degrees (that's where the thermostat is actually set) pretty much the entire summer.

I'm wondering if this temperature will ruin the albums. I'm not going to sell the collection no matter what, but I'm thinking that maybe I should leave them with my mother (in Ohio) rather than bring them here. Or at least keep the nicer albums at her house and only bring the ones that are already heavily played or generally worn that I am going to use.

What do you think?

Update:

No basement, obviously. My choices are somewhere hot or somewhere hotter.

3 Answers

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  • 7 years ago

    Both answers are correct. The records should be stored in a cool and dry place and always in the upright position. http://www.ighome.com/search.aspx?q=should%20vinyl...

    Given that you live in Las Vegas and it costs a small fortune to run the air conditioner 24/7, there is an unconventional method to keeping your albums isolated, but cool and dry. They can be housed in a very large refrigerator or they can be place in a freezer chest with setting the climate control at its warmest level. That will keep them cool instead of frozen. You certainly don't want to freeze them and risk the albums cracking.

  • Hi , they won't melt , but they will warp YOU MUST LIE THEM FLAT , I live in Australia and kept my large record collection in an out side shed for years & they were fine , the summer heat here is easily as hot if not hotter than Los Vegas . So long as you stack them flat on top of each other you'll be fine

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    They will warp. And no, do NOT lie them down flat. Stack them up vertically (up and down), not flat.

    My best advice is to keep them in a dry, cool area, like a basement if you have one.

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