For those of you wondering if you can put a gun safe in an unheated garage, we’re going to pull the cat out of the bag right now—typically, no, you can’t. Although, there are some niche scenarios in which you can keep your safe in the garage. We’ll review them in this article. We will also let you in on some tips for storing your guns that’ll keep them out of harm’s way so you don’t have to worry about ruining them.
Why You Can’t Keep a Safe in the Cold
Keeping a safe in your garage would be much less of an issue if it was heated. However, the cold isn’t the problem that directly affects your guns. It’s the humidity that develops from frigid weather. Moisture is the mortal enemy of firearms because it causes them to rust. The ideal temperature you should keep your safe at is around 70°F.
Better Places To Keep Your Safe
The best plan of action is to keep your safe inside, especially if it’s not well-insulated. Most safes aren’t made for extreme weather conditions, so they don’t have any built-in protection. For example, our quick access gun safes with mechanical locks expose a majority of the firearm. These safes are meant for you to have the ability to grab your gun quickly in the case of an emergency.
If you were thinking about using your garage because of your safe’s larger size, we’d recommend that you use your basement instead. It can get a bit humid, but it’s much easier to regulate the temperature down there. Plus, you can buy a dehumidifier if you need to. Either way, you’ll have much more room to work with, and your guns will remain much safer than if they were in the garage.
How To Keep It in the Garage
Not everyone has a basement, so if you have absolutely no other options, then you can put a gun safe in an unheated garage—as long as you make some alterations first. We’d suggest that you heat the entire garage because it’ll make things much easier for you. Plus, it’ll be much more pleasant for you on cold mornings before work. If that’s not a possibility, there are mini heaters and dehumidifiers you can purchase for the inside of your safe. Or, you could buy a safe that has these things already built into it.
Even if you set up the perfect environment for your safe, you have to deal with the fact that the garage is the easiest part of your home to break into. Combat this by setting up a security system, bolting the safe to the concrete, or building a cabinet to disguise the fact that a safe is in there.
No matter what you choose, the one thing we’d strongly advise against is having a workshop near your safe. If you do, you’re giving a potential burglar an entire arsenal of tools they could use to try and break into your safe.