Placing sim rig in cold garage

[Mr_D]

Hey there,

As I'm short of space in my house I'm contemplating placing my rig in the garage. The garage is a separate building about 50m away, uninsulated and unheated. I live in the Netherlands close to the sea where temperatures are moderate throughout the year. Actual feeezing temps are rare and usually not more than a few nights a year. The garage is about 6x8meter and 4 meters high.

I was wondering what kind of issues I might run into and if there are reasonable solutions to them. The cold temperatures I dont think is much of an issue. I usually get it quite hot during sim racing, I can dress accordingly and I could even put up an IR panel. I'm more worried about the hardware itself, the pc, monitor and wheelbase. Storing in cool temperatures shouldnt be a huge issue but the moisture I'm afraid is. Especially if you turn on a cold device and heat it up quickly, I'm worried condensation will destroy the electronics.

Does anyone here have any experience with a similar situation? Any advice?

 

[Lion-Face]

Yep, I did that for about 5 years. Had a PC, sound system, TV, ps4 and g27 beside my garage rollerdoor the entire time.

The only casualty was the PC which was ancient at the time anyway and I think it died when I plugged a device into an exposed USB port. The PC was the most exposed, just on concrete garage floor and right beside the door, which was closed the entire time but never truly sealed.

The steering wheel I always covered in a cloth after use and the other items were in a TV cabinet, so somewhat more protected, aside from the TV which still goes to this day.

I was also concerned about condensation, so whenever I was going to play I would fire everything up about 30 minutes before use and just let it idle before jumping on.

For a bit of environmental context, my garage is uninsulated as well and I live at the bottom of NZ, winter temps barely break 10deg celcius on a good day and we enjoy multiple frosts through the year.

 

[Mr_D]

Cheers, thanks for your input. Not exactly comforting the pc died though I just bought a new one and it's the most epensive part of the rig. Good to hear everything else is going strong. I mean obviously they're not ideal conditions and some increased wear is expected.

I was thinking of maybe keeping the pc in a cabinet and insulate it with styrofoam, maybe keep moisture eaters in there as well. Or just storing the pc at the house and taking it with me into the garage. Not sure how feasible that is though.

 

[r_outsider]

I think your only real issue is keeping dust out of everything, concrete floors seem to have their own unless they're sealed. I wouldn't block that PC up too much, they need a fair bit of airflow. Electronics don't seem to mind cold for the most part, although if it gets REALLY cold certain screens can hate life but nothing you're describing is anything like that level. While I don't have a gaming rig in the cold we run computers in unheated buildings and things like diagnostic laptops outside all year in parts of Canada nowhere near the US border.

As for the driver, you can get some pretty decent infrared heaters for reasonable money and not a frightening amount of power use that do a good job of keeping you warm although they won't heat the building. Like this one https://www.gopresto.com/product/heatdish-plus-tilt-parabolic-electric-heater-07928

 

[Daz555]

If the garage has a concrete floor then I'd start by covering it with a liquid epoxy damp-proof paint which will prevent any moisture coming up through the floor. I'd also build a small raised floor out of timber to keep the whole sim rig and PC etc completely off the concrete. You could build such a floor very cheaply with some pallets and plywood and maybe some vinyl flooring on top.

 

[Mr_D]

Looking at my house and the available space again I think I might be able to able to squeeze a setup in the attic after I get rid of some stuff.

Havent fully decided yet but I think I'll put the rig in the garage in the summer and in the attic in the winter. The garage is pretty much my mancave with all my motorcycles etc so it would be a nice place for the rig. I reckon in the winter the attic is just more convenient and better for the equipment