Inside Cold vs. Heated Storage

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rich356

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Hi all-
I just bought my boat and it is currently in inside cold storage (soon to come out though). I was wondering for next winter though, is it worth it to store it in heated storage? The cost is nearly double vs. inside cold, but I was wondering if the fact that the boat doesn't "freeze" while inside heated made up for the cost difference. Obviously you wouldn't have such drastic contraction and expansion due to temperature changes. I was thinking that maybe with a boat that has a few years on her (soon to be 8 in my case) it might be worth it to avoid the extra stresses. Thanks for the help!
 
Inside cold storage (on a concrete slab) is at least 10 degrees warmer than outside ambient. I've stored inside at the county fair grounds and there has NEVER been any problem with freezing. Hell, with proper prep...outside storage is no big deal either.
 
You'd probably make the boat happy by keeping her warm but I'd still have to spend the money to winterize it just in case there was a power failure of some type or for some reason so the block/s and water lines, etc, do not freeze.
 
I would definitely still winterize her. I just thinking that you'd take the stress of expansion and contraction out of the equation as well as possible mistakes made during the winterization process. That might make up for the premium you pay for inside heated storage, but maybe it wouldn't. I wonder if there's ever been a comparison done that tracks maintenance costs for boats stored in the various methods. Probably not.
 
I've always stored my boats outside, no real problems if well prepped. I could see one possible advantage to inside heated storage would be the possibility of working on the boat throughout the winter. If you had some projects to do . . .
 
Agree with heated storage for project season! Those little ceramic heaters take a while to warm 'er up before you get started in cold storage. Easier on the joints too - I'm getting older...

I winterize "just in case", but am not as fanatical about it when in warm storage. So it does save me some winterizing time.
 
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