Any advice for storing monitors or TV screens?
In the old days you could put your behemoth TV set into a box of its own with a bit of padding and be done with it. Now we are in the age of the LCD screen, this becomes a little trickier. The apparatus these days is flat so packing in a regular storage box means that you have to pack with other items that could potentially damage it. And we are craving more of them, with many offices going for 2 screen monitor displays as standard, and the size of your TV being the new status symbol.
However when it comes to putting a TV screen into storage, what you are essentially dealing with is a fragile screen and similarly delicate electronics behind it. Leaving your screen in an arbitrary location cycling through undomestic extremes of temperature and humidity is going to lead to disappointment and a trip to the local handyman if you’re not careful here. Opt if at all possible for a climate controlled storage solution, where the conditions it is being kept under are evenly maintained to ensure all is well. You can also try using sachets of silica which retain moisture and are very cost effective versus the cost of buying new electronics!
As you will know from the fate of various household appliances, electronics and dust have never been ideal bedfellows, and storage for long periods of time does invite the potential of dust. Any dust already on it can be brushed off with a monitor cloth or those small compressed gas cannisters that are handy for getting gunk out of your keyboard. Of course a bright spark did invent the TV dust cover, so you could invest in one of those in the appropriate size for your screen, however in the hurry that comes with moving you probably haven’t got time to shop for one of those. A home made good covering of soft blankets secured around the item will do an equivalent job, but before you do that remove all cables and stands from the TV set to make the job easier.
Of course boxing up the screen is a good idea, but screens can be an odd size these days. It is easy to say in hindsight, but TVs and monitors are one of those appliances where it pays off to keep the slimline original packaging. If this was long disposed of then your storage facility or hardware store might be able to come to your rescue here either with tailor made solutions or something not far off. The goal essentially is to have the screen packed on its own in a dedicated box with all the necessary protective covers.
Beyond this storing it away is a matter of common sense. Fortunately there will always be space in a packing arrangement to slip a narrow TV set or monitor, and indeed having a narrow space to put it in will improve its security. However, just make sure beyond this that you are not putting any unnecessary weight on the box containing the screen. You don’t want to make all these preparations and then have the screen physically damaged by weight placed on top of it from any angle.
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