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Considering an Accessory Dwelling Unit? Try a Shipping Container

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are rapidly transforming backyards across the world. ADUs can provide affordable housing solutions, growing space for cramped homes and creative building opportunities for homeowners.  Utilizing shipping containers for ADU construction can simplify the process of planning and building. Shipping containers serve as an excellent foundation to develop in-law suites, granny flats, home offices and whatever else your imagination can cook up. If you want to learn more about shipping containers and accessory dwelling units, keep reading. The team at Rent-A-Container provides affordable and high-quality shipping container solutions. Whether you are buying or leasing, we have containers to match any project. Reach out today at 800-880-7061.     What Is an Accessory Dwelling Unit? When it comes to ADUs, there’s a surprising amount of confusion around what exactly they are. Most definitions include a few common factors, though: ADUs are independent residential dwelling units. ADUs are standalone, internal or attached to a larger living space. Some, if not all, will contain facilities like a kitchenette and a bathroom. You have probably seen an ADU of some sort in your life. City planners often use the term ADU to describe any additional habitable space on a single-family plot. This definition encompasses all kinds of housing you might come across. Garage apartments, basement apartments, carriage houses and tiny homes on foundations all fall under the ADU umbrella.  Additionally, formal and informal ADUs exist — with informal meaning that the structure lacks the proper permitting. Most internal ADUs fall into the informal category, making it difficult to pinpoint an accurate estimate of the number of ADUs in the U.S. Accessory dwelling units are a current rising trend in real estate, but these living spaces carry some cultural and historical significance as well. The idea of ADUs predates our modern perspective on housing and even the definition itself.  Carriage houses, in particular, have long been a part of our pre-automotive past. Walk the streets of Charleston, South Carolina, or Washington, D.C., and you’ll find antique ADUs still holding strong as living spaces. ADUs have come a long way since those humble colonial origins. Modern perspectives on the use of accessory dwelling units offer unique solutions for affordable housing, home additions and much more.   Uses for Accessory Dwelling Units Because ADUs include a broad range of habitable structures, you can do almost anything with them. Essentially, they represent an addition to your home — a fully functioning unit packed with all the comforts of a larger living space. Air conditioning, water access, plumbing and kitchenettes all make ADUs perfect for many different uses.   Multipurpose Small Outbuildings A multipurpose small outbuilding is an ADU with a flexible purpose. Outbuildings can be fantastic additions to a home where space is at a premium. Small outbuildings are useful for both urban and rural environments. Homesteaders, in particular, can find quite a lot of use in ADU outbuildings. When you need a potting shed at the beginning of the growing season, you’ve got the needed space. You can use your outbuilding to store hay, firewood or extra supplies. Outbuildings are superior to sheds because they can function as a living space. Once you move all those fermenting beer bottles or whatever you have stored in the area out, you can house your in-laws and keep them comfortable. After they leave, it’s easy to convert the space back into storage or whatever else you need the ADU for.   Granny Flats Housing an aging population has been challenging. Researchers estimate only 10% of U.S. homes are up to the task of providing the elderly with safe living spaces. To be ready for seniors, homes need: Step-free entryways Full bedroom and bathroom access on the first floor At least one bathroom accessibility feature Granny flats have long been a solution to this problem. ADUs provide the long-term solutions families need to house their aging relatives. ADUs have customizable floor plans and open construction options for accessibility, and they can be a few steps away from a larger residence. Proximity is a key factor, as elderly care is often a stressful topic for families desperately trying to find affordable and humane solutions for their aging relatives. Granny flats allow for families to be close while still offering privacy and dignity.    Affordable Housing Solutions In the U.S., we need to find around 7 million homes to house extremely low-income families. ADUs can provide safe, habitable and, most importantly, affordable solutions for lower-income individuals and families. Not only do they help maximize the usability of urban land plots, but ADUs minimize material use. With the cost of building materials skyrocketing, developers need to utilize low-cost housing solutions like ADUs.  Additionally, ADUs using shipping containers as their base structure can significantly cut costs for materials, transportation and labor.   ADUs as Additions to Your Home You might be looking for a simple addition to your home. If this is the case, then ADUs should be on your building radar. From housing guests to providing much-needed at-home office space, what you decide to do with your ADU is up to you. You can think of some out-of-the-box ideas that are unique to you and your home. Do you want a space to de-stress and meditate? Are you a musician who needs a recording studio away from the family? An ADU is the answer.   Benefits of Shipping Container ADUs Shipping containers make the perfect platform for accessory dwelling units. Their open layout, rugged construction and minimal needs for site preparation make them the optimal choice for ADU construction. With a mixture of sizes and types, shipping containers are the solution to almost any ADU project. Whether you are pining over a granny flat for your in-laws or a small outbuilding for extra space, ModoGo has the container solutions to meet your next project’s needs.   ADUs: A Growing Housing Trend ADUs can meet the demands of many modern housing problems. With home prices rising faster than wages in most

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Shipping Container Greenhouses: How They Work and Why You Should Have One

Modern farming has a big problem. Researchers estimate that, by 2050, there will be a 66% drop in arable land around the world. For a population that might hit 9.7 billion by that year, feeding those hungry mouths will be challenging. One clever solution is using shipping container greenhouses to grow crops. Shipping container farms are becoming a popular way to add year-round growing capability to traditional farming and grow crops on a small footprint. If you are curious about how vertical growing containers work, read on! If you are looking to add a shipping container greenhouse to your farm or getting into shipping container farming as a new business, Rent-A-Container is here to help. Contact us today to explore your options with a qualified team member.      How Shipping Container Greenhouses Work Every shipping container greenhouse starts with the container itself. Options to buy or lease containers give potential indoor farmers flexibility when starting out. Different styles provide additional choices that can fit into any farm footprint. Containers are then outfitted with some impressive technology to maintain optimum growing conditions. Container farms use controlled environment agriculture (CEA). CEA systems monitor a selection of environmental inputs to create a year-round paradise for plants. They do this by monitoring: Temperature Humidity Carbon dioxide Light Nutrients A computer system tracks these levels and adjusts them when needed. You can even control most systems remotely through a smartphone. This high-tech approach to growing food packs in plants and can fit virtually anywhere.   Indoor Farming Container Layout When developing a layout for your shipping container farm, utilizing the vertical space is key. This advantage gives containers another edge when competing against traditional farms. Vertical farming uses stacked layers of plant trays. Combined with CEA automation, vertical farming helps utilize growing space while providing a relatively hands-off growing experience. This has made shipping container greenhouses alluring to entrepreneurs and seasoned farmers alike.   Stacking Vertical Growing Containers Taking the idea of vertical even further, you can stack vertical growing containers on one another. Because manufacturers build shipping containers with vertical storage in mind, farmers can create one-of-a-kind custom farms as high as the sky. Savvy shoppers planning a vertical growing empire might even buy in bulk to save on capital. From there, building up is all a matter of joining two containers together.   Benefits of Shipping Container Greenhouses Shipping container greenhouse systems have some unique benefits. They offer farmers a year-round growing season and the ability to control variables for taste, and they provide hyper-local produce to communities. Hydroponic shipping container farms can offer a lot more, too. Let’s take a look at some stand-out benefits of practicing CEA with shipping container greenhouses.   Hydroponic Shipping Containers Grow Food in Urban Areas The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that around 23 million people in the U.S. live in food deserts. Indoor shipping containers bridge the gap between farmers and their communities, offering a much-needed source of fresh food. In cities where space is at a premium, a thirst for sustainable agriculture has brought shipping container greenhouses to urban areas. This brings people closer to their food and removes some of the major environmental costs of traditional farming.   Your Shipping Container Greenhouse Is Earth-Friendly Using a shipping container garden means cutting transaction costs. These are the overall costs of producing and transporting a product, including the environmental impact. While a head of lettuce might seem benign, it could have taken a very long journey to get to your store shelf. Freight transport accounts for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Shipping containers cut these environmental costs right out of the production cycle. Additionally, most hydroponic shipping container farms operate with a closed-loop system. This means water is recycled, conserving this precious resource.   Controlled Conditions in Shipping Container Farms A properly insulated and well-equipped shipping container greenhouse can grow fresh produce in the most extreme conditions. Combine that with sensors that feed vitals to a hydroponic system, and you have an environment that can grow food year-round. Thanks to nutrients and proper lighting, you can reproduce almost any growing environment in a shipping container. Working with automated systems can even take out the guesswork when measuring nutrients and timing lighting cycles. Curious about other unique uses for shipping containers? Learn Why Restaurants Are Utilizing Shipping Containers [+ 9 Container Drive-Thru Examples to Make You Envious]   Grow Your Shipping Container Garden with Rent-A-Container Shipping container greenhouses are here to stay. This convenient and revolutionary approach to indoor farming has become a hot trend in modern agriculture. To get into the game, you’ll need to find the right shipping container, and Rent-A-Container has the selection of containers you need. Give us a call at 800-880-7061 or reach out to us online to find the perfect indoor farming container.   Shop Rent-A-Container!

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Ever Consider Creating a Shipping Container Gym? Here’s Why You Should

Here’s the usual story for people who decide it’s time to get fit: get a gym membership, drive out to the gym a couple of times, and never go again (but keep on paying those monthly membership fees just in case).  That’s not the success story you want when you’re ready to get ripped or improve your level of fitness. But what if you changed the narrative? What if you could go to a totally new kind of gym? Now you can. It’s called a shipping container gym and it could literally live in your backyard. From F45ers to yoga enthusiasts, this idea is catching on. Maybe you’re an entrepreneurially-minded fitness buff who doesn’t have the cash for a traditional gym franchise. Or perhaps you’ve gotten accustomed to home workouts during the pandemic. If you’ve never considered creating a shipping container gym, now may be the time.  Below, we examine six benefits of storage container gyms. If you’re ready to take the next step, reach out to the container experts at Rent-A-Container for help finding the perfect option for your own shipping container home gym.     6 Benefits of Shipping Container Gyms Whether you’re looking for a CrossFit container box or a multi-unit commercial shipping container gym to bring in monthly revenue, you’re going to feel the benefits of going modular faster than you feel the burn on a stationary bike.  Here are six benefits of shipping container gyms: Compact No membership fees Personalized to your needs Private Portable Commercial container gym possibilities Let’s look at each benefit in more detail.    1. Container Gyms Are Compact You don’t need a lot of space to create a shipping container home gym that meets all of your needs. Standard shipping containers are typically 20 or 40 feet long, but they can be cut down to size to fit any space you have. You can even add a little extra head room if you go with a high cube container, which (as you probably guessed) has a higher ceiling.  In the compact space of a storage container, you can still fit a lot. In the roughly 150 square feet a 20-foot container offers, you can fit nearly all the gym equipment you need to stay fit, as well as an air conditioner, door, windows, TV and anything else you’d like in your gym.    2. Shipping Container Home Gym: No Membership Required Americans pay $1.13 billion every year for gym memberships they don’t use. Don’t be a statistic. With a shipping container gym in your backyard, it’s much harder to say no to a workout. And when you do say no, you aren’t wasting money on a gym membership you’re not using.  The initial cost of a storage container gym is higher than a monthly membership, but with increased use and durable, long-lasting materials, a container gym may be a wise move for both your wallet and your health.   3. Your Dream CrossFit Container Box Containers are customizable. That means you can make your container gym into anything you want it to be. If you lift, add a squat rack. If you run, add a treadmill. It’s yours — make it what you want.  And if you’re coming up with your own CrossFit regimen or wanting to become a CrossFit affiliate, a container gym may offer a low-cost, eye-catching solution.   4. Your Storage Container Gym Is Private Not everyone likes showing off their mirror muscles and toned tummies. For some, privacy is a key component of gym motivation. With your own shipping container home gym, you get complete privacy. You can add windows to shipping containers you purchase, but they’re totally optional. And whether you share your new gym with anyone else is up to you. It’s as personal as you want it to be.   5. A Portable Shipping Container Gym That’s Perfect for You Shipping containers are designed to be portable. Before they move on to exciting careers as container offices or gyms, they live a life at sea aboard massive ocean freighters. Their lives of transporting goods are over by the time they reach you, but they’re still highly portable. That’s good news if you plan to invest in a container gym for your home. Put it in your backyard or wherever you like, and if you move, you can move it with you via a flatbed truck. Simple.   6. Container Gyms Can Go Commercial Maybe you’re not as interested in a home container gym as you are in becoming a gym owner. A commercial shipping container gym may be your answer. Forgetting the low costs and endless customization options of containers for a moment, just consider how easy shipping containers are to stack. You can stack them high and easily connect one container to another to create your ultimate commercial container gym. Looking to discover other ways containers can be transformed for your benefit? Learn more about the evolution of shipping container pools.   Find the Perfect Shipping Container for Your Container Gym Whether you’re sold on storage container gyms or still need a little convincing, you can explore your options by contacting the shipping container gym experts at Rent-A-Container. Our friendly and helpful team is ready to help you find the perfect shipping container to turn into your dream gym. To speak with a member of our team, give us a call at (800) 880-7061. You can also contact us online.   Shop Rent-A-Container!

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Shipping Container Flooring to Consider for Your Project

Choosing the best shipping container for your next project can be challenging. Depending on what you plan to use your container for, there is a surprising number of choices for materials, sizes and door styles. One often overlooked but critical part of any container project is the shipping container floor. If you’ve got questions about your shipping container floor plans, Rent-A-Container has the answers. Below, you’ll find some helpful information we’ve compiled to help you make an informed decision about your shipping container flooring options. Are you considering buying or renting a shipping container? Contact the expert team at Rent-A-Container to get the help you need.      Can I Keep the Floor That’s Already in the Shipping Container? When your new or used container arrives, it’s going to have a robust floor already installed. Whether you keep this floor is going to depend on your intended use and budget.  Manufacturers design shipping containers to withstand the harsh extremes of the open ocean. Consequently, you will see marine-grade plywood as the most common material for shipping container flooring.  Marine-grade plywood can last against years of transporting goods. Cheap tropical hardwoods like Keruing or Apitong make up the bulk of marine-grade plywood options. While sturdy, these tropical hardwoods need harsh chemical treatment to withstand damage from insects and other critters. If you plan on using your container as a living space, insecticide fumes can be an issue.    Possible Pesticides in Storage Container Floors Manufacturers use a ton of nasty chemicals to treat hardwood. While potentially harmful to humans, pesticides do a great job fending off insects that would make quick work of the wood. In a shipping container, pesticides are essential. For your container project, though, you might be using the container as a habitable space like a shed or office. In these cases, the pesticides in marine-grade plywood flooring may be a health risk.  Before you start tearing up the old shipping container floors, there is a quick way to identify what chemicals may be in your materials.   How to Check a Container Floor for Chemicals If you are buying your container new, you can always request non-chemical treated flooring. Many manufacturers are offering alternatives in response to customer demands and the sustainability issues tied to using tropical hardwoods. If you choose a cargo-worthy or one-trip container, however, you may not have the option to choose your shipping container floor. A little detective work can help you find out what chemicals, if any, are part of the timber treatment. You can find timber treatment information on the container safety convention (CSC) plate. This is one of the many labels on a shipping container. The CSC plate is usually on the container’s front door.  On the CSC plate, there should be a section called “timber component treatment.”  Here, you will find three bits of information: Immunity (IM) Treatment chemical Treatment date Focus on the treatment chemical and treatment date. Once you have information on what pesticides you are dealing with, you can use the World Health Organization recommendations for pesticide hazards to determine how safe the chemicals are. Keep in mind that the information on the CSC plate might not be correct. Replacing shipping container flooring is a common part of container maintenance.    Treating a Shipping Container Floor If you plan to keep the original flooring, there are some options to help mitigate pesticide risks. While toxic fumes from the marine plywood will dissipate over time, sealing the floors with a non-breathable material will solve the issue. Here are a few popular choices for treating a shipping container floor: Epoxy — Using a solvent-free epoxy made for wood will help trap any toxic pesticide leakage. Non-breathable flooring underlay — You can use a non-breathable flooring underlay underneath tile or imitation wood flooring to seal in fumes. Concrete — A polyethylene plastic sheet is first laid down on the original flooring before you spread the concrete. This creates an airtight barrier.   Removing a Storage Container Floor While removal of the original flooring is a simple process, it can take some time. Here is a quick overview of the steps: Using a reciprocating saw, cut the bolts connecting the flooring panels to the steel frame. Next, remove each flooring panel with a pry bar. Once this is complete, you are free to install your new shipping container flooring. But which flooring type should you choose?   Types of Shipping Container Floors Whether you are using your shipping container for storage, an on-site office or even restaurant space, there are plenty of flooring options. Here are some common materials that might fit into your shipping container floor plans.   Steel Container Floors A steel floor overlay is a common addition to a shipping container for industrial applications. Manufacturers utilize ⅛” or ¼” steel sheets to create a durable surface. Often, the original plywood floors act as a base with the steel sheet welded at the edges of the steel frame.     Aluminum Container Floors Another popular flooring option is aluminum. Much like steel, aluminum provides a durable surface that is airtight and waterproof. Another advantage of this flooring type is that cleaning is a breeze. Some containers will even feature a drain so you can spray the container down for convenient cleaning.   Coin Vinyl Container Floors Coin vinyl is an excellent material to use in containers with high foot traffic. The material is water-resistant and can stand up to repeated cleanings. Additionally, vinyl flooring protects against harsh acids, oils, dirt and other nasty substances. Most coin vinyl flooring comes in either tan or gray and is usually rolled right over the original plywood.    Imitation Wood Vinyl Container Floors If you are trying for a more attractive interior design for your shipping container, imitation wood vinyl flooring can be a great choice. There are various styles and colors to choose from. Simply  install it over the existing plywood.   Epoxy-Coated Container Floors A wood-ready and solvent-free epoxy coating

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Shipping Container Conditions: Your Quick Handbook for Choosing the Right Container

Do you want cargo worthy containers? Or, is a wind and watertight container what you need? Do you even know what these terms actually mean? You’re about to find out. Most businesses that set out to rent or purchase storage containers have no idea which shipping container condition they need to choose. But choosing the right container starts with deciding the condition and type that fits your needs. The shipping container experts at Rent-A-Container are here to help. Reach out to get the answers to your shipping container condition questions. And read on for more information.     Understanding Shipping Container Conditions As you shop for shipping containers, you will probably encounter a bunch of terms that appear to describe the shipping container condition or level of quality. Understanding which of those terms you need to pay attention to — and which you don’t — is essential to picking the right storage container. Here’s what you need to know:   Shipping Container Letter Grades Don’t Mean Much You will likely run into shipping containers that companies are describing as “Grade A” or “Grade B.” These might tell you something about how the seller views the container’s quality, but they don’t provide any real, official information about the container’s condition. These grade levels are not tied to standards set by any official organization. They are subjective and vary widely from company to company within the storage container industry.   Shipping Container Condition Doesn’t Tell You Everything The term used to describe the condition of a shipping container is a good starting point when you are thinking about buying or renting a container. But that should never be where your investigation ends. Within each condition category, there are a wide variety of factors that can impact the container’s usefulness for you, specifically. If possible, it’s best to inspect the shipping container yourself before buying or renting it. At the very least, call the shipping container company and ask specific questions about the container you are considering. Almost ready to pull the trigger on renting a shipping container? Find answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Renting Shipping Containers   Types of Shipping Container Conditions While shipping container terminology can vary from company to company, these are the industry-standard shipping container conditions to look for: One-trip containers Institute of International Container Lessors (IICL) containers Cargo worthy containers Wind and watertight containers As-is containers Each of these conditions describes shipping containers with different levels of quality and what uses they are best suited for. We discuss each container condition in more depth below.   One-Trip Shipping Containers One-trip shipping containers are as close to new as you can easily get with a storage container. As the name suggests, these containers have only taken one trip aboard a container ship and are now for sale or rent. Like most shipping containers, one-trip containers are typically manufactured in China and sent from there to their current location. Because they are like new, one-trip storage containers are ideal for buyers and renters who want the latest features and accessories and the highest level of quality. These containers are also a good choice for container offices, container apartments and similar structures.   IICL Shipping Containers Compared to one-trip containers, IICL shipping containers are just one small rung down on the quality ladder. The IICL dictates a grading and review process to certify that these used containers are in good condition. Most often, these containers are a few years old and have little visible wear and tear, if any. Basically, an IICL-rated container is certified for cargo use. And that should tell you about the level of quality — companies trust this rating as a guarantee that their goods will weather rough seas and long trips across the ocean. While these containers usually remain at sea while they are IICL-certified, if you can snag one, it should be ready for any dry or unrefrigerated storage use.   Cargo Worthy Shipping Containers Cargo-worthy containers are seaworthy shipping containers, meaning they should be strong and weather-resistant enough to carry cargo aboard a container ship. Expect wear and tear including dings, dents and rust. The Cargo Worthy designation is an indication of the structural integrity and does not directly reflect the visible attractiveness of the container. It is important to note that the designation of “Cargo Worthy” does NOT mean that the container has valid CSC plates/stickers or surveys which are required to ship them overseas. It typically means that the container is sound enough to be certified but it does not mean that it is certified. If you are shipping the container overseas you will need to inquire about having an updated CSC survey completed. Although the cargo-worthy definition can vary a fair amount, one thing you can be relatively sure of is that these containers are strong enough to transport cargo. So, if you might have to move the container a long distance at some point — even ship it overseas — a cargo worthy container might be the right call.   Wind and Watertight Shipping Containers Wind and Watertight containers are used containers that should be free from holes and other defects that would allow wind and water to enter the unit. These containers are generally more than 10 years old and will have visible rust, dings and dents. The price of these containers generally reflects those factors, and for people who need to use a container for general storage, a wind and watertight container might be the most cost-effective option. You might notice a little damage to the container’s exterior including rust. But this shipping container condition holds that these containers will resist wind and water to protect your stored items. Keep in mind that wind and watertight containers do not have to undergo any formal inspection by a governing body — container sellers usually inspect and repair them for resale.   As-Is Shipping Containers As-is shipping containers can be a huge money saver for buyers

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Does Your Shipping Container Need Ventilation?

With shipping containers being used as common storage solutions for businesses around the world, the subject of shipping container ventilation comes up quite often. People are concerned about the safety of their stored items and the longevity of their purchased or rented shipping containers. As shipping container experts, the professionals at Rent-A-Container make it our business to help you with all of your shipping container questions, including whether you need to add ventilation to your container. See below for more information, and reach out to our team for help finding the perfect container for your needs.     Shipping Container Vents Are Standard, But They Might Not Be Enough Most shipping containers you can rent or buy had a past life aboard a container ship. These massive vessels take long trans-oceanic journeys and face all manner of weather conditions at sea. To prevent the items inside the containers from becoming damaged, sea container ventilation is standard.  Built-in shipping container vents are small and designed only to release pressure and promote air circulation inside the containers. However, that may not necessarily be enough ventilation for long-term storage needs. These small vents provide only a small amount of air circulation.    When More Shipping Container Ventilation Might Be Necessary Without proper cargo container ventilation, a few common problems could damage your stored items over time.  The following are some examples of what can happen if your shipping container is not properly ventilated: Condensation and moisture inside the container Mold growing on stored items Rust on the interior steel walls of the container Bad smells from condensation Damage from exposure to extreme heat To avoid these problems, consider the following situations in which it might be a good idea to add more shipping container ventilation.   Placing your container in a hot and humid environment? Learn How to Reduce Humidity in Your Shipping Container To Keep Moisture-Sensitive Items Dry   Shipping Container Ventilation for Sensitive Items If you are in a moderate climate and storing relatively sturdy items, the built-in shipping container vents might be enough. But if you are storing items that are sensitive to heat or moisture, you may need to upgrade your ventilation. Items like fabrics, wood, volatile chemicals, metals that can rust, packaged foods and dry goods can all be highly sensitive to condensation and heat that can occur with improper sea container ventilation.   Sea Container Ventilation for Container Offices Shipping container offices are gaining popularity with businesses as an affordable, durable and customizable option for office space. If you plan to convert a storage container into an office of any kind, ventilation is a must.  People are going to be working inside the container for hours each day — you don’t want them sweating or breathing in too much moisture. Improper ventilation can lead to health problems like asthma, pneumonia and other respiratory issues.   Ventilation for Shipping Container Homes This is similar to the container office ventilation problem described above. If someone is going to live inside a shipping container home, they are not going to want to sweat it out while they sleep or breathe in mold from indoor moisture.     How to Upgrade Cargo Container Ventilation The beauty of shipping containers is that they are infinitely customizable. That means you can easily add more shipping container vents if you need or want to. Here are a few shipping container ventilation options to consider:   Passive Vents  Passive vents allow air to flow into and out of the container through small openings. These come standard on containers, but you can add more.   Active Vents  Active vents use a mechanical fan to push fresh air into the container and/or draw stale air out. These may increase your utility bill, but they’re equipped to take on more extreme conditions.   Supply-Only Vents  These vents bring fresh air into the container and work best in tandem with passive vents. You can turn them on only on hot days or keep them running all the time.   Balanced Vents  Typically attached to ducts, these vents can bring in fresh air and push out stale air simultaneously and promote thorough air circulation throughout the unit.   Foundation Vents  Foundation vents keep moisture from accumulating in the foundation of your container. These shipping container vents don’t work with slab foundations, but with railroad ties and concrete piers, they can keep out unwanted moisture and prevent rust.   Other Storage Container Temperature Control Options For most climates and storage needs, some combination of shipping container ventilation options will keep stored items safe. But certain items and extreme climates may call for some heavy-duty temperature control alternatives.   Insulation for Cargo Containers You can buy insulated shipping containers or add the insulation yourself. Insulation protects items inside storage containers from extreme heat and extreme cold. And you can use it in combination with shipping container vents.   Refrigerated Shipping Containers Perishable foods, certain chemicals and medical products may require you to take shipping container temperature control a step further. Many shipping containers for sale come with fully installed refrigeration systems that can keep your stored items at the optimal temperature at all times.   Shipping Container Ventilation Solutions at Your Fingertips: Call Rent-A-Container You want to make sure your stored items are safe from moisture and extreme heat. We understand that. That is why the team of shipping container ventilation specialists at Rent-A-Container is on call to answer your questions and help you find the perfect storage container. For expert advice on your container ventilation options, reach out to us today. Call us at (800) 880-7061 or contact us online. Shop Rent-A-Container!

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