I don't normally keep the heat on at night in my office/studio in a converted garage. Normally, this isn't a problem because it's well-insulated. But this morning I came in and it was 35 degrees Fahrenheit in here! Yikes. It's an unusually cold 14 degrees outside (that's -10 for you Celsius guys).
 
This got me thinking about gear that might be sensitive to cold. I don't keep my guitars out here, but what about other things with mechanical components, such as microphones and speakers? Anyone seen any hard data or manufacturers' recommendations for acceptable temperature ranges?

It's 19 degrees here in Portland. You made me curious as to how cold my studio was getting - the oil filled baseboard heaters I installed are off. It was 63 degrees down there, not too bad. I tapped into my HVAC when I built it just to circulate the air and added special sound trapping, it was elaborate and works great from an audio perspective, but ended up a bit anemic from an airflow perspective. That's what you get when you are a hardware/software/systems engineer that thinks he knows it all ... LOL! I tried. That aside, it is keeping up for now.

My fingers get stiff when it's below 32*.
 
I don't have any familiarity with any facts but what I watch out for is rapid changes in temperature that might create condensation build up in the internals of my electronic gear.
 
best regards,
mike

 
      The condensation angle is a good one. Your computer will probably like the cold as long as the temp is not low enough to affect the lubricants in the fans (well below 35 I am sure).        
 
      Dan

I'm not sure that the cold will effect anything. Humidity is always a problem and with temperature swings it's an even bigger problem. A heated space shouldn't be a problem if well insulated. If you are ok the gear will be ok. If the change in conditions would make you uncomfortable then your gear could suffer. I can't store items like speakers or transformers in a simple shed because they will corrode. Add insulation and humidity control and there's no issues.
 
In your case, a rapid increase in temperature could cause moisture and condensation on metal. They used to have warnings about it on VCR's :) The things that could be affected are contacts, transformers and speakers. Modern speakers are not usually a problem but vintage speakers with very small air gaps can develop a voice coil rub if corrosion builds up.

I hadn't thought about humidity. I actually have a hygrometer on the wall, although I almost never look at it. If I can trust it, it's telling me the humidity's rather low. That's probably right, since it's pretty dry outside, too.
 
My biggest concern was for microphones and speakers, which represent my biggest monetary investment. The microphones are in pouches, inside a metal briefcase with dessicant (I save those little silica gel packets that come in aspirin bottles and such, and throw them into the mic case.) The microphones are probably OK.
 
Speakers, I'm not sure about. I'm trying to think of a reason why they'd care about temperature. My main speakers are made of high-tech materials that can stop bullets and the tweeters are plastic, but my less-expensive subwoofer has a coated paper cone. Both have a surround made from a flexible rubber-like material attaching the cone to the frame, and I wonder if it might lose elasticity in extreme cold, and then possibly crack or malform in use.

If cold was bad for gear, my stuff would have been toast 30 years ago. I switched to using an Explorer from a PU with a canope for that reason after the Sunburst finish on my Tele cracked up like a dry mud puddle. I had to travel for 2 hours to a gig and the PU had no room in front for our instruments.  It was like it is today here -20 C. 
I just turned the Exporer into a permanent snow plow and will switch to using a Subaru Outback, MY 18" sub just fits. But it's nice to arrive at gigs with everything all nice and warm still.  
I store all my PA gear outside in an unheated shed, The main thing is moisture and not the cold I think.
My Yamaha speakers are at least 18 years old and seem just fine. There are power amps, cables and lighting gear in there. So that type of gear seems to take it.
The rest I keep up in my attic studio. It is about 55 F in there in the mornings these days until I turn on the little electric fireplace.
 
I have a old Sansui Stereo and a CD player out in my carport,  it's open on 2 sides, And the CD and Amp sometimes gets powder snow blown in on it, The speakers are pointing down from the rafters. Anyhow, it's been out there through 2 winters and sort of works just fine.. if you hit it everyonce in a while.
 

I do remember that after reading an article about doing outdoor sound in SOS?  I have always sprayed my paper cones with Scotch Guard. Front and back. Note, I have not done this to my NMS10's. But All others were treated including my Bass and Guitar amps.
 
Anyhow I think electric compenents have a wide range of temperature tolerance, There would be a point where stuff might crack if to cold. I would think mikes in pouches are OK, at least SM 58 / 57 types would be.

Looks like it might hit 5 degrees tonight! Just went down to the studio and turned on the oil filled baseboard heaters. Have not seen it this cold in about 6 years or more here in Portlandia.

When I lived up north (for many years) and transported my equipment to a job in a car trunk, in the winter it would be very cold by the time I got to the job.  Especially my Pedal steel guitar which has lots of metal/mechanical parts.  Same way with an amp and effects.  After unloading, I would wait til they got back up to or near room temperature before turning on electronic gear or trying to tune up the steel. 
 
I don't have a studio that is in an unheated area, but if I did I would turn on the heat and let the room get up to temperature before turning on equipment.
 
Here in Florida, with the high humidity in the summer, that is a concern in non-air conditioned locations.  
 
I used to work as an amp tech in Nashville.  I've never had any amps that were in for repair that potentially were affected by being in the cold.  Back in the early 70's when I was there, unheated trailers were common for bands and apparently it had no affect on the equipment.  Obviously, if an amp had been stored for an extended period in a shed somewhere that is a different story.