Storing onions in less-than-ideal conditions

I am trying to store an extra bag of onions through the winter. Right now I have it on top of some barrels where I store root vegetables in dry leaves in the pole foundations of our house - the root vegetables don’t freeze, but that could be because of the leaves. The onions would be exposed to air temperatures below freezing overnight, alternating from around -7ºC (19ºF) overnight sometimes to +15ºC (60ºF) during the day.

Would it be the frost that would damage the onions? Or the freezing air temperature? Is that much change in temperature bad?

Could the onions be stored in dry leaves in barrels? Or do they really need to have airflow during storage?

Would it be better to have them inside the house, where it stays warmer than ideal but more consistent? Or to have them outside where it is colder, but the temperature fluctuates more? Inside the house is not super warm, maybe around 10-15ºC (50-60ºF) on average at this time of year - is this OK for onions?

Hi Kate,
I am not an expert, but I will throw out a couple things I had heard. Onions will store better in a colder area than a warm area, but should never be frozen. What I have heard is that for Onion and Garlic and similar, the freezing/thawing allows the cells to explode and allows bacteria to get into the inside, making it harder to see when they go bad. Can anyone confirm this? I have just always pitched any that got frozen for this reason that seemed legitimate.

***Edit - I don't think the fluctuations would matter, as long as it is not getting frozen, but I don't really have any science to back that up.

That was my concern too, Matt. I was hoping to learn some new storage ideas, because to date, I've always dehydrated any that I wanted to save. Unfortunately, that doesn't offer me any fresh, raw onions too slice for sandwiches or dice for salads, salsa, etc. I have a feeling Kate it's of a similar mind, on this.

This article seems to indicate that in a root cellar environment, one could store onions for 5 to 8 months with proper preparation. Again, that would be above freezing, but fairly humid and fairly low temp.

https://www.homesteadingwhereyouare.com/2021/12/15/root-cellar-fruits-vegetables/