I've been recently lurking in the Road Bike Forum, but as yet have not posted. I think that would be the place to ask this question, were I a bit more corageous.
This is mainly addressed to those who live in very hot, humid climes. I'm finding my road tubes, in particular, don't last long in the summer--hardly worth wasting a patch on, as they fail so quickly at the seams and valve, most frequently. Yesterday I bought 4 new tubes. I installed one, put the second in the seat bag, and put the other two in the fridge--cool and dark.
Thoughts?

thinking I have enough trouble with my wife and my bikes without putting bike parts in the Fridge! Probably good enough to keep them in AC/house, in a dark place away from the sun AND away from ionizing air filters.....that will turn rubber into gloop in no time!

Are you using butyl tubes or latex?
Either way, oxygen is the big problem. That and maybe a chemical reaction with the under seat pouch material.
Humidity does not help either.
Talc is one's friend as is a zip lock bag with silca gel pack thrown in.

All good advice - well said Repechage.

As long as she doesn't catch you running derailleurs and brake sets through the dishwasher you're good..........

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Butyl. Thanks for those tips. And it's only my road tubes that fail so quickly. The larger diameter ones(lower pressure) last a long time.

Are you seeing this problem with a number of different brands/price points?

Inner tubes do NOT hold pressure, tires do. I have feeling your using too small a diameter tubes in your tires. What size tires and what size tubes? I always run a large an inner tube as possible as I think they flat less and leak down less overnight. Think of a party balloon blown up big so its taught, any little prick will pop it, if its not stretched so tight its less susceptible to popping.

Inner tube failure at the stem and seams maybe a sign of poor quality tubes rather the hot climate. I think Jobst Brandt says that talc powder is more helpful for high pressure tires like yours so give that a try too before assuming poor quality tubes.

Not the climate....Lack of quality in the tubes.

I guess you can be the guinea pig (or scientist) to test this theory. Frankly I'm not sure if refrigeration is going to prove that beneficial for rubber. I know that UV and ozone are both particularly bad, and I know that unlike a lot of materials, cold tends to make rubber expand rather than contract. I'd guess that the dark in the fridge would be a good thing, but the electric motor/compressor nearby might not if that increases the ozone exposure. I also note that refrigeration tends to suck moisture out of things, even through plastic bags, not sure if dryness over time will help preserve the rubber or if there's an ideal moisture balance that might be exceeded. I don't know if the typical "dried out" look of say a rubber hood is actual dryness or oxidation...more questions than answers...I'll have to go Wiki this.

I've had 4 consecutive presta valve stem junction failures with road tubes. Various brands from Continental to Kenda, and 'Schwinn'.
I suspect it's the quality of the tube construction more than environmental.

To keep tubes lasting longer, store them in sealed plastic bags. But I've not come across dried tube failures unless the tube is very old, or very shoddy manufacturing.

This is a big part of the problem. Much of the time i have to buy whatever happens to be in stock. This latest batch are called Millenium, because the the Michelin and Hutchinson were out of stock. There's one shop in town which sells Continientals, which would be my preference, but in the several months I've been checking in, they have only 700 x 38, a size nobody here uses. Online purchases are out, due to shipping costs. Etc. So I'll get out the talc and the ziplocs, and continue to scour the area for better quality tubes.
Thanks again for all the replies.