I have several powders and keep them in the fridge for freshness: dundicut, guntur sannam, orange hab and my blend of super chili, ceyenne and fresno(this has a nice fresh red pepper smell). Drying in the fridge I have the same blend but this time I had a jalapeno ripen and I dried 1 frozen scotch bonnet(I wanted to try a germinate the seeds and thought it would be nice in the mix).
I don't have a dehydrator yet, so in the winter I put cut pods on my furnace registers and in the summer just keep the cut peppers in the fridge and move them around a couple of times a day so they don't mold - takes just over a week to get them dry enough for the grinder.
I too have small children and a wife that thinks water left at room temperature is too hot, so I have to keep everything separate. Last night I baked chicken breast and spiced it with a store boughten roasted red pepper rub, then kicked it up a notch with some dundicut powder, not thinking I gave the dog the skin and my wife asked later, why does Sparky keep licking her jowls -doh, had to freshen Sparky's water with cold water, really cold water!