.patch_storage space point to other location

Hello,

     While working with Oracle 11GR2 when applying PSU type patches we've noticed that the .patch_storage directory under the the Grid Infra and Rdbms $ORACLE_HOME directories gets pretty large.  We found metalink note 550522.1 which mentions the use of the "opatch util cleanup" command which after some testing does remove/free up space but we were wondering if there was some other method to avoid the .patch_storage directory from getting so large.

    For example, is there some sort of way to use a variable to define the location of the .patch_storage file so some other location?  Thanks for your help.