Re: BTU Question for a small Computer room

["James H H Lampert" <jamesl@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For what it's worth:

We have a 170, 2 Linux boxes, 3 Windoze boxes, 2 UPSs, and assorted
networking hardware all running 24/7, along with a 40s and a D02 running
as needed, all in a confined space. Instead of a dedicated air
conditioner, we have a high security (steel frame with expanded metal, not
wire mesh) screen door (we call the place "the cage") and a big industrial
roof-mounted exhaust fan (on a speed controller, and tied into one of the
UPSs). We also keep a thermometer in the room. The temperature rarely
climbs above the high 70s, and if it does, we can simply turn up the fan
to full blast, and it will cool off rather rapidly.

We used to have a similar installation without the screen door, in our
former facility. It was located under a stairwell, and instead of the
roof-mounted fan, we had (following some equipment failures) a pair of 24"
box fans exhausting into the stairwell. We called that computer closet
"the sweatbox," even after the fans (and the same thermometer we use
today) went in.

In both cases, the cost of a dedicated air condititoner would have been
prohibitive, mainly because there isn't any exterior wall to poke a
"window" unit through.

--
JHHL