N1TZU - An A/C question.

[Mudderoy]

Ha! You can't get away from work, or free advice anywhere I bet.

I run the servers for xjtalk out of my house, specifically the closet in my home office. (it used to be called a upstairs bedroom)

The room gets too hot if I close the door, and the servers make quite a bit of noise. Being an old IT person it doesn't bother me, but it would be nice to close the door to the office.

Based on what I have researched it seems to get a better cooling in that room I need to provide a return air path. Closing the door blocks most of the return air, so I don't get as much cool in there.

If this is correct, is it a pretty simple deal to get some ducting, duct tap, etc... from Home Depot and run a return? Does the return have to be at floor level or could I just put it in the closet with the servers, say in the ceiling?

Thanks!

Oh I didn't PM this because I thought you answer might help someone else. Actually this might be the answer for my kids rooms being too hot during the summer. I tell them to keep their doors open, but no one listens.

[N1TZU]

Hi Tony ,Just got back from a camping trip to Sabago lake state park ,my big 10 day trip for the summer, Hope you haven't been waiting long for this answer.I will first ask and assume that there is a feed register in room? If yes,is it at the floor or in ceiling?If at floor make a hole / register opening at ceiling level or if feed to room is at ceiling make it at floor level. This will allow air to pass through room with door closed. Also try to make opening as far opposite to feed as possible...Hope all is well with you and yours.....Bob.....

[BlueXJ]

Why not replace the closet and office doors with louvered doors to improve air circulation in the office/bedroom and in the server closet.

[N1TZU]

Yes ,That is another option .But I find most people don't want to go that way due to noise level or just the cosmetics of change the door to something that may not match the rest of the house.......

[Mudderoy]

Hi Tony ,Just got back from a camping trip to Sabago lake state park ,my big 10 day trip for the summer, Hope you haven't been waiting long for this answer.I will first ask and assume that there is a feed register in room? If yes,is it at the floor or in ceiling?If at floor make a hole / register opening at ceiling level or if feed to room is at ceiling make it at floor level. This will allow air to pass through room with door closed. Also try to make opening as far opposite to feed as possible...Hope all is well with you and yours.....Bob.....

There is an A/C vent on the ceiling near the window. Actually points towards the window, which I find silly, but who am I?

I have a two story house. If I were to run returns from each bedroom from the second floor, could this cause a problem for the A/C, cooling, etc...?

[N1TZU]

Tony,I'm guessing now you have an a/c system in the attic,if so,running return from each room will only improve air flow so there should not be any problem or ill effect to air unit,,,as long as you connect those returns to the return duct of course..Just keep those returns on the opposite side or room to where the feeds are,,,As far as the feeds blowing on the window,That is to put the coolest air across the warmest part of the room...I hope that help to answer you questions......Bob....

[Mudderoy]

Tony,I'm guessing now you have an a/c system in the attic,if so,running return from each room will only improve air flow so there should not be any problem or ill effect to air unit,,,as long as you connect those returns to the return duct of course..Just keep those returns on the opposite side or room to where the feeds are,,,As far as the feeds blowing on the window,That is to put the coolest air across the warmest part of the room...I hope that help to answer you questions......Bob....

Excellent. Now I'll have to go over to home depot and see what they have to splice into the upstairs return. Yes it is an attic single (5 ton?) unit. What ever the largest unit you can have in a non commercial setting, or at least that's what my AC guy tells me.

[4.3LXJ]

Ha!

The room gets too hot if I close the door, and the servers make quite a bit of noise. Being an old IT person it doesn't bother me, but it would be nice to close the door to the office.



I used to be in HVAC service and we encounter problems like this all the time. Those servers generate a lot of heat and will out strip the AC in a room quickly, especially being in a closet. Putting the return air duct in the room is a good idea, and if it was me I would put it in the closet so that all the air in the room has to go through the closet. The fact that the closet gets hot with the room door closed is indicative that you may need more cooling there than the register can provide even with a return air duct in the room.

One solution we had many times in small spaces with servers is a ductless AC. You have the condenser outside, but the liquid an vapor lines go through the wall or ceiling to the small air handler that can be mounted anywhere in those small spaces. It has its own thermostat and will do a very nice job of cooling those servers. Most of the new ones are also very efficient.

[Mudderoy]

I used to be in HVAC service and we encounter problems like this all the time. Those servers generate a lot of heat and will out strip the AC in a room quickly, especially being in a closet. Putting the return air duct in the room is a good idea, and if it was me I would put it in the closet so that all the air in the room has to go through the closet. The fact that the closet gets hot with the room door closed is indicative that you may need more cooling there than the register can provide even with a return air duct in the room.

One solution we had many times in small spaces with servers is a ductless AC. You have the condenser outside, but the liquid an vapor lines go through the wall or ceiling to the small air handler that can be mounted anywhere in those small spaces. It has its own thermostat and will do a very nice job of cooling those servers. Most of the new ones are also very efficient.

Thanks for the information. Actually I'd like to have a small A/C unit that would run off of solar power during the day to cool the servers. All pie in the sky stuff unless you have the funds to do it, and even then I suspect that it isn't as cost effective as just putting in a A/C like you are talking about, or just running the ducting.

Yep, my thoughts were the same. Put the return in the closet to force the air flow in, around, thru, the servers.