Tracy R Reed wrote:
Can anyone recommend a simple device which can measure the amperage used? Preferably without having to place it inline (I think some can measure the EMF) but inline is doable if that is all there is.
You can get clip-on ammeters, probably at Frys. They just clip around the power cord and measure the AC magnetic field. I've got an older one that only works if you clip around "one" of the wires, but modern ones don't care.
Let's say a computer draws 1 amp. What is the rule on how much heat this adds to a room? Any way to calculate how many degrees it might raise the temperature of the room?
I'd think there are so many variables that you couldn't calculate the delta. Natural air circulation and amount of insulation would affect the steady-state temperature. Yes, computers will overheat rooms. I've got that problem myself. My current home box, a dual 246 Opteron, is a killer when it's running at its full speed of 2-GHz. However, it's tolerable when the CPU slows down to 1-GHz. Heat dissipation must be non-linear as CPU clock frequency increases.
Does anyone think it would accomplish much to somehow vent the hot air coming out of my computer to the outdoors instead of into my room? It just struck me that it must be more efficient to vent the hot air outdoors and cool the ambient air than to try to cool the hot air from the computer.
I think the problem with venting is that the outgoing vented air has to be replaced with outside-ambient. Most (all?) HVAC systems recirculate the inside air to save energy, it must be cheaper to remove the inside generated heat (computers, humans, etc) than to cool, de-humidify and clean large volumes of incoming ambient. But for a non-air-conditioned room, heat venting would probably be a win. The question remains of how to do it neatly with a computer. How about moving the system to a closet fitted with an exhaust blower, similiar to what you see in bathrooms? Maybe you could use a KVM extender so you didn't have to sit in the closet to run the system? For me, were I used to leave my box on 7/24 and serve web stuff, I now turn it on only when needed. I moved the web serving to a dedicated server in a data center. It saves on my electric bill. Regards, Lew -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
