On Fri, May 21, 2010 at 7:32 AM, Roy McMorran <[email protected]> wrote: > On 5/21/2010 8:07 AM, Tom Limoncelli wrote: >> ...and what you can do about it. >> http://everythingsysadmin.com/2010/05/your-computer-room-will-overhe.html >> >> > An interesting read, thanks Tom. > > In my case I have the opposite problem. Our small (200 ft^2) computer > room has sufficient cooling capacity and good insulation, so the summer > months are usually not a problem. However on the coldest winter nights > (when the temperature drops below about 1 degree F) the air conditioners > often stop working. These are consumer-grade 'split' systems with > outdoor condensers and indoor air handlers - they just weren't designed > to be used when it's cold outside. It's not unusual for my pager to go > off at 2AM on a January night (yes we have a monitoring system!) telling > me the computer room is overheating. > > Someday perhaps we will get a 'real' CRAC system. But on those cold > nights (when I'm opening doors to let the heat out) I often wonder if > there is a way to cool the space using some sort of air-to-air heat > exchanger. Is anybody doing anything like that? Seems like it could > save a bundle on energy costs in a cool climate like this. > > Happy summer, > > -- > Roy McMorran > Bar Harbor, ME
One of the rough things about most HVAC heat pump based systems is they aren't rated to work with over a 35F temperature differential (Don't hold me to it, this is my old memory working). In the depths of winter, it sounds like you need a multi-stage system or auxilliary heat. You might need to add some heat to the 'outside' unit to keep the temprature differential within range. If your problem is to cool of a computer room, more insulation might help, and sealing any air-seepage. Contact an industrial style HVAC professional in your area, they can give you the right information. There are air-to-air heat exchangers, typically used to get fresh air in and stale air out of an area in a well sealed building without loosing to much heat or air conditioning, but humidity is often changed using them, so additional humidifiers/de-humidifiers are needed depending on the season/weather. I worked for a major company in El Paso TX, and after they built a new data center they figured out the old data center had no heating the first winter after they turned it all into office space. ... ><> Jack _______________________________________________ Tech mailing list [email protected] http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tech This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
