Hi
I am not sure what's the right forum for this, this seemed like the closest one.
I am interested in running a computer 24/7 in a closed small area. 50x70x250
About h50 w70 l250 cm with concrete walls, this area is used for as a storage closet.
Only 50cm height, my computer case is 35cm height.
I will of course also be making a hole in the wall to pass all the cables (electricty,network,etc.).
Now the question here is, what sort of heat problems could i have?
I mean considering it's a small closed area with no air flow and concrete walls.
The computer itself should use little electricty thought
Pentium 3 600mhz coppermine (about only 15watt), 600mb ram,
laptop hd in big aluminum case, network card, old agp card (dont have pci, does it matter a lot?)
Would the heat just get stuck in this area? Would a lot of fans help?
Would other objects in the closet help absorb heat? ( since i don't think the concrete walls are good for that )
Would big blocks of aluminum near the computer help for absorbing heat? bottles of water? ( there free anyway )
Would other computer cases next to it or under the computer help? ( i have some old computer cases i don't need )
I know aluminum is a good material for transfering heat fast, but is it also good having it to absorb heat when
it's not on a cpu,etc.
Any suggestions?
How about a UPS, could i put a UPS there too, or would it heat up too much?
Offtopic, i was wondering would it be possible to build a concrete box for a regular computer in a room to stop noise?
Since concrete walls should prevent noise.
Thanks.
Computer in small concrete closet, Cooling
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Nothing else you put in the closet will significantly help. Any aluminum block or other object will simply absorb heat up to its capacity and then it will be as if it weren't there at all. If anything, such objects will act as insulators raising the temperature compared to if they weren't there. It'd be better to have the room as open and clear as possible, to let air freely flow all around.
Unless the walls are pretty thin (and thus let sound through), then you will cook your computer to death. There simply isn't anywhere for the heat to go. I've put low power computers in closets before and they heat up the whole volume very well, even with a pretty thin door to lose heat through. UPS or not, the computer's going to cook.
You don't specify what sort of door this closet has, though. If it's a plain wooden door, then it'll probably let enough heat through to let that low power computer survive. The temperatures will be high--much higher than I suppose you're guessing right now. It's perhaps similar in power consumption to an old 300mhz PII Celeron I had in the closet with a single 3.5" hard drive. That heated up the closet really well!
One possible way to get rid of the heat efficiently is with a form of watercooling. Have a coil of water inside and outside the closet, with the water pump within the closet. Another possibility is to cut large 3" diameter holes, for airflow mufflers. Each muffler would be a long tube lined with foam; at the end of one of them is an 80mm intake fan sucking air into the closet (preferably straight at the computer).
Unless the walls are pretty thin (and thus let sound through), then you will cook your computer to death. There simply isn't anywhere for the heat to go. I've put low power computers in closets before and they heat up the whole volume very well, even with a pretty thin door to lose heat through. UPS or not, the computer's going to cook.
You don't specify what sort of door this closet has, though. If it's a plain wooden door, then it'll probably let enough heat through to let that low power computer survive. The temperatures will be high--much higher than I suppose you're guessing right now. It's perhaps similar in power consumption to an old 300mhz PII Celeron I had in the closet with a single 3.5" hard drive. That heated up the closet really well!
One possible way to get rid of the heat efficiently is with a form of watercooling. Have a coil of water inside and outside the closet, with the water pump within the closet. Another possibility is to cut large 3" diameter holes, for airflow mufflers. Each muffler would be a long tube lined with foam; at the end of one of them is an 80mm intake fan sucking air into the closet (preferably straight at the computer).
I think it will work. There's enough area, and concrete is pretty good at "absorbing" heat, a lot better than drywall in a typical closet. I think you can expect the ambient temp in the closet to be fairly warm though. It wouldn't suprise me if it got up to 40C in the closet. So you just need to make sure you have a decent CPU cooler and make sure there is some airflow over your hard drive. If nothing else it's worth doing just for the personal experience and fun of it. Report back with pictures if you go for it.
I think i might drop this idea.
The problem is not the computer, but rather some object in the closet
getting too hot, there is also some dust there.
How hot in C does it need to be to become dangerous?
While i can set the computer to shutdown at a certain temperature, there is a chance of it getting stuck, meaning the software won't be able to turn it off.
The doors are plain wood 2.5cm, but shoulden't that be bad?,
i mean woulden't another type of doors such as a metal transfer heat better?
There are even some cracks for air in the door but this might even be
bad since the doors are in the bathroom and there is a shower in there.
So i would not want to increase these holes or anything.
I also don't want to make any air holes to any room, or use water cooling.
(The closet is next to several rooms).
I could probably test this as it is for 14 hours but at some point i would
need to sleep leaving it by it self, the part that worries me.
The question is if 14 hours are enough for a full test.
The closet does have things in it and it will take time for everything and the concrete walls to get to it's full heat capacity.
(the area from the computer to the wood doors would be open thought )
And i do have alternatives, such as puting the computer next to a
washing machine instead, a lot of air flow in that room.
Even if i would do this, i don't know how interesting it would be to take
pictures of a dark closet with a computer inside:|
I do have a laptop hd there inside a bigfoot hd thought.
Doesen't seem to stop much or at least enough noise thought
But geting a silent computer with a fanless psu, fanless cpu, enlosed hd preventing seek noise, is not cheap too.
Not to mention that this solution would work on other computers incase you want to replace your computer latter.
This is why i am looking at the solution of not puting the computer in my room in the first place
The problem is not the computer, but rather some object in the closet
getting too hot, there is also some dust there.
How hot in C does it need to be to become dangerous?
While i can set the computer to shutdown at a certain temperature, there is a chance of it getting stuck, meaning the software won't be able to turn it off.
The doors are plain wood 2.5cm, but shoulden't that be bad?,
i mean woulden't another type of doors such as a metal transfer heat better?
There are even some cracks for air in the door but this might even be
bad since the doors are in the bathroom and there is a shower in there.
So i would not want to increase these holes or anything.
I also don't want to make any air holes to any room, or use water cooling.
(The closet is next to several rooms).
I could probably test this as it is for 14 hours but at some point i would
need to sleep leaving it by it self, the part that worries me.
The question is if 14 hours are enough for a full test.
The closet does have things in it and it will take time for everything and the concrete walls to get to it's full heat capacity.
(the area from the computer to the wood doors would be open thought )
And i do have alternatives, such as puting the computer next to a
washing machine instead, a lot of air flow in that room.
Even if i would do this, i don't know how interesting it would be to take
pictures of a dark closet with a computer inside:|
I do have a laptop hd there inside a bigfoot hd thought.
Doesen't seem to stop much or at least enough noise thought
I really have no idea how much it would cost or how much work it would be.Really, there are cheaper and easier ways to make your computer silent than encasing it in concrete. Trust me on this one.
But geting a silent computer with a fanless psu, fanless cpu, enlosed hd preventing seek noise, is not cheap too.
Not to mention that this solution would work on other computers incase you want to replace your computer latter.
This is why i am looking at the solution of not puting the computer in my room in the first place
If this closet is in the bathroom/shower room, then I'd be worried about water condensation.
With a normal wood door like that, I think there'll be enough heat transfer to keep things cool enough. That's based on my experiences with similar powered closet file servers.
I'll note that I've given up on the closet file server. My file server now lives outside in the computer room. This improved temperatures a LOT.
With a normal wood door like that, I think there'll be enough heat transfer to keep things cool enough. That's based on my experiences with similar powered closet file servers.
I'll note that I've given up on the closet file server. My file server now lives outside in the computer room. This improved temperatures a LOT.