Computer Room Hot? 481
Anonymous Coward writes "Here is a cool PC ventilation product I ran across. Like many faithful on here, I have multiple computers in a small room which really heat up the place. My office is a good eight degrees warmer than the rest of the house This product called R.A.C.H.A.L (Reduce Annoying Computer Heat And Loudness) vents computer exhaust into the wall, not the room. Might cut down on the electricity bills during those hot months.." Another approach: An anonymous reader writes "If your 'puter is getting to loud, you might want to consider some silent cooling. And the gang at OverclockersClub has just that. A three page review of the Zalman VGA Heatpipe Cooler. This thing is pretty nice looking, and with no power, no noise, what else could a guy ask for? Check out the review here. How come more companies don't do the "silent" thing?" Borked link fixed.
Sad news ... Stephen King dead at 55 (Score:0, Informative)
I just heard some sad news on talk radio - Horror/Sci Fi writer Stephen King was found dead in his Maine home this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.
What about appliances and rack-mount? (Score:4, Informative)
The basic concept might still be sound, though. Turn your rack into an enclosure, add some intake fans, and vent the entire rack's exhaust somewhere else. (I wonder what the exhaust temperature for an entire rack would reach?)
Use the heat properly. (Score:3, Informative)
It works well.
Re:the tradeoff (Score:2, Informative)
Choosing your poison just gets you killed...I'd rather engineer a solution that'll get me what I want at no cost.
Re:That's not gonna work. (Score:5, Informative)
You WILL have to worry about mold and mildew, as well as condensation ruining the wall panels, or running along the framing before pooling somewhere and causing more damage.
Stupid product that has less than zero value. Hope they have good product-liability insurance to cover all the health claims from asthmatics, etc.
Better idea (Score:2, Informative)
Re:My house... (Score:2, Informative)
I have more-or-less deliberatly used my computers to heat my apartment this winter. But I don't have enough hardware to completely switch off the regular radiators.
Re:Moisture problems? (Score:2, Informative)
it's got to cool off eventually, and when it does, it can condense-- thus the vapor barrier on your walls
Re:Unbelievably bad idea (Score:2, Informative)
In lots of construction around here (my home included) the return vents to the furnace is just the space between the studs (no ductwork). I don't see the problem with venting the warm computer air straight into the return - heck it'd even make my 25 year old oil burner 0.000000001% more efficient.
I had a variation of this idea - building a 'false wall' 6 inches out from the normal wall, with (quiet) bathroom type fans at the top to draw air straight out into the attic. It'd be ok to dump warm, moist air up there because my attic is *extremely well* ventilated, in many many homes this would promote rot, ice dams, etc etc..
For the most part, you're right.. You'd either be doing no good at all (trying to force air where it has nowhere to go), and at worst doing harm - dumping warm moist air into exterior insulation or attic space, or overheating your PCs as the fans spin and spin yet dont move any air.
Re:How about monitors? (Score:5, Informative)
Zalman coolers (Score:2, Informative)
Because that VGA cooler weighs 400 grams (almost a pound). The sunflower CPU heatsinks are twice CPU mfg specs as well.
They work great, and are fine if your PC is generally stationary, but I wince thinking of the damage one of those suckers would to my machine if it broke loose while transporting.
Thats why more companies dont do the 'silent' thing.
Besides, I can hardly hear my new P4 rigs stock CPU fan and 4 7-volted 80mm's. Point being that quality fans are virtually silent anyways.
Re:That's not gonna work. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Desperate for silent machines (Score:3, Informative)
Slashdot: Hidden Advertising for Nerds (Score:5, Informative)
So instead of "Here is a cool PC ventilation product I ran across", he should really be saying "Here is a cool PC ventilation product that my company makes."
Sure, it's kinda neat. But I hope
Re:That's not gonna work. (Score:2, Informative)
I'm slowly approaching this, see http://diy-zoning.sourceforge.net/
R.A.C.H.A.L. is stupid (Score:2, Informative)
Computers are designed for free air discharge, hence the use of an axle fan. Placing a duct over the axle fan WILL reduce air flow, causing less air to flow over your CPU and that fancy video card. There will be an increase in temperature.
If you were to use this product, you are pulling air from you computer room (creating negative pressure, though very little), pushing it into a wall. Eventually that air will come out somewhere. Positive pressure "hot wall air" will go to negative pressure cooler air.
Basically you're risking your computer for something that doesn't work.
Hey read the "reviews" link. Coming Soon.....
This product is an engineering hack. If things where this simple, it would of been invented a long, long, long time ago for other things. Can't fool with physics.
Re:Slashdot: Hidden Advertising for Nerds (Score:3, Informative)
That's what this page [elance.com] seems to suggest.
Re:Desperate for silent machines (Score:2, Informative)
Your parent poster was right - I'm British, and that's standard usage here.
Cheers,
Ian