Odd cooling dilemma...any ideas? (long)

[daveleau]

Hi guys,
If you don't already know, I live in Charleston, SC where the temp is high and the humidity is higher (typically 85-100F w/ 80+ humidity). My 'computer room' is directly below my bedroom which is a converted attic with a spiral staircase (nice rental find...). The room is about 15' x 15' and has 4 standard windows. Sun pours into the room during the hottest hours of the day and I often come home with my walss tinted blue from the BSOD on my systems. I cannot run a peltier and am hesitant about water cooling b/c of our high humidity (I don't really want to seal my CPU to keep condensation away). The room often reaches 85F and it is not even summer yet. There is only one small AC vent feeding this room and it is very inefficient. I don't want to freeze the rest of the house which is typically comfortable and I don't want to back down my meager OC's anymore. I also have to keep my door shut b/c of the noise from one of my systems (lotsa fans). I was thinking of a window AC unit but went and priced them recently (SHEEZ!). Any better(cheaper!) ideas on how to cool the room? It as new well fitted blinds on all of the windows and they stay closed at all times. Thanks for any help.

My 2 systems:
PIII 500 @ 585 (2.0V)
Cel 366 @ 495 (2.0V)
both on Abit BF6's
both with 7200 RPM hdds
PIII system has 7 fans (including Alpha P3125)
Cel system has small fan H/S abou to be replaced with the gold Orb and 2 extra fans.

Thanks
Dave

[jad1097]

THe simplest and cheapest way I could think of is to (don't laugh!) almost shut all the other vents, still allowing cooling for the rest of the house, and open the one in that room wide open.
I have to do this when running the heat in my apt. because it gets way to hot upstairs.

[daveleau]

My roomates would kill me! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif LOL Well you said don't laugh so- no LOL. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif I will try and close some of them off in the areas that won't be noticed, but there aren';t many I can do that to. My room stays about 10F hotter thant hte rest of the house.
Thanks
Dave

[Ed_S]

Dave, I'd suggest the opposite of Jad. Close that room's door and A/C vent to isolate it, then open some windows for ventilation with a fan or possibly a "swamp cooler" running. Sorry, can't remember the proper name of the contraption. Was more than just a dehumidifier, though. Haven't seen one here for years, but maybe still available down south??

My reason is that the temps you said are not too extreme for the comps if you can keep the room from building up the heat FROM the computers!

Here's a topic about environmental heat from last summer: http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/000875.html

[barry glisson]

check out yard sales and flea markets. around here window units are typically 25 or 30 dollars.then move your system next to the window and duct the cold air into the case. dryer vent hose will work,about $3.00 . barry

[narayan]

You could use a peletielr if you had a de-humidifier, no? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[Dave_H]

I would look for a cheep thermometer that would record the high temp. One of those things that have a probe for indoor and outdoor temps. If you got one of those you could see if the room is getting hotter then the outside temp, and be able to try different things.
I like Ed's idea, if you could open two windows on opposite sides of the room, you should keep the room from getting any hotter than the outside temp. Also, make sure the side of the blinds that face the window are white, exspecially on the south and west windows. Blinds help to reduce the light, but remember that the heat, or solar energy, is still entering the room and hitting the blinds. Stopping that energy outside the window would help much better if it is acceptable to the appearance of the house. Maybe an awning, shudders, or a long term solution would be a tree. I have some of that UV inhibited, tinted film that I applied to the inside surface of some of my windows. Weather it keeps the hose cooler, I'm not sure, but the wife feels it protects our carpeting and furnature from fading.
Dave

[jad1097]

Maybe if you asked your roomates if you could partially close there vents to see if it would help cool your room down a bit. What it would do is reduce the amount of air going to the rest of the house but increase the amount going to your room. Since the thermistat is in the same place the rest of the house would remain cool but would cause a slightly higher eletric bill, but adding a window unit would increase the electric bill much more.
Here is something that may intrest you.I found this doing a search for the swamp cooler. http://www.beyond7.com/plastic/coolness.htm
For the price you could get a 5000+ BTU window unit.


[This message has been edited by jad1097 (edited 03-26-2000).]

[daveleau]

Could a room dehumidifier help consesation with water or peltier cooling? And with water cooling, do I HAVE to usea peltier to get good effects? I will crack two of my windows to see if that'll help. Theywere painted shut in our last renovation before we moved in and I haven't tried opening them.
The temps I said above are temps from an indoor utdoor sensor but it is kindof removed fromt he area where the 'puters are. I'll move it closer to get a better reading. My case temps were around 22-23C in t he winter and now they are around 30C witht he heat in the room. Thanks for the advice.

I also didn't thinnk about yard sales. I was thinking of hitting a pawn shop but their prices are usually close to new prices here.
Thanks
Dave

[RobRich]

If worried about condensation, you could always try this:

http://www.accsdata.com/drffreeze/Default.htm

It looks a little extreme, but does work. With water cooling you do not have to use a peltier to achieve good cooling, but remember een with a large radiator that the water will never lower below the ambient room temperature. A good way to actively cool a water setup is to use a small refrigerator or even a 12v Igloo car cooler. I like the later, as they run extremely quite and take up less space.

[jadison]

I'm sure uv tried the simple ol fan approach. I have those office fanz that u can clip onto a desk, etc. they do wonders as far as cooling (sometimes) a good company that makes powerful yet quiet little fanz is Honeywell.

Those temps aren't that high, though!

-jd-

[daveleau]

I know! The temps aren't THAT high. I don't know why these guys are both giving me BSOD. It is only when the room reaches temps above 85F. I built and OC'ed these systems when it was cold outside and the room was around 65F-70F. I have loads of fans in the PIII and less int eh Cel. I am getting a Golden Orb (when the guy ships it, it's been a couple of weeks! I'm getting suspicious) which should help. The fan I have on the Cel is a bit dinky. Both systems are fdoing it though. The PIII has an Alpha P3125 though and it is set up well. I didn't check the link above but am looking into water cooling. I don't want to drop the temp of the water too much since there is that condensation factor. But like I said, I haven't looked at that link above yet.
Thanks guys
Dave

[thekingofpain]

"Swamp cooler" style coolers dont work in high humidity situations... :-)

[grandslammer]

Dave, keepin' his cool!, the Davinator, doin' some flips to cool off his chips!

Dava-lama-ding-dong fightin' the heat!

Dava-Leau, Dava-Lie, Dava-lava-ding-dong, tryin' not to fry!

HA! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Hey man, you could use peltiers, just seal them well. I've seen this somewhere, don't know if it was here, or at another site. But you cut out like a foam gasket to put between the processor and sink, effectively keeping air away from it, so no condensation.

I'll see what I can find, bro.

Mike P.


[This message has been edited by grandslammer (edited 03-28-2000).]

[Kronos_22]

Dave what if u bought a DeHumidifier? Don't know if this would help much since I live a desert. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif There is alot of good info at www.benchtest.com (http://www.benchtest.com) take a look at the watercooler #3 and #4. Look also at what he did under the condisaton link. Hope this helps.