The extreme cold won't hurt a thing. The only issue you would have with electronics outside is the humidity and possible condensation. If you can regulate the humidity, then I'd say go for it.
I have 1 gaming computer and general purpose computer in a room, and I never have to run the heater in there during the winter. Although, over the years of upgrading, it has been getting cooler as the CPU's become more efficient. But the video cards seem to be helping make up the difference now. :)
----- Original Message ----
From: Terrible Tom <silvereightynine@aol.com>
To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 6:02:31 PM
Subject: DML: Computer Based Garage Heat (was 09 BBQ)
jon@dakota-truck.net wrote:
> Terrible Tom <silvereightynine@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> What I would rather do than vent all that heat outside is to pipe it back into the house to help heat it in the winter. I was actually thinking of relocating them all to the basement, build a filtered enclosure, with a duct to pipe the air into another part of the house.
>
>
>
> Yeah, it would be kinda cool to be able to use that heat. The only
> catch there though is I'd like to keep the computers even lower than
> normal room temp to help extend their life.
I have heard many opinions on this next question... what's a safe operating temp? Assuming the CPU temp sensors are even a little bit accurate - running full load 24/7, the temps tend to hang around the low to mid 50C area. The newer CPUs I have run cooler due to more efficient designs. The new Quad Intel I have never gets above 48C - but it also has the biggest cooler on it of them all.. I consider anything above 57C to be a problem to address ASAP, and 60C means shut down. However my Macs run considerably hotter... (Motorola CPUs) as as such I don't keep the macs at anything more than 50% load.
My thoughts would be to cool the computers with ambient air, in sufficient volume, to keep them at a nominal temp, while dispersing the waste heat into the house. Granted, ambient room temp air is not going to keep the computers as cool as the air from outside... And I am aware that the hotter they run their life will be shortened.
Question.. do you see any danger to the electronics, if the computers were left to operate in an unheated garage? I know they have a range of normal operating temps... currently its 5F outside.
I attempted this fall, to get them all moved out into my detached garage.. to attempt to 1) heat the garage to whatever is possible to attain, and 2) cool the computers. The combined thermal output of 7 computers under full load is considerable heh...
My bedroom which is approx 1200 SQ Ft volume, (12x12x8) - easily reaches 90 degrees even in the winter, with the radiator turned off to the room. In the summer its well over 100 without the AC on. I need to figure out how to calculate the approx BTU out put of all these machines.
The Swamp (garage) is a 28x28 unit - divided into two halves, one half being fully insulated. Giving a volume of approx 3100 SQ FT. More than double what my room is... but I still think all that heat would be enough to raise the temp of the inside of the garage... slowly, but it should work. If I warmed up the garage a little bit first, with a space heater... it might bring the room temp up to a point where the computers would be safer.
Thoughts? Comments?
(undetermined amount of time passes)
ok I just researched BTU's and it seems the method of calculation is watts x 3.412 = BTU/H
My UPS unit reports an average load of 625 watts... which translates into approx 2132 BTUs per hour. And that's a conservative figure, because it does not take into account the Wifi A/P, the switches, and one computer in another room on its own UPS.
So its theoretically possible that all those computers could keep a smallish sized, unheated but insulated room, some degree of "warm".
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"Man is the only kind of varmint [who] sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it"
-John Steinbeck
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