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OT: Hooking exaust fan up to vent cpu closet

SoulAssassin

SoulAssassin

Diamond Member
So I have a closet in my office w 3 machines, tape drive, printer, monitor, router/firewall/hub and all that other fun stuff. Problem is that it gets understandably hot in their, paint isn't quite peeling from the walls but it's beyond warm. I want to put a bathroom fan in the ceiling of the closet and vent into the attic. Nothing major, actually small and quiet is best. We're talking maybe a 6x6x3 closet.

What I'd like to do is put the fan in there and hook up some kind of thermostat so at temperature X the fan will kick on until it drops back down. I know they make those for attic fans but I have a feeling the temperature range isn't what I'm looking for. Basically I think I'm looking for some kind of device I can hook inline on the power. I can probably figure out how to rig it if someone can point me to a device. Looked at Radio Shack and such w no luck.

TIA.
 
Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
So I have a closet in my office w 3 machines, tape drive, printer, monitor, router/firewall/hub and all that other fun stuff. Problem is that it gets understandably hot in their, paint isn't quite peeling from the walls but it's beyond warm. I want to put a
Click to expand...


Hey, that's exactly what I want to do for my garage. I bought the fan already, just haven't hooked it up yet. I may get a temperature controller (old one from work) that will kick it on when it gets above a certain temperature! 🙂

My garage is hot as #@$# at times! :Q

(Oh, there's 7 rigs in there...PIII-550, Celeron 1000, 4 - XP1600's, and an XP2400 + 2 network switches!)

😀
 
Originally posted by: Engineer
Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
So I have a closet in my office w 3 machines, tape drive, printer, monitor, router/firewall/hub and all that other fun stuff. Problem is that it gets understandably hot in their, paint isn't quite peeling from the walls but it's beyond warm. I want to put a
Click to expand...

Hey, that's exactly what I want to do for my garage. I bought the fan already, just haven't hooked it up yet. I may get a temperature controller (old one from work) that will kick it on when it gets above a certain temperature! 🙂

😀
Click to expand...

Sweet. Some meathead (me), posted the message before I was finished, that's exactly what I want to do. Know where I can dig up a temperature controller?
 
This is what you want...only cheaper!

The problem with most thermostats (similar to what you would use to switch on your AC or furnace) is that they are only rated for low voltage DC (24V - 30V)....and are not good for most AC fans. You can buy a cheap thermostat and hooked up to a dc power supply to control a relay to turn on the fan...but it would be cheaper (and easier) to buy the Attic fan controller. I've looked for some time for a cheap one and haven't found one yet. I may just plug the darn thing up and let it run..hehe! 😛 (Couldn't be any louder than the CPU fans running now! 😉 )



Edit: Oooooo...just found one for $10.22...not sure of shipping yet. 🙂

Edit again: Shipping is $10.00...still cheaper than anything else I've found....hmmmmmmmmmm (I'm a cheapo...I'm going to look at the temperature controller at work...hehe! 😛)
 
I wouldn't worry about a thermostat ... it will need to run all the time. A switch is all you need to turn it off during the winter.

Just my opinion and I could be wrong. 😛 😀
 
Originally posted by: Smokeball
I wouldn't worry about a thermostat ... it will need to run all the time. A switch is all you need to turn it off during the winter.

Just my opinion and I could be wrong. 😛 😀
Click to expand...


Hehe...I know what you mean, but many of those fans aren't rated for continuous duty (see package). (although it's true that it would run all the time...hehe! 😛)


 
Originally posted by: Engineer
This is what you want...only cheaper!




Edit: Oooooo...just found one for $10.22...not sure of shipping yet. 🙂
Click to expand...


$20 for the control + $13 for the fan + a few bucks for an on/off switch and I'm happy. I think I might actually see what Lowes/HD/local shops have in stock. I wasn't able to find anything on their site. It actually suprises me that it goes down to 70 degrees. I didn't think you would typically cool an attic that much, but who am I to argue? 🙂 I thought about just putting it on a switch at first but considering it's a more or less closed environment and the smallest fan they have will do 50cfm I should be able to cool it pretty quickly. Electric bill is high enough as it is. 😉

So does anyone see any issues w using the fan I linked to (or something similar) to the RFTH95 that Engineer found? If not, I might actually be able to do it this weekend (pics obviously to follow).

Edit: Supposedly the formula for calculating necessary cfm is square footage * .7. So anything above 12.6CFM is good. Wonder if I could just use a case fan and a really, really long +5 cable? 🙂
 
Thanks Engineer. Just ordered one for my rack. The 12" fan in the top is
just toooo loud. Yes, even louder than all the case fans before I put them
all in a rack. I also have some blue ccr tubes to light the inside! hehe
You should be able to see them thru the smoked plexiglass door.

Thanks again,
Hay
😎😎😎😎😎😎
 
The Thermostat control for Powered Roof vents that are 110V AC would work fine. You can set the temp to come on at a certain temp and off at a certain temp. For example mine come on at 100 degrees and off at 90 degrees. This way the fans don't run all night, only
during the day when the heat is building up.

Oops had the temps reversed like so many people put the download and upload speeds backwards for DSL.
 
Err Dave I think you've got the temps the wrong way around!😉😕

For example mine come on at 90 degrees and off at 100 degree.

Btw I might be moving house & may have to put the PC in a cupboard🙁 ,I may well look at doing a similar setup to you guys......only we have 240v AC here😛
 
Does the closet have a door? If so is it vented to get some cool air into the closet? with no fresh air comeing in the exhaust fan wont help much.

Bleep
 
Originally posted by: Engineer
This is what you want...only cheaper!

The problem with most thermostats (similar to what you would use to switch on your AC or furnace) is that they are only rated for low voltage DC (24V - 30V)....and are not good for most AC fans. You can buy a cheap thermostat and hooked up to a dc power supply to control a relay to turn on the fan...but it would be cheaper (and easier) to buy the Attic fan controller. I've looked for some time for a cheap one and haven't found one yet. I may just plug the darn thing up and let it run..hehe! 😛 (Couldn't be any louder than the CPU fans running now! 😉 )



Edit: Oooooo...just found one for $10.22...not sure of shipping yet. 🙂

Edit again: Shipping is $10.00...still cheaper than anything else I've found....hmmmmmmmmmm (I'm a cheapo...I'm going to look at the temperature controller at work...hehe! 😛)
Click to expand...

Man, looks like mine is backordered.....I guess you beat me to the punch...hehe
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Man, looks like mine is backordered.....I guess you beat me to the punch...hehe
Click to expand...

Doh! Musta got the last one. Sorry bout that.
rolleye.gif


Thank you for shopping at farreys.com. We have
reviewed your order. The items you ordered are in stock
and will ship within the next 48 hours. You will receive
a confirmation e-mail providing shipment tracking
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SoulAssassin! I got mine installed and it works great! If the internal temp
of my rack gets below 80F, the fan shuts off. It comes back on again
if the temp gets over 80F. I mounted it at the top so that the temp would
be the highest where the fan control is mounted. I think these fan
controls for attic fans work better at higher temps, like 95-110F. I will
monitor the temp at the server level to see what kind of temps I maintain.

Thanks for the idea guys,
Hay
😎😎😎😎😎😎
 
Thisis what my fan/temp control setup looks like. I have just wire tied it to the ceiling to test it, will mount it later when I'm sure that it goes as planned.

Hay
 
Sweet! Looks good and hopefully should save you $$ and bring the noise level down. Thermostat came in last week and I picked up the fan last weekend. Think I'm gonna throw it in this Saturday along w a new ceiling fan in the bedroom. Pics to come.
 
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