Cooling network closet with AC Infinity CLOUDLINE T6
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- The network closet is too damn hot! Time to pull some air out so the equipment can stay cool and keep running reliably. Watch me get very dusty in my attic and regret my life choices.
Build materials (affiliate links)
- AC Infinity Cloudline T6: amzn.to/3ntIHsT
- Duct Boot register box: amzn.to/3Kf8lLK
- 6-inch insulated duct: amzn.to/3A4dbGE
- hose clamps for 6-inch ducts: amzn.to/3A0iHKy
- 10x6 Vent Grille register: check out HVAC Premium (www.amazon.com...) , or use a larger register box (8x8, 10x10, 12x12)
Tools:
- Drywall stab saw: amzn.to/3rja89W
- Dewalt drill combo: amzn.to/33FI9ck (this is the kit I own)
- wire cutters: amzn.to/3GAP1WM
- Dewalt Utility knife: amzn.to/3KicGgU (do NOT get the premium version [DWHT10295] blade release button on side is extremely annoying)
- Dewalt screwdrivers: amzn.to/3IeqveN (magnetic tips! great tools)
- Tin snips / aviation snips (left cut, red): amzn.to/3nvzpwf
Rack components
- iStarUSA WM945B rack enclosure (9U, 450mm depth): amzn.to/3FyHiHz
- AC Infinity AIRPLATE T7 cooling fans mounted to top of enclosure: amzn.to/3fpS3kQ (I removed the fans from the mounting plate and attached them individually to the top of the enclosure)
- Stand for AC Infinity controller: amzn.to/321eE46
Shout out to TheGeekPub for sharing his setup that vents his home network rack room into his HVAC system. Give him some love!:
/ @thegeekpub
Instagram: / make.home.tech - Věda a technologie
Dumping hot air directly into your return while conceptually it makes sense, can create issues for your coil in your air handler. I spoke to my.hvac consultant (who is overseeing my HVAC sub) in my new home I'm building and he said it would be far better to vent this warm air into a main hallway or near an air return vent, but ducting into your existing system will mean less return air is now being pulled out of other locations of the house because you're forcing 200cfm of new air into your return. It may work ok, but depending on the situation you could really mess up the balancing of your home.
True. A 52 CFM airplate by the same company would be a better choice for sure
Wow!! What a false narrative... 200 cfm is nothing... to see the difference you would need Electronic meters... as for hurting the ac coil with hot air is also false ... when connecting to a return plenum the hot or warm air is homogenized with cool air ... 200 cfm is a small amount of air it will not throw off your balance in the air exchange rate... there is paper work, then there is reality.
💯 degrees? Phew glad you fixed that! Greta build!
I have the same setup. But I had a exhaust fan (cheap bathroom fan) exhausting to a close air return post filter. I just threw the duct fan in the middle. I was lazy. 14 ft ceilings. You did it the right way. Arg. Now I’ll have to go back.
This is a sick video, love the diagram! Looking to getting a small NAS with a security dvr in a closet so this is hopefully useful. Don’t want to make it too complicated
I have the same problem. I looked at 5 different solutions, and I was considering this one the most. Seems like such a good idea to reclaim that waste heat while avoiding negative pressure by venting that air outside. However I was concerned about the pressure on the return. Plus I would have to splice the main return hose, no air handler box is reachable from the attic. My solution was ac infinity's airframe t7. I didn't want to vent the hot air into my gaming room, but the closet's other wall is the hallway where the main return is! I vent the hot air out into the hall where it gets sucked up when the central air runs. My only gripe is the noise, even with a quiet noctua fan swap it's still lightly audible from bed on max airflow 6. So far 5/6 speed can keep it below 80f as long as the gaming PC is off.
i'm in same boat as you, my return is a big grate in a stairwell although venting directly into the unit like this seems like it would effect the designed static pressure the blower fan creates across the A-coils. you comment about the noise is key for me, thanks for sharing. Looks like I need to keep looking.
@@revealingfacts4all I did solve this problem, I used an AV cabinet fan with a temperature sensor to vent the hot closet air through a wall into the hallway where the return intake is. Hot air stays by the ceiling and gets sucked up by the return.
Good video. Needing this for my network closet. Thanks!!!
Thanks for the comment, Stan! I'm glad to hear you found this helpful!
Make it reliable or make it go away, thanks for that, really nice way of framing it
Thanks for the comment, Darren! I've spent too many hours and days fooling around with not-quite-done technology (my own and from other folks). You gotta give yourself room to experiment, of course, but build for reliability, and don't leave something plugged in that keeps giving you trouble. You'll be much happier!
No comment about the filter in the grill. I am sure I saw one, right.
Just the info I was looking for.......well done!
Does feeding that much hot air into your hvac return effect it’s ability to cool the rest of your house? Thinking about doing the same but my home is >2K sq ft (smaller hvac)….or should I exhaust through roof/soffit? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thank for the comment, gopher! Glad it helped you!
@@angry_gopher3128 i was wondering the same thing. i have a ridge vent in my attic. i was thinking of routing some duct up towards it.
How are you handling excessive pressure in your return line when your main unit is not running. The back pressure should cause reverse air flow through your filters if the are upstream of the return box you cut into. Blowing air back through filters could cause filtered particulates to be reintroduced into the home.
But I want to add a box hepa inline filter too. Figure if I’m gonna have this fan running all day. But really needs to be on the intake into the server closet. Otherwise you’re pulling dust through your rack and over everything. I added crudely a one inch 3m filter to the wall grill. Sealed the door. I wonder if I got a off the shelf hepa 12x12 mounted it in the wall in between the grill intake and the inside of the closet. Would these cloudline fans have enough power to pull or I assume it’s going to start pulling air in from every other tiny hole first. You’d have to put a boost fan attached to the hepa. I wonder about just using positive pressure. Hooking the output into the room that’s hepa filtered and pushing air through the rack and out. As long as you have a easy out with no obstructions air should go that way. Ideally with the room through wall up high and the hepa output low. Put the fan and filter below it with an access panel from the first floor. Good way of moving cool air to the 2nd floor as welll. Oh that’s brilliant.
After a year, how is your solution working out? Would you do anything different?
nice work, why did you dump your hot air into your return. it's not running all the time so your air can be back feeding into your pickup grill. I think it would be better to dump the heat outside the house, I know that would cost more but your not trying to cool 100 F air when your ac system kicks on causing your ac to work harder and longer.
Why would you install this fan if the pipe connects to the return? Isn’t this a waste of money?
Probably due to the fact that the whole home fan isn't always running, so therefore, it isn't always pulling heat out of the closet. with this it will continually pull heat from the closet.
Curious. I'm assuming your central AC's blower motor isn't running continuously. How does the inline fan perform when the central AC is not running. I'd imagine the air from the network closet would just slowly make its way out through the other air return lines? It's probably negligible though.
I have this same question! Does the controller kick on the blower?
If you’re pumping hot air into your system won’t it keep kicking on your ac in the summer?
After going through that much trouble, why not use rigid ducting for maximum airflow? Even semi-rigid flex would be more efficient than whatever slinky style you went with here.
Nice video. just what i was looking for but the music was great. Who is the artist?
I'm having the issue where the cool air from indoors is exiting the pvc pipes I ran my wires through in the attic.
foam plugs in the PVC
Why not just exhaust that air out of the room and just into the attic or out your soffit like a bathroom fan
Issues with that. 1. Reverse flow. 2. Creating negative pressure in your ac space.
@@USFmarineso does that that every bathroom fan causes that problem?
wow proper firepath for cabling in a residence :O former ICT tech?
Heh heh. I haven't done any pro cable work on the job. Just did a bunch of research on proper cable management through walls and fire breaks. You can get way more sophisticated (and expensive) solutions. The one I installed is pretty reasonable. Thanks for the comment!