Cooling for server rack in garage

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
I live in 90266, and it only gets really hot a month or so every year, but when it does, my server rack that in my garage takes a beating. Right now I'm getting warnings from the environment monitor, my server chassis, and my RAID chassis, not good for the disks in my large RAID6 array. So much so that I park my cars outside else the engine heat makes the garage an oven.

I have a Middle Atlantic WR-24-32, with a plexi door, top mount quad extractor fans, and all the air inlets have foam air filters.

How are you guys keeping servers in garages cool?
Any experience with peltier coolers, commercial or home built?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mike W

Klee

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2016
1,289
396
83
Does your garage have a window?

Maybe a cheap Walmart window a/c unit?
 
I understand it may be more efficient, but consider how much cooling will be required to cool down the entire garage, vs. just cool air going into the server rack. The efficiency is way offset by the sheer volume of air in the entire garage that needs cooling, including two hot car engines when we park, and a garage door that completely opens, and an extractor fan that normally ventilates the hot air and fumes from the garage.
 

fsck

Member
Oct 10, 2013
51
12
8
Ah, I was considering that you might build a little container/room for the server rack and insulate it from the rest of the garage.
 

fsck

Member
Oct 10, 2013
51
12
8
actually, if you can isolate the rack (plastic sheeting?) such that you have an intake and an exhaust, you can duct AC to it.
yeah, it'll be ugly, but I'm a function over form type of guy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tha_14

TeeJayHoward

Active Member
Feb 12, 2013
376
112
43
I wonder if anyone makes a 4U 120V Air Conditioner? Cold air out the front, hot air out the back, intakes on the side... Doesn't seem like too complex a setup, and with a closed cabinet door you'd be cooling the servers and not the whole garage. I know they make 42U height stuffs that go alongside the cabinets, but something in-rack would be nifty.

edit: Also, that's a freakin' cool rack.
 

jamesy_1988

New Member
Oct 17, 2016
9
2
3
36
I understand it may be more efficient, but consider how much cooling will be required to cool down the entire garage, vs. just cool air going into the server rack. The efficiency is way offset by the sheer volume of air in the entire garage that needs cooling, including two hot car engines when we park, and a garage door that completely opens, and an extractor fan that normally ventilates the hot air and fumes from the garage.
Can you use flexible air conditioning ducting between the top of rack fans and the garage extraction fan? Provided it isn't a long run, you should be able to remove the hottest air out of the garage/server rack. It mightn't completely solve the problem, but it will reduce the rate of heat buildup.

Issue with using peltier coolers etc. is that you need somewhere to reject heat to - won't work if this is the garage
 

Robert Fontaine

Active Member
Jan 9, 2018
113
28
28
57
... or some 2x4's, poly tarp, flexible bathroom/dry duct , and a few bathroom fans.
If it is 100 fahrenheit a small walmart ac unit might polish it off for a couple of weeks.

I have a similar problem here. It was 38 Celsius last week and in a couple of months it will be -38 Celsius . That's 102 and -36.4 for the metricly challenged. Would love to have the b-in-law put 220 in the garage and move everything out there but I suspect I would have to build an insulated closet to keep it appropriately cool/warm...

... or some 2x4's, poly tarp, flexible bathroom/dry duct , and a few bathroom fans.
a small walmart ac unit and a space heater... (my wife would not approve)

I assume that there are rolls of duck tape on the space station.
The Best Duct Tape
 
Last edited:

Mike W

Kuntrolphreak
Jun 29, 2018
75
29
18
Suffolk, Va
I was just at a site that is doing a complete change out of equipment and they are scrapping all of the in-row coolers. (Rack AC units) is this some of you would be interested in


****UPDATE****
Needed to update. Literally they were being scrapped as in hacked apart to remove copper and steel along with CRAC Units and other equipment. I will update on the forum next time i have an opportunity to get some.

Thing to remember with most of these are chilled water and will require plumbing and some sort of source for chilled water. In most places this can be achieved at a low energy cost but will require upfront cost. GEO Thermal should work fine for these since you would only need a ~70 °F entering temp at the equipment. If you already have a geo-thermal AC system you could tap into your existing wells utilizing minimal energy to keep your system cool.
This could also be achieved using a closed loop swamp cooler. But this is a different animal.
 
Last edited: