[toddmanqa]

In the process of renovating my house and finishing my basement. I plan on having an Audio Video equipment closet under the stairs that may become warm due to the equipment within.

Is there any reason I should NOT add a small extra return air vent to the closet (there is no supply to the closet) to pull the expected extra heat?

I will undercut the door by a few inches to allow for airflow.

Thanks.

 

[mikegp]

Why not add a register and undercut the door to allow air to get sucked out? It would be good to add warm air to your system in the winter, but not so great in the summer. Plus if you have an electrical fire in that closet it could spread smoke/fumes and possibly, but not as likely, fire.

Some people add a fan to pull air into another room.

 

[digitalplumber]

In the process of renovating my house and finishing my basement. I plan on having an Audio Video equipment closet under the stairs that may become warm due to the equipment within.

Is there any reason I should NOT add a small extra return air vent to the closet (there is no supply to the closet) to pull the expected extra heat?

I will undercut the door by a few inches to allow for airflow.

Thanks.

DUST :no:

 

[yuri]

1) You would have to run your furnace fan continuos if you want to remove that heat and that costs $$ and wears out the fan etc. If it is not running then the excess heat may build up and overheat and damage the equipment depending on how much heat it produces. If it is expensive equipment then you may want to get a fan in the closet to make sure it can push out the heat. Heat kills electronics quickly.

2) If you add a vent there then you get less suction upstairs and less air circ and comfort. You are robbing Peter to pay Paul.

 

[Doc Holliday]

sucking it out only inhibits the systems ability to contribute to the rest of the dwelling. Yes, a return air is fine but only if paralleled with a good supply and even then you'd be robbing Peter to pay Paul.
try dedicating your av room to it's own hvac system, best bet.

 

[hvac instructor]

buy a bathroom exhaust vent kit and exhaust it out the side of the house like
you would on a dryer.

 

[yuri]

Good Idea.:thumbsup:

 

[IslandGuy]

Replace the door with a slatted door that looks like a shutter. Done.

 

[Doc Holliday]

buy a bathroom exhaust vent kit and exhaust it out the side of the house like
you would on a dryer.

never thought of that.

I've installed 10 ton package units on small (300 sq ft at best) AT and T server rooms in the past and that hardly kept up.

But of course those were filled floor to ceiling with computer stuff producing noticeably excessive heat.

what I'm getting at is I was under the impression that cold air, and a lot of it, was mandated to keep equipment cool, exhausting alone would have been catastrophic.

Anyone?

 

[yuri]

All the depends on the BTU's per hour production of the equipment and the temp in his basement. If the basement is cool and you can move enough air then it may work. I have done server rooms but the AV guys had the heat load specs and they got sized properly. For a homeowner he could try the exhaust fan and cut the bottom of the door and check after the stuff runs for an hour and physically feel if the units were hot.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I'd certainly like to know the result of that but if an exhaust fan removes so much cfm than wouldn't there be a need for constant fulfillment of air supply? That's my point, it takes a positive to negate at best the equal negative.

 

[yuri]

A cheap small 70 cfm one from HDepot may do the job and unless the house is very tight should not suck enough air out 2B a problem.

 

[beenthere]

In the process of renovating my house and finishing my basement. I plan on having an Audio Video equipment closet under the stairs that may become warm due to the equipment within.

Is there any reason I should NOT add a small extra return air vent to the closet (there is no supply to the closet) to pull the expected extra heat?

I will undercut the door by a few inches to allow for airflow.

Thanks.

Just have to remember to turn your HVAC system's fan to on when ever you use your entertainment room.

 

[gregzoll]

They make units for rack spaces, that use the same type of cooling unit, used in the 12vDC coolers. Air gets pulled across, it gets cooled by the plate cooler, then gets exhausted either via a fan to push the hot air outside, or put back into the room.

Pictures of the space helps, along with a drawing or two. Here is just one company that makes these racks with the built in coolers. http://www.emersonnetworkpower.com/...GRATEDCABINETS/RackCooling/Pages/default.aspx

A 19" 1U Rack Mount Cooler. http://www.datacenterhardware.com/p...mount-cooling-fan-unit-system-blower-ac-p-289

Another option. http://www.rackmountsolutions.net/Air_Conditioned_Server_Rack.asp

 

[hvac instructor]

never thought of that.

I've installed 10 ton package units on small (300 sq ft at best) AT and T server rooms in the past and that hardly kept up.

But of course those were filled floor to ceiling with computer stuff producing noticeably excessive heat.

what I'm getting at is I was under the impression that cold air, and a lot of it, was mandated to keep equipment cool, exhausting alone would have been catastrophic.

Anyone?

I've done computer rooms, lab rooms, MRI and Cat Scan rooms. At the hospital, they had a temp MRI unit in the MRI room that has the magnets. They were using the Bard units you see on trailers. It cooled so much that the room where the patient is was 60 degrees and shut down to fast and could not remove the humidity. It Damaged the magnets to the cost of 1/2 million. this happened 3 times. the boss said nothing could be done. when he went on vacation, the chief of engineering ask me if I could do anything. I re-controlled it to run the comp all the time to remove the humidity and run the strip heaters to maintain temp. Comp cycled to maintain humidity. This worked until the new MRI wing was constructed. I did mostly commercial. Found most equipment will start to shut down around 78 degrees. The mfg will let you know what the limit is. They are even cooling electrical rooms. one room was 2500 sq ft and had 50 tons.
Even if the basement is 70 degrees should be able to exhaust the heat.