Best way to cool an office?

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jbard

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#97658 19-Feb-2012 12:48

So i have a small classroom/office space, it has 10 computers in it and when it is full it can get extremely hot.

It is in the middle of a building so even on a cool day it is usually in the mid - high 20's in the room with no cooling.

At the moment I have 2 fans running which just seem to push round hot air.
I also have one of these cooling units which should be working well as the air is very dry in the room.

These units work fine when the room is empty or just a few people but as soon as we get to more than half full they can't cope at all.

So I wanted to buy some sort of Air con unit/ heat pump thing - only problem is i now realise they have ducting which goes outside, the room has no external walls or windows so this is a real problem.

What other ways are their to cool a room for under about $800?

Electricity costs aren't a problem as that is included in rent.

gzt

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#583401 19-Feb-2012 13:10

Cooling server rooms during air conditioning failures I have found a fan at the top of a doorway does a really good job of moving the top layer of hot air out of the room. A second fan at the bottom of the doorway does the same for bringing in cooler air.

Massive difference, assuming the temperature is lower outside the door.

This will also make your cooling unit more effective.

Regs

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Snowflake

#583402 19-Feb-2012 13:12

jbard: So I wanted to buy some sort of Air con unit/ heat pump thing - only problem is i now realise they have ducting which goes outside, the room has no external walls or windows so this is a real problem.

the only problem that poses is one of cost. its easy to duct through the ceiling/floor cavity until you hit an external wall...

from experience, you'll need a decent aircon unit to push enough air to cool a room with 10-11 people and computers in it.

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jbard

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#583404 19-Feb-2012 13:14

Regs:
jbard: So I wanted to buy some sort of Air con unit/ heat pump thing - only problem is i now realise they have ducting which goes outside, the room has no external walls or windows so this is a real problem.

the only problem that poses is one of cost. its easy to duct through the ceiling/floor cavity until you hit an external wall...

from experience, you'll need a decent aircon unit to push enough air to cool a room with 10-11 people and computers in it.

I guess so, I was really trying to keep this low budget but if i have no option going into the roof space would work.

Jaxson

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#583410 19-Feb-2012 13:39

Is it a single level building or are you in the middle of the 2nd floor of a 4 story building etc?

Anyway you can relocate the computers elsewhere and just use terminals or long monitor/keyboard cables etc?

jbard

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#583411 19-Feb-2012 13:45

Should have mentioned I am on the top floor, the building has 3 floors but floors 1/2 have been made into one floor with very large ceilings.

Not really possible to relocate the computers although that would be a nice solution.

kyhwana2

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#583446 19-Feb-2012 15:20

I would buy some portable AC units, pop some ceiling tiles and have the exhausts going up into there.

nate

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#583453 19-Feb-2012 15:35

kyhwana2: I would buy some portable AC units, pop some ceiling tiles and have the exhausts going up into there.

For what it's worth, and your mileage may vary, but my experience with portable AC units wasn't the best. Poor output, and very noisy.

You can't beat a properly installed aircon unit, but it will cost you.

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Handle9

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#583471 19-Feb-2012 16:25

kyhwana2: I would buy some portable AC units, pop some ceiling tiles and have the exhausts going up into there.

That sounds like an outstanding way to upset everyone else on the floor as well as not really do a good job.

Use a properly sized cassette air conditioning unit with an outdoor unit. It will actually work as opposed to a half a*sed solution. Just make sure you are VERY clear about the loads and that you expect the contractor to size the unit appropriately otherwise you'll end up with an undersized unit which won't cut the mustard either.

Jaxson

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#583475 19-Feb-2012 16:30

jbard: I am on the top floor

Extraction fans vented straight up through roof? Won't cool, but will remove some hot air, pulling (hopefully comparatively cooler) air from surrounding spaces into the hot room.

lxsw20

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#583505 19-Feb-2012 18:07

Heatpump will probably be the only way to do it properly, but i'd expect cost to be 3x that really. I never found those evaporative coolers to work very well.

kyhwana2

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#583511 19-Feb-2012 18:25

Handle9:
kyhwana2: I would buy some portable AC units, pop some ceiling tiles and have the exhausts going up into there.

That sounds like an outstanding way to upset everyone else on the floor as well as not really do a good job.

Use a properly sized cassette air conditioning unit with an outdoor unit. It will actually work as opposed to a half a*sed solution. Just make sure you are VERY clear about the loads and that you expect the contractor to size the unit appropriately otherwise you'll end up with an undersized unit which won't cut the mustard either.

OP is saying they're in an internal room?

They could do it properly except that wouldn't be them doing it. It would require the building owners/managers to be called in and get proper AC installed?

Jaxson

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#583643 20-Feb-2012 00:20

Yeah if you're not able to fund cooling of your space, ie a proper heat pump, the best you can do is to look at reducing the heat generated in the first place, or look at moving the heat around.

As mentioned before, can you replace the computers with smaller low power thin client type terminals?
Can you move people out of this small area and stick some of them elsewhere, so you don't have such a concentrated heat load point?
Can you install extraction fans or transfer fans to move hot air to some other unlucky area of your floor?
Are all the units running at the same time, and if not, have you ensured that the vacant ones are switched off?

If you do go to full air con of the space, you'll want to ensure the space is fairly sealed, so you're not trying to heat the entire floor, whilst at the same time observing the minimum fresh air ventilation requirements.