![]() One interesting, but pretty untested idea is to route hot exhaust air to a heat exchange, converting it into electricity and using that electricity to power a condenser to cool incoming air. Unfortunately it’s also one of the major factors of cooling a space with air. Incoming air temperature is something we have very little control over. The math behind this simple ratio will be explained further down in the article. Overall you want to achieve about a 2:1 differential of incoming to exhaust air. Heat is dissipated much more quickly at low pressures. This seems totally contradictory to almost every computer case on the market, and it is. This means you want more exhaust than input. The case should be at as low a pressure as possible. The more tightly enclosed your case is, the better it will hold pressure, which is key for effective cooling. Since most of us are concerned with performance, holes are the enemy. Passive heat escapes are only effective in extremely low airflow situations though. Many small form factor cases come with passive side vents and various holed and cutouts on the rear panels. The case should be as well sealed as possible. Every case and setup will have different impedance characteristics, this is where experimentation is necessary to obtain optimal cooling. There is a fifth factor used in commercial HVAC, system impedance, but this is nearly impossible to measure theoretically. The flow of air is broken down into three sub categories, total flow, flow per volume (how much of the air in the enclosed space is actually being moved), and heat source location(s). Flow over time (the cfm we all know and love).Leakage of pressurized air from the space,.There are four main factors that contribute to the cooling effectiveness of any closed air volume. It is a huge industry and has some amazingly well done research on closed volume heating and cooling. For those unfamiliar with it, HVAC is Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. The research I used as the basis for my experiments and ultimately my case design was based on research in the commercial HVAC industry. I figured there had to be research done on cooling constant enclosed air volumes, but it took me quite a while to find it. What I am presenting here is just the results of my personal research and I welcome anyone else’s experience that may contradict or be an extension to my own. But when I was doing research for a new case design of my own a year or so ago, I found out that with the exception of a very few case manufacturers and designs, most cases are not optimized for proper airflow or cooling characteristics. The “more is better” idea seems like a good starting point, and to some extent more airflow will reduce temperatures. Airflow in computer cases has become one of the most misunderstood and horribly confusing elements in computing. I have seen such a horrid trend in commercial and diy cases in the last few years. ![]()
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