hypothetically, if i wanted to keep this area below 30 (ideally 25) during summer, how'd I go about it? theoretically there could be 50kw+ of computer in here (which is all turned into heat)
2-5kw would be pretty easy, but once it gets into 10kw territory I worry that in summer it would become a furnace
@decryption Second hand cool room inside the warehouse and some split systems?
@phs @decryption I'm suddenly wondering if you could combine this with a ghost kitchen operation haha
@mike @phs @decryption i was thinking hacker/makerspace - but sure
@decryption @mike @phs better than 30-50 feral hogs
@phs @decryption looks like it'd be worth every cent!
@decryption @phs wait you reckon that works?
BRB posting some "free carpet" on Gumtree.
@decryption the floorplan has your address on it.
@industrial_cream that's not my house, haha - just an example I pulled off a real estate agent listing
@decryption Wait, all you need is a heat pump that can achieve 50kW heat rate... which is probably only a 12kW unit? Single 16A three phase breaker should go pretty close. Just let the cluster derate on really hot days?
@evcricket a 12kw rated AC could cool down a room with 50kw of heat it? maybe i've been over estimating the cooling requirements
@decryption @evcricket I think there is some confusion here - a unit with a ~12 kW power input will, but ACs tend to always be advertised by cooling capacity, so you’d buy one specified as 50 kW. For example a Mitsubishi Electric MXZ-6F120VGD with 12 kW capacity has a maximum running current of 39.8A which is 6.9 kW if you do the math.
@stephengentle @evcricket that was my assumption too - 50kw of heat needs 50kw of cooling which is like 10-13kw of electricity
@decryption @evcricket it's more that a 12kW unit would cool with (just about) 12kW of heat transfer and would need about 3kW eectrical power to do so.
@decryption Yeah it's coefficients of performance baby. You can achieve 5 with really good ones (1kW of electricity moves 5kW of heat), but 3.5-4 more common for moving heat out.
Some have better numbers heating in reverse
@evcricket oh I didn't know that the coefficient is also applied to moving heat out - so if there's theoretically 50kw of heat, I can theoretically have a 14kw air conditioner, which uses like 4-5kw of electricity?
@evcricket here I was thinking that if you've got 50kw of heat you need 50kw of cooling to negate its impact
@decryption hmmm, that’s going to be difficult. I just checked the PDUs in our server room, and not including heat generated by the UPS, we’re pulling just shy of 10kW here. We have two of these chonky commercial aircons cooling it.
Problem you’ll have with that shed is it doesn’t look insulated at all. Walls are concrete, but that roof doesn’t look sealed.
@piepants yep, no insulation whatsoever. Concrete walls and a tin roof with a thin layer of reflective sarking. Even if I just duct the air outside with a big fan or something, it won't work on days where the outdoor temp is above 30
@decryption yeah that’s not going to work without some serious construction to insulate it. The container idea is better I think.
Other good thing with containers is that technically they’re a temporary structure, so I believe you won’t need council approval - don’t quote me on that though. Every LGA will have different rules.
@decryption Fit it out as a coolroom and pipe in a suitably-specced air conditioner.
Cheapest way might be an old reefer container?
@shermozle @grissallia had the same idea
@decryption it would probably turn into a furnace in winter to be honest
@nizmow yeah, computers are really good at turning electricity into heat
@decryption and also into fun!
@decryption As someone who fitted out three different warehouses in the distant past, this is a no-good, very bad idea.
(I forgot a whole warehouse!)
Do you have a yard?
@grissallia i do have a backyard but the internet isn't fast enough for what I wanna do :(
@decryption I was going to suggest something like this.
https://www.contsalesaust.com.au/containers/20ft-refrigerated-shipping-container/
@grissallia hmm, it's not a bad idea - I'll chew on this. I wonder how you get power to it?
@decryption Know any sparkies who can fit off a 15A circuit?
@grissallia hmm, I do know a nice electrician
this is the problem leading me to looking at a datacentre instead to keep computers in - i dont know how to manage the heat a bunch of computers will spit out when the temp outside is above 30, which happened 50 times in 2025 and 40 times in 2024, so it's not exactly an uncommon occurance
@decryption You’re a lunatic :)
@decryption also a good chance that the 50 times in 2025 is going to be the lowest number of days for the next 10+ years.
@georgeharito yep, it's only gonna get worse
![Mike [SEC=OFFICIAL]](https://static.chinwag.net.au/accounts/avatars/000/000/001/original/b02e2e0cd4f0ffe5.jpg "Mike [SEC=OFFICIAL]")
