Make:

I've always dreamed of going the other way, being fortunate enough to be at the framing level of remodeling my house Im planning to put in a dryer vent to send the hot air into the great outdoors or into the basement for a little bit of dry heat.

With no visible filtering on the intake in the article i'd be interested to see what sorts of things, bugs, rodents, very small rocks would have gotten sucked into the PC.

No bugs. I use a cloth to keep debris out. It covers the entire opening in the brick and doesnt look like much so i didnt photo it. I should. ..have had a couple of people make that same comment..

Blowing the hot air out will be better for the PC when the the indoor temps exceed the outdoor temps. But it's not very efficient for the home. I considered switching the direction of the fan when summer comes. However dumping 80 cfs of conditioned air to the outside (obviously drawing in hot air at the same rate from outside to replace it, via various routes - door jambs, attic vents, etc..) will strain the home's AC.

Probably the ideal solution is to draw air from the outside, thru the PC, and back outside again. Even 45 deg C (113F) air at such a high flow rate (80 cfs) should keep the PC at good operating temps. 45C air ought to cool a 70C (158F) device just fine. But we shall see. I'll post those results in August. (And maybe details on the evap cooler thing, if necessary)

-bpowah

I am a technology teacher in Bradenton, FL. I have a lab with 19 iMac G5's that put out alot of heat. For one of thier projects some of my kids are attempting to build a vent system to send the hot air outside. So far we have come up with a hood design to cover the exhaust vent on the back and are going to power a 92mm fan using the 5v USB ports for each one. The idea is then to use the fans to push the hot air through 2" vent tubing to the outside. Anyone with any expertise in this area I could definately use your help. phaedrus76@earthlink.net

I am a technology teacher in Bradenton, FL. I have a lab with 19 iMac G5's that put out alot of heat. For one of thier projects some of my kids are attempting to build a vent system to send the air outside. So far we have come up with a hood design to cover the exhaust vent on the back and are going to power a 92mm fan using the 5v USB ports for each one. The idea is then to use the fans to push the hot air through 2" vent tubing to the outside. Anyone with any expertise in this area I could definately use your help. phaedrus76@earthlink.net

Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.

$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)

Subscribe now