I want to run an idea past you all and to see if it’s even feasible.
I need to have my server rack in the garage due to the amount of noise, but the garage can get very hot at times and even high humidity due to the 2 external garage doors being roller type.
The indoor unit of the split system is quite small at 760 (w) x 178 (d) x 250mm (h) and needing a clearance at the top of a minimum of 66mm so lets just say 320m of RU (8) space used at the top of the rack plus an extra 4RU below clearance to allow for air flow redirection. So a total of 12RU rack space for cooling.
This would still leave me with about 30RU of rack space which is plenty of my needs.
The server rack vents would need to be fully sealed and may some noise insulation added (recommendations here would be good) before installing the air conditioning unit via a licensed installer.
I also realize due to the copper refrigerant piping they use for the connection between the outdoor unit and indoor unit the rack will be stuck in place. I’m guessing there should be enough side space on the rack to run the pipig it needs but that’s a guess at this stage.
But the idea is to cool only the air circulating within the server rack and not allow any outside air/humidity from entering. Basically I got the idea from the micro data centres which are way to expensive for me.
I probably need to do some creative air flow redirection inside the server rack to make sure the initial cooled air is directed to the front of the server rack hence the extra 4RU space below the indoor unit.
And add separate temperature and humidity sensors within the rack for monitoring purposes etc…
But I guess the question is, is the idea a crazy one considering I have no where else to put the server rack in our house ?
Well its an idea at this stage but it needs validation before I pursue it, unless someone knows of a system that can be mounted like a server but is still a split system for efficiency.
I was originally looking at the SRCOOL7KRM but its same design as a portable air conditioner and it wont be as efficient.
But I am up for alternative suggestions.
Australia, Melbourne (well an outer suburb of Cranbourne), the hottest we have ever had is 46 in summer and the lowest is sometimes slightly below 0 during winter. We tend to have fairly crazy weather and sometimes it feels like we have all 4 seasons in one day…
So long as the rack unit can be made effectively air tight why wouldn’t it work in terms of cooling? And even then as it would be drawing the air from within the unit it would not create a pressure differential with outside the rack. If the internal unit fits then I think it’s a sound idea, although I would want to consider backup plans in case of flooding.
The larger issue is that in a high humidity area, how are you going to manage condensation in a sealed volume? And if the cooler is at the top, the condensation will fall onto the equipment below.
Oh this is a good point, since the indoor unit is at the top of the rack if it started leaking the water into the rack instead of the drain pipe (even though I cant imagine much water would be there since no new humidity would be coming into the rack), but still would need to make sure the equipment in the rack cant get wet.
The other consideration would be if the refrigerant leaked inside the rack itself, whilst it would instantly turn into its gas form, it is heavier than air and is flammable, I guess I can mitigate this any water with the vents in the floor of the rack, put a filter/mesh there instead of the panels to allow water/refrigerant drainage.
