Cooling a Gaming Room

[Ducman69]

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I'm hoping to groupsource an idea for getting my gaming room to be the same approximate temperature as the rest of the house.

Unfortunately, my surround sound system's amplifier, very large APC UPS, 30" monitor, and gaming computer w/ a quad-core two 6850s and 7 harddrives is producing a LOT of heat.

The room is typically about five to six degrees warmer than all the other rooms.

Stupidly, I chose one of the smaller bed rooms to make my gaming/office room, and I live in Houston, TX where its very hot and humid most of the year.

Ideas?
Thoughts so far:
1) Partially close all the A/C vents in the house save for this room; but concerned that just stresses the A/C system w/ the added resistance the same way a dirty filter does.

2) Invest in a portable A/C unit for this room and set it up to exhaust out of the window; but concerned it would look ghetto and be noisy and inefficient compared to my central A/C.

3) Invest in a better room fan; but concerned its really just spreading around the heat rather than actually making the room cooler.

4) Ditch the UPS and surround system and upgrade my computer using more thermally efficient components; but concerned about the cost since what I have works great.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Try leaving the door to that room open most of the time?

The room that houses all my PC equipment gets extremely warm as well if I leave the door closed. Once I open the door, it usually triggers the thermostat which is right outside the door and the A/C comes on... after it runs for a little while, the rooms temperature levels out to the same as the rest of the house.

 

[Ducman69]

Oh, yeah the door is definitely open, otherwise I'd melt faster than a dollop of margarine on a stack of fresh flapjacks.

 

[engiNURD]

I have the same problem.

1. This didn't work well for me.
2. This worked ok for me. However, I hated having that huge thing "in my way," since it is rather large and ghetto looking. You also have to worry about draining any excess condensation. The vent to the window was the ghetto looking part. A window mounted AC wasn't an option for me since this room is in the front of the house. Also, it took a while for my 10000BTU AC to cool my 120ft² room, and it still never got as cool as the rest of the house!
3. I didn't bother with a better fan, but rather, more fans (3), lol. They currently pull air in from the hallway and are placed to circulate air throughout the room. Most days I just have one fan on, exhausting into the hallway.
4. I've done this with each successive upgrade. It helped since the old P4 and Athlon XP days, but I'm guessing mostly because I've reduced the amount of total equipment. I used to have dual 21" CRTs, a 1400VA Smart-UPS, a huge HP LaserJet 4+, 4 computers, and my old AV Receiver w/ 5.1ch speaker setup. I've reduced it down to 2 computers, 800VA UPS, single LCD, and a 5.1ch logitech set.
5. You can get an exhaust fan, assuming you have attic space above the room. Place it at the opposite corner of the door, so it pulls cool air in from the hallway or wherever. This is next on my list right after tinting my window (faces the sun after noon, so it's the hottest room in the house; already have energy efficient windows, though).

 

[Ducman69]

I hadn't thought of the exhaust fan!

One concern though, when the fan is not running, isn't that just a thermal leak to the extremely hot attic? I figure there is a reason that there are feet worth of insulation up there.

Hmmmm.... oh yeah, and right now while my A/C is set to 75oF, this room on my digital clock that has a temperature gauge says 81.5oF... ugh!

 

[Johnx64]

Room needs better airflow or a portable ac. Setting a fan in the middle of the room blowing hot air out the door helps but it needs to get that hot air out as far as possible so it doesn't recirculate. This is what I used to do but couldn't stand the noise from a box fan being on high or the fan always being there. Either figure out a way to get the hot air out as far as possible or just get a portable ac. If your handy you could put a vent\fan in the wall to dump air into the next room. Put it up high so it's blowing the hotter air out and drawing the lower cooler air into the room.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

I don't think an exhaust fan, exhausting into the attic would be such a good idea. Just imagine how hot it gets when you leave an exterior door open or window open. Now imagine a force, forcing the cool air out when the fan is running. It will most likely result in the A/C running continuously to keep up.

 

[Dangman]

I had the same issue as well. Luckily for me, my computer lab room already came with a seperate A/C that was set up to exhaust outside. It is indeed ghetto looking and noisy but worked well and even cooled better than the central A/C for the rest of the house. But it does suck up a lot of power.

However, I do have a second option during the days when it's warm but not hot enough to justify turning on the room AC: My computer lab connects straight to garage. So I leave the door to the garage open and have the garage door itself open by like a foot.

So basically, option 2 is probably the one I'd recommend since it's the solution closest to what I have at home.

 

[Johnx64]

I hadn't thought of the exhaust fan!

One concern though, when the fan is not running, isn't that just a thermal leak to the extremely hot attic? I figure there is a reason that there are feet worth of insulation up there.

Hmmmm.... oh yeah, and right now while my A/C is set to 75oF, this room on my digital clock that has a temperature gauge says 81.5oF... ugh!

Yes when the wind outside blows and starts to push air through the attic vents it's going to push hot attic air back into the room. That's why they make 1 way vents. When the fan is on the air blows the flap open when it's off the flap closes and only opens the 1 way.



On the other hand your venting air to the attic so it's going to be pulling in air from outside to replace the air your venting into the attic. So say 80f air being dumped into the attic and then 90f air being sucked through door cracks and windows.seals.

 

[Ducman69]

So I've been doing some more research, and it seems like the supplemental A/C unit is the way to go.

Ideally, I thought I'd use a portable unit with a window kit so I can at least remove it for the cooler months without something protruding from the house, but apparently they are far noisier and less efficient than their window-unit cousins.

 

[DoubleTap]

The portable AC really is the best option.

A couple things:

1. Mine is a Haier and it has a fan bearing problem so that once in a while it starts in with this loud whine sound. I am putting up with it for now, but it needs to be replaced ($300 unit)

2. The units that use dual hoses are supposed to be MUCH better than the single hose units.

3. Make sure your PC and AC are on different circuits - you don't want the spikes and you don't want to trip the breaker.

4. The window exhaust panel will be much more efficient if you add in some sort of temporary sealant. I use some tape to close the edge gaps. Some kind of silicon caulk or something might work too - but this will really help.

5. Keep the kids away - My unit has a lego inside the air intake that rattles around only when the fan is on high (I only run the fan on low)

6. See if you can find one with a thermostat that will turn the unit on and off. Mine has a thermostat that just controls the compressor - so I have to keep it on and hear the fan and then the compressor just kicks on and off to keep the room fairly constant. If you can get one that will go completely on and completely off as needed, you will like it a lot more.

7. Remote control - they probably all have this, but make sure - it's really nice.

Plan on spending $300-500

 

[almalino]

Move to Finland? We have no such problems here. Even better it is good , your computer will help to heat up an appartments a bit. It's freaking cold now here

 

[Ducman69]

2. The units that use dual hoses are supposed to be MUCH better than the single hose units.

I just read a bunch of articles on that, and "it depends" is the answer. Dual hose means it sucks the air from outside to cool, which can be better or worse.

In Houston, this is typically very humid 90oF+ air, which means it can only be cooled so much.

The ones with only one outlet cool air from your room, which initially for me will be low 80s and eventually remain cold so the A/C has to work less.

So its like using the recycle option on your car's A/C. If the car interior temp is far in excess of the outside air temp, don't use recycle, which is like the dual hose units. But once the air in your car is already cool, recycle is more efficient, which is like the single hoserz.

Move to Finland?

I would, but my map says there are dragons there. I'm drakonophobic.

 

[mannyman]

I just read a bunch of articles on that, and "it depends" is the answer. Dual hose means it sucks the air from outside to cool, which can be better or worse.

In Houston, this is typically very humid 90oF+ air, which means it can only be cooled so much.

The ones with only one outlet cool air from your room, which initially for me will be low 80s and eventually remain cold so the A/C has to work less.

So its like using the recycle option on your car's A/C. If the car interior temp is far in excess of the outside air temp, don't use recycle, which is like the dual hose units. But once the air in your car is already cool, recycle is more efficient, which is like the single hoserz.

I would, but my map says there are dragons there. I'm drakonophobic.

Grab a supplemental AC it tames Houston for me, Well the Woodlands anyways.

 

[engiNURD]

I don't think an exhaust fan, exhausting into the attic would be such a good idea. Just imagine how hot it gets when you leave an exterior door open or window open. Now imagine a force, forcing the cool air out when the fan is running. It will most likely result in the A/C running continuously to keep up.

As S0m30n3 noted, it's a one way vent that you want. My thermostat is downstairs, while the room is upstairs, so it takes quite a while to force the central AC on with my window exhaust fan.

Yes when the wind outside blows and starts to push air through the attic vents it's going to push hot attic air back into the room. That's why they make 1 way vents. When the fan is on the air blows the flap open when it's off the flap closes and only opens the 1 way.

On the other hand your venting air to the attic so it's going to be pulling in air from outside to replace the air your venting into the attic. So say 80f air being dumped into the attic and then 90f air being sucked through door cracks and windows.seals.

The idea is to leave the door to the room open, so the cool air from the hallway (from the central AC) gets pulled into the room.

Personally, I no longer use my portable AC. I've bought one of those window fans to vent the air out of the room, and it never turns off -- been running great for the past few years. This works for me because the window is on the opposite side of the door, and there's a fan in the middle of the room to help circulate the air. My central AC air comes in near the door as well, and I've directed the grill fins to all point away from the door. Since I moved most of the equipment out, the room is only about 3° hotter than the rest of the house on avg. Oh, and I only use this in the sprummer; I take it out in the finter (cali has two seasons).

 

[Stupid_Newbie]

Couple things, maybe try full watercool with rad in window. Or do a duct heat exhaust (like floor model portable ac units) from case out window

 

[tarlog]

IMHO "portable" air conditioners aren't worth the money, they're notoriously inefficient. You've got to get the condenser coils -> outside <- so I'd go with a new, under $100.00 approx 6,000 - 8500 BTU window unit. It's the end of summer (you wouldn't know it here in SoCal...96 yesterday) so you probably can find a pretty good deal on a window unit of this size at one of the package stores like Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, etc, etc.

 

[defaultluser]

I just leave the doors open to each room and use a box fan to push air down the halllway. Even if the room is not in the direct path, the moving air circulates everywhere.

Moving air FEELS cooler and makes the air temperature better equalized. I can't imagine why you'd need anything more exotic, unless your house is the size of a stadium.

 

[Ducman69]

IMHO "portable" air conditioners aren't worth the money, they're notoriously inefficient. You've got to get the condenser coils -> outside <- so I'd go with a new, under $100.00 approx 6,000 - 8500 BTU window unit. It's the end of summer (you wouldn't know it here in SoCal...96 yesterday) so you probably can find a pretty good deal on a window unit of this size at one of the package stores like Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, etc, etc.

Yup, that seems to be consensus on my research as well, and I've followed your advice and have gone with a small A/C unit + room fan to circulate the air, and am happy with the result.

For others following along, I'll share my research:

Which Unit:
I decided on the following Frigidaire 6500. Go to your post office and ask for a movers packet; these include a 15% off discount for Lowes. Total $159 - 15% = $135. Highly rated on Lowes and consumer reports. Room fan further helps perceived temperature drop and uniformity of cooling in the room.

Installation difficulty:
Fantastically simple novice install. Includes window mounting kit, and literally took no more than a few minutes to install. However, I will be making a trip back to Lowes to enhance the craptastic insulation.

Performance:
The unit has excellent digital controls and is a very efficient model. However, the temperature is measured at the unit, and not near your hot equipment, so the timer feature and remote control are a nice addition.

When the compressor kicks in now and then it is noisy (click, deep hum, and vibration), otherwise a bit louder than your typical office tower fan. While not quiet at all, it is a very constant hum for the most part and easily tuned out.

Other thoughts:
I have done the mental gymnastics to justify this purchase and then some.
1) It solves the localized temperature issue w/o having to freeze the entire 2100sqft home.
2) It provides a backup A/C unit so you're not in panic-mode in hot climates when your primary unit goes out past regular business hours, and provides peace of mind for hurricane preparedness (which would also draw far less power on generator backup power when needed).
3) My gaming room doubles as a guest bedroom, so finicky guests will not try to mess w/ my home's central A/C unit and can adjust their room for their individual comfort needs (I know my ex couldn't sleep well unless the room was freezing).

 

[Johnx64]

I have the same unit from lowes. Open the front take the filter out cut the zip tie holding the temp probe on and tape it up top away from the coils. When mine would get to desired temp and turn off in econ mode the cold coming from the coils would keep it off for too long. Long enough for the room to get decently warm when everything is running. I had to set the temp on the unit alot lower then I wanted the room or let it just run all the time on cool before I did this.

 

[Ducman69]

I have the same unit from lowes. Open the front take the filter out cut the zip tie holding the temp probe on and tape it up top away from the coils. When mine would get to desired temp and turn off in econ mode the cold coming from the coils would keep it off for too long. Long enough for the room to get decently warm when everything is running. I had to set the temp on the unit alot lower then I wanted the room or let it just run all the time on cool before I did this.

Niiiice.

*bro fists the monitor*