Evaporative (bong) or closed water setup???

[PsycoGeek]

I am water cooling now. I like the setup, but want to go quieter by either eliminating fans with a more passive radiator setup (which means building my own radiator/heat exchanger), or the evap setup. One thing I am worried about with the evap setup is the ammount of water it will use and humidity in the room.

Here's a little background on the room and whatnot. It's about 12x11 and houses 3 PC's. I want to go water on the other two. Luckily I have already switched to LCD's on all 3 setups. Even in winter I could close off the vents about 90% and still keep the room at about 65F or higher.

My concern is twofold with the evap setups. Will 3 of them make my water bill as high as the electric bill is? Will 3 evap setups make the drywall peel and turn into wetwall? Oh, I have cats too, so there is the question of will a hairball ruin pumps. I am thinking I might be better off staying with the closed cooling systems just because of that.

I already have a design for a nearly passive heat exchanger, but it is going to probably cost a bit. I haven't even priced out the components yet, but let's say that I will be purchasing copper elbows by the box if I do it.

Opinions please?

 

[killernoodle]

You would want a large stationary setup and you would want a filter on the pump (most subemersible pumps come with one). One good thing you might try to do is incorperate a toilet flushing system into it so it is constantly topped off and never needs to be refilled. A central air conditioning system will remove most of the water in the air and it is usually dry in the winter anyways. I'd still use a large radiator box system though, less to worry about.

 

[rtierney]

i'd go with closed water, personally.

 

[PsycoGeek]

i'd go with closed water, personally.

Would you care to elaborate on that? I am leaning in that direction too, but mabe you can give me yet another reason to stay with a closed system. The only reason I would really go with the evap system would be it greater cooling capacity.

 

[thewhiteguy]

Good evaporative cooling is louder than closed loop cooling because you've got a little rainfall going all the time.

 

[rtierney]

Would you care to elaborate on that? I am leaning in that direction too, but mabe you can give me yet another reason to stay with a closed system. The only reason I would really go with the evap system would be it greater cooling capacity.

less maintenance (adding/monitoring water), less water in the air as a result of evaporation, less noise, less cost.
it's not worth the extra bit of cooling in my opinion.