My PC hot air exhaust project (vent hot air outside the room)

R

rigurat

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Messages
269
My is PC doubling as a room heater. Not needed here in Hawaii. So I made a basic vent to exhaust the hot air outside the window.

It's pretty much a prototype.

DSC_0240.jpg

DSC_0231.jpg

DSC_0229.jpg

DSC_0239.jpg

DSC_0234.jpg


Once I finalize the design I'll have it made of metal and I'll line the inside with sound insulating foam.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions on how this can be further improved? I know there's plenty of room for improvement.

More fans? Better fan? Better ducting? I'd like to hear your comments!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Don_1
like this
If aesthetics don't matter then yea, I guess. I used to have something like that but it didn't make a big enough difference to counter how bad it looked in my room.

Slightly off topic but I lol'd at the mirror. Perfect for minimizing the midget porn before somebody walks in on you. :D
 
Personally, I don't know if that fan is powerful enough to push the air all the way through that length of vent. I had something similar to cool a laptop and used one of these:

sk1533.jpg


Unit is SK1533 - 12 to 24 VDC Centrifugal Blower, High Volume & Low Noise (Squirrel Cage Blower) Single Inlet
I use a universal AC adapter from Powerline to run the fan - it will run anywhere from 6v to 24v

They used to sell them at skycraft surplus but I dont see them there now :(
 
Last edited:
Side question, why do you ave a mirror attached to the side? In case some one tries sneaking up on you?
Also, i know my place it is noticeable with heat, in a 12'x14' room, i have a 40" LCD too though. You ever take temps to see what the real difference is?
 
I feel for you.

I have dual 480s and Summer is very hot here.

My solution was to get a portable air conditioner and run it most of the time.
 
Seems like you need a number of very stiff fans to overcome the static pressure created by this contraption. If you can get the end of it outside and arrange some kind of funnel on the end and a large exhaust fan, I bet it would help a lot.

As constructed, I am not convinced you are really evacuating that much heat - much of it is radiating back into your room as it goes through the hose.

One thing I always wanted to try was an external heat exchanger - water cool the PC, but put the radiator outside. If it gets hot outside, you might need to make it very large since the temperature delta is much smaller, but at least you are not heating the room...
 
Yes the mirrors are to prevent people from sneaking up from behind.

And true, a lot of the heat is radiating through the tubes, perhaps I should make a shorter route to the window and insulate the tubes?

But it does seem to work, the room doesn't get as hot as it normally does when the PC is on.
 
Insulate the tubes and change up your fan config. I suggest building a 'draw box' in the window that has either 3-4x 'conventional' computer fans setup to blow air outside, or the aforementioned squirrelcage. Don't be afraid to double down on the fans.

Have the box exhausting outside, ducted back to the PC box, which is sealed. The duct and the PC box will be lower pressure than the ambient (depending on strength of fans and quality of your work), which will make your PC more efficient at getting air in. Having anything at the PC box seems very counterproductive to me.

Insulating the ductwork will help, as will insulating the boxes.

I live in Alaska, so I'm happy as a clam venting my PC exhaust into my room!
 
I like the idea of a draw box at the end by the window, I'll definitely look into that.

I'm also looking into larger (non-standard sized) PC fans like 200 mm and large funnel as mentioned earlier by DoubleTap.

So far I like how this contraption is working, it even has an added bonus of being extra silent. Since it acts like a little noise barrier between me and the back of the PC.
 
Thanks for the update - good to hear it's working.

Shortening and insulating the duct will help.
 
is this on campus somewhere? is that a p180?
why not put your desktop on the floor and make the duct shorter?
 
I would make sure to implement a check valve into that design, a decent breeze could very likely start pushing air back through. The Valve would also help keep unwanted creatures running into you computer. Get some thermal insulation from the local hardware store like others have said to insulate the tube.
 
Maybe just a bit of screen or mesh material over one end depending on where you live.

Some places have crazy ants that love to short out EM field generating devices or other critters that chew on insulation...
 
I was thinking you should go due north ;) What kind of a ceiling do you have there? Take that duct straight up into a crawlspace or something.
 
At my work one of the administrative offices gets crazy warm, and they have a portable air conditioner with the exhaust duct going into the ceiling. Not saying this is the way to go, but if you have a drop ceiling it might be easier to send the hot air up (where natural thermophysics will help as well).

As for my situation, I also bought a small portable air conditioner to compensate for my PC's heat as well. My room/house layout does not support your style of ducting. The added bonus... the house can stay at 77f to help control energy bills while my room is a comfortable 72f.
 
immol8 said:
is this on campus somewhere? is that a p180?
why not put your desktop on the floor and make the duct shorter?
Click to expand...

the pc is in my room on the 12th floor in my apartmentand yes its the Antec P180. i did consider puting it on the floor but it gets dusty
 
I like this. I've thought about doing it many times in the summer but never did it.
 
ah i knew that case looked familar. i have the same one!... just that mine is collecting dust and not in use :x
 
Loafdogg420 said:
I was thinking you should go due north ;) What kind of a ceiling do you have there? Take that duct straight up into a crawlspace or something.
Click to expand...

+1. Also, if you have a crawlspace, you could pipe cool air up in he winter (trapping moisture somewhere along the line of course).

Edit: just saw living on 12th floor of apartment.

You could always made additional fan boxes along the way. That would help push the air and provide additional noise reduction. You would just have to find a way to wire them.
 
I'm still working on this thing. I made exhaust port at the end of the tube as many suggested. It's being blown by a 140mm fan I had laying around. It's all being powered by a 3ft long 3 pin fan extension cable. Everything is still made of cardboard and still not yet finalized into metal.

DSC_0270.jpg


DSC_0268.jpg


DSC_0260.jpg


DSC_0259.jpg
 
Does it smell like dryer sheets? Lol. Nice.

I had a similar setup for watercooling, it worked, but had codensation lol. Ran my radiator out my window and made a plexi mold for it, and the outside air of about 28F cooled it really good.. Just looked retarded and couldnt ever move my PC :p
 
can you feel the air coming out the end if you put your hand at the end of the tube? from hawaii here too, salt lake area right by tripler. i work as an engineer at pearl harbor. are you in school or working?
 
The air at the end of the tube is like a hair dryer.

I'm working at the Queens Hospital.
 
you can buy insulated flexible duct from the hardware store of your choice, bigger fans and shorten the length like immol8 said put it on the floor, but if you have a drop ceiling, I would exhaust it there because that air would be force back to the air handler of the building your in. So it there would be some negative pressure there as well.
 
It's still a work in progress. I now have 2 360 mm fans, and a larger 6 inch duct.

DSC_2182.jpg
20120707_222927.jpg

20120707_222935.jpg

DSC_2036.jpg
 
Last edited:
Crazy project.

Looks like you spent as much on fans as you have on your computer.:eek:

Very creative. Good luck.:D
 
featsdontfailme said:
Crazy project.

Looks like you spent as much on fans as you have on your computer.:eek:

Very creative. Good luck.:D
Click to expand...

Didn't spend too much. Just the 2 large fans were the most expensive. The other fans were old spares laying around. Everything else was either for free or cheap enough.
 
I give you props for continuing to update this thread. Its cool to see your progress. Your black P180 makes me jealous that I chose the silver instead of the black one back in 2006 when I bought it :p
 
I mean to do this for my daughter, but I plan to put the computer IN the window and just have longer cables to fee the monitor keyboard and mouse. (wireless for those of you who love diagnosing, hunting down, and replacing weak batteries in wireless peripherals. Me too lazy.

Laying a computer like this on its side can make the CD drive fail to work and the hard drive may lose 2% of its useful life (see Google white paper) but the savings in air conditioning should be substantial.

All I need to do is block off the part of the window gap that the computer doesn't cover. Considering weatherstripping on the window as a flexible sealing method.
 
Well I saw this and from the first post I was going to mention more fans and some insulation...But yeah... I guess that has been covered... Also on the external side a one way flap to make sure wind currents can't blow back in...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top