Dollar for dollar,
"free cooling" is the most cost effective way of saving energy.
Free Cooling is a term used by the Heating, Ventilating and Air
Conditioning (HVAC) industry to describe how an air conditioning unit,
using an optional economizer, provides cool air by using outside air.
When outside conditions warrant, the compressor shuts off and outside
air is brought into the unit and distributed into the conditioned space.
The economizer can be either factory or field installed on the base air
conditioning unit. In many cases this accessory can be retrofitted to
existing units. The energy cost savings from using an economizer varies,
depending on geographical location and can pay for itself in a few
months.
Free cooling is a readily available, cost effective, solution to saving
energy and should be used on every residential, commercial and
industrial air conditioning system in operation today.
Important
Features of Efficient, Reliable Data Center Design
A
pressurized ceiling supply air plenum is used in place of the out dated,
costly and troublesome raised floor supply air plenums used in the past.
The pressurized ceiling supply plenum assures that a uniform supply of
conditioned air is available everywhere in the data center. The
pressurized ceiling supply eliminates the need for costly ductwork to
distribute the cool air inside the data center.
Computer Room
Air Conditioners (CRAC's) where not used in this data center for
the following reasons:
-
Valuable space in the server room would be sacrificed.
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Liability from the possibility of water, oil or refrigerant gas damaging the computer equipment is eliminated.
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Servicing air conditioners outside of the data center increases security.
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The use of air side economizers maximized energy efficiency.
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Dedicated sensible and latent air conditioning prevents the air conditioners from simultaneously humidifying and dehumidifying resulting in wasted energy.
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Commercial air conditioners use the same compressors and other key components as CRAC's at a lower cost.
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Modern computer equipment does not require "precision air conditioning". Most computer equipment manufacturers specify operating environmental conditions between 40 and 100 *F and between 30 and 80 percent relative humidity.
Pressurizing the cold aisle assures that each fan in each piece of computer equipment get the proper amount of cool air based on how fast the fan is running. This is controlled by the computer hardware that uses variable speed fans. The pressure in the cold aisle reduces the work the fans have to do to move air through the computer equipment resulting in lower fan speed and additional energy savings.
Contact us for more information.
@2009 Free Cooling Solutions
